Speaking Masai language (Maa) continued

I have introduced to you the very basics of Maa or the language of the Masai now nearly a year ago. Where does time fly?!?

Capturing beautiful moments with dancing Masai 

So I would like to continue this post and give you even more of an insight into this beautiful nilotic language.
Nilotic literally means 'coming from the Nile' and refers to the fact that this kind of language was first spoken in the Nile area, coming from Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and moving into Kenya and Tanzania.

I have written a similar post for Africa Geographic's blog and someone commented saying how unnecessary it was to know Maa or even Swahili (the National language of both Kenya and Tanzania) stating that it was sufficient to know English, French or Arabic. Well this person might think that it is OK to speak the language of the colonialists but I like to disagree.

Practising to dance like a Masai woman.

The language of a people is the gate to their hearts. It shows them that you make an effort to understand them and communicate with them. It makes it easier for them to trust you and to welcome you into their homes. For me, travel is meeting new people and getting to know different cultures and you can only really fully get to know a culture when you speak at least a few words of the native language.

So here are a few simple expressions and phrases that might come in handy when you are in Tanzania or Kenya on Safari or on Zanzibar encountering Masai and Samburu people.

Masai warrior jumping during a dance.

Kai ta?                                An informal greeting, loosely translated meaning 'what's up?'
Kiti                                      Answer to 'Kai ta?'

Keiya toi?                          Same as 'Kai ta'
Sidai                                   Answer to 'Keiya toi'; also means 'good', 'nice', 'beautiful'

Kai iji enkarrn inno?      What is your name?

Aji......                                  My name is......

Ai?                                        Where?

Anu?                                    When?

Kanyoo?                              Why?


Kai eti....?                             Where is.....?

Choo                                     Toilet (Swahili as there is no word for toilet in Maa)

Kai iloito?                            Where are you going?

Aloito.....                               I am going.....

Kanyoo iyesita?                  What are you doing?

Kai emanya?                       Where do you live?

Kai ingwaa?                         Where do you come from?

Aata esumaji                       I am hungry

Aiyo....                                   I want.....

Maiyo.....                               I don't want. ....

Aata......                                 I have......

Maata.                                   I don't have.

Anyorr                                  I like

Manyorr                               I don't like

Arra                                       I am

Marra                                   I am not

Enchake                               I would like/Please give me

Enkarre                                Water

Food                                      Endaa

Ugali                                     Emutu (staple diet in most sub-saharan african countries,                                                                   made of dried maize)

Meat                                      Ngiri



Personal pronouns

Nanu                                     I

Iye                                         You

Elle/enna                              He/She (there is no 'it' in Maa)

Iyook                                     We

Ndai                                       You

Kullo/Kunna                         They (Male/Female)

Awe-inspiring human beauty: the Masai.

Sooooo I will leave it at these for now as I think these phrases will occupy your brains quite a lot! 😊

Please let me know, if there is anything specific you would like to know.

Wishing you a great rest of the week, until my next post!









             

Quack Quack or how Masai women give birth

One of the things I love about Africa is that it let's you experience so many new things that you never dreamed of seeing.

One of those things I experienced with the Masai, is witnessing childbirth.

The wive of my husband's brother who gave birth recently. 

As generous, warm and welcoming the Masai are, I was first invited to watch a Masai lady give birth in February 2012, when I had only been living with them for a month.

Masai women traditionally have their babies at home, aided by a traditional midwife and many many of their female relatives.

The hut in which a woman is labouring is swarmed with her sisters, neighbours, mother and even grandmother. Any woman who is around is invited to watch and to support her.
However, there are rules regarding age and respect for your elders. No woman younger than the lady in labour is allowed to watch. Also, pregnant ladies are not allowed into the hut until the child is born and mothers with babies who have not yet teeth are not allowed unless they leave their children to be watched by someone outside of the hut.

Myself with two of my sisters-in-law during a ceremony.

The traditional midwive and older ladies sit on the bed with the woman in labour, holding her, rubbing her back and checking her dilation every so often. They are all naked from the waist down. This, they believe, helps the woman relax and open herself for childbirth.

After the baby is born, the traditional midwive also oversees the passing of the placenta. To help this along, a boy (or the husband of the new mother) is called to climb the roof of the house with a stick and tap it repeatedly saying 'Quack' over and over again until the placenta is out.

It is then wrapped in leaves and taken outside by two women holding a machete. The machete is used to fend of wild animals as well as men while they complete their task of burrying the placenta in the bush.

Masai women dancing at a ceremony after the birth of a child.

The women that have been called to witness the birth, help by cooking tea or porridge and boiling water for the new mother and the baby as well as the helpers. They also help clean up after the birth. Then no matter what time it is another pot of tea is cooked for the helpers.

The day after the birth a sheep is slaughtered and people are invited to celebrate. The new mother is given as much as a litre of liquid sheep's fat to drink (I tried it, and yes, it is just as disgusting as it sounds). This is thought to help her heal.

The new mother will stay inside of her hut with her baby for roughly two months and her mother and mother-in-law do all the work for her, cooking, washing, looking after the goats and much more. They also help her with the baby at night.

Her husband does not stay in the same hut as the new mother for up to three months.

Masai women from our boma receiving reusable sanitary kits through one of my projects.

Women call each other to witness each other's birth even in the middle of the night. The sense of community and love is inspiring. I have witnessed five births so far and have yet to succeed in keeping a dry eye.

Only recently my sister-in-law had her second son and I was called to her hut at 1 am. For a second I thought about just continuing to sleep but the feeling of responsibility and of showing my support to my fellow women, made me get up.

I sat in her hut, watching her labour with many other women for over 2 hours, until she gave birth just after 3 am and I held her tiny baby for the first time not long afterwards. During the birth of her first child, she was in labour for nearly 48 hours and all without any kind of pain relief.

Myself with women from my family and a friend from Colombia

The strength, kindness and generosity of Masai women (as well as men) is something that I will never cease to admire and be grateful for.


This is why I am currently running a women empowerment project in our community, teaching Masai women how to sew their own reusable sanitary kits. If you would like to support us in this endeavour, please click on this link: 'Stephanie's Masai Women Enterprise'.

Thank you!

(Masai) women empowerment

Provoking change is a painful progress. One of the lessons I have learned since starting off with my Masai Education Fund in our village of Lesoit, Tanzania.

Taking my place in the midst of the Masai women during a recent village meeting.

There are days when you feel like throwing in the towel and there are days where you have tears in your eyes inspired by people's gratefulness.

Ever since we came back from Kenya where we took part in a land management and conservation seminar in March (sponsored by 'Stephanie's Masai Education Fund), I have been trying to provoke our community leaders to implement what we have learned, but sadly they are not making a great effort.

Our warrior chief enjoying the views during our trip to Kenya. 

This is why I have decided to start at a different angle and support Masai women instead. Girl education rates in Africa are significantly lower than those for boys, simply because girls are often 'sold' or married off in exchange for a bride price. And this happens to girls as young as 8 years old. Another reason is that girls living in rural communities lack access to sanitary products which makes it difficult for them to attend school regularly.

My beautiful sister-in-law with the kit she received from Days for Girls. 

With 'Stephanie's Masai Education Fund Vol.2' which you can read about in my previous blog posts, I have brought ALL the girl students in our Masai community (over 200 of them) a reusable sanitary kit each! These kits are made by 'Days for Girls', an international organisation which has made it its mission to reduce poverty worldwide - by empowering women and girls. The kits contain everything a girl needs to take care of her menstruation: underwear,  waterproof shields and cotton pads as well as soap and a washcloth.

Secondary school girls very happy about the kits.

These kits ensure that girls enter and stay in education unhindered and therefore are a step in the right direction towards ensuring girls have equal opportunity to an education as boys, which has a positive effect not only on local communities but also on the country as a whole.

Masai girl and secondary school pupil with her kit.

So great news to everyone who supported us!

In other news, I am going to climb Kilimanjaro in March together with Wanderlust women's adventures, an Australian travel company ran by an amazing lady who helps single mothers and girls in rural communities in Tanzania and who also gave us 25 reusable sanitary kits for free!

The views that await us when climbing Mount Kilimanjaro 

We will be climbing to raise awareness of women's issues in Africa and worldwide and to fund more reusable sanitary kits for our respective communities, so if you feel like going on an adventure while empowering your fellow women, come with us to the highest point in Africa! Click on the link above or drop me a comment here if you are interested!

Thank you to all of you who continue to support me and let's keep making a difference!

Masai wisdom

Eight years in Africa.

Eight years in the land of elephants, lions and giraffe. In the land of open plains and acacia trees, in the land of the Masai people, Samburu, Himba, Zulu and Mursi tribes.

In the land where you never say no, even though yes often seems insane. In the land where no one is ever on time but everything somehow has its order.

In the land where the most stunning sunsets are everyday business and where the moon rises like a big red sun and the stars cover more space than the dark.

Masai warriors parading at a ceremony

What have these eight years done to me? They have turned me upside down and shaken out all the dust, the fear, the doubt, the hate. They have left me standing with wide open eyes, ready to see everything anew. To see everything from a selfless angle of love. And one of my greatest teachers are the beautiful people I am so lucky to share my life with: the Masai.

They have taught me that tears are only cried for the dead and that any other tears are cried in anger rather than sadness. They have taught me that children are tellers of the truth and that they lift you out from the darkest corners of your soul.

Overlooking the stunning Masai Steppe 

They have taught me that it is rude to not accept gifts, even when they come from someone who has nothing. They have taught me that being still does not mean you are moving backwards,  but that it gives you time to reflect on your next move.

They have taught me happiness can be found anywhere and any day and that it is you who creates it, for yourself and others.

They have taught me that accepting each other's differences teaches you to accept not only those different to you but also yourself.

They have taught me that inviting strangers into your house leaves you feeling connected to the world and is nothing but basic decency.

They have taught me that laughter and stories are more important than big cars and designer jeans.

They have taught me that dirty, skinny kids are happier than ours could ever be and that it is OK to play with sand and sticks.

My husband and I.

They have taught me that family is everything and that sharing makes you rich.

They have taught me to live slower and with more purpose.

They have taught me to be patient and that detours make the journey memorable.

They have taught be to observe more and judge less.

They have made me softer and harder at the same time.

Warrior herding his cattle

They have turned me into the person who talks to strangers when passing them on the street, who gives a random child a sweet just to see it smile. They have turned me into someone who fears the coldness of the western world and who has stopped trying to explain to those who have never been to Africa.


Do YOU understand?

Blood drinking warriors or freshly picked spinach - Masai diet

Masai diet traditionally used to consist of just milk, butter, forest fruits and roots and the occasional bit of meat and blood.

These days however, because of a changing environment and the effects it has on their cattle, milk has become as precious as gold to the Masai, and just as rare.

An increasing human population has encroached onto their wild spaces and has lead to a decrease in cattle rangelands. Nursing cows produce much less milk now, which barely suffices to feed their calves, let alone the Masai who depend on it.

A boiling pot of ugali simmering on an open fire in a Masai hut.

Due to this, the Masai have had to change their diet, away from lactose products, given to them by their cattle for free, towards corn and vegetables which have to be bought. This has also lead to large areas of rangelands being deforested for the sake of farmland, which has increased pressure on their pastoralist way of life.

Warriors these days spend most of the year away from home, working in cities and tourist places to earn money to be able to feed their families.

My sister-in-law taking a break from cooking ugali to nurse her son.

A traditional Masai meal today consists of ugali, a thick paste made out of corn flour boiled in water, eaten with milk or vegetables. Common vegetables here are potatoes, carrots, peppers, cabbage, tomatoes, spinach and beans. They are usually fried in oil and then cooked in a splash of milk. No spices are used, only salt.
Rice is available to be bought, but as its price is high, it is only eaten on special occasions, like ceremonies.
Even meat these days, has almost become a luxury item as goats or cows are only slaughtered when there is a need to feed many people, as for festivities.

Freshly picked pumpkin leaves to be cut up and cooked.

When a goat or cow is slaughtered it is butchered in a very efficient, almost professional way and is split between men and women.
Cows, goats and sheep each have designated parts that are given to warriors, old men and women and children.
The stomach of a goat is for the men to use in the traditional meat broth which has medicinal properties and is drunk by everyone who wishes to do so. The stomach of a sheep however is designated to the women, as is its hindquarters, whereas the lungs and the chest are for the uncircumcised boys. The girls get the back of a goat or sheep.
Blood is drunk straight from the carcass while it is being butchered. On other occasions, the vein of a goat or cow is tapped into with a bow and arrow or a needle and the blood is caught in a cup and mixed with goat or sheep oil or honey as a traditional remedy for injury or illess.

A warrior drinking blood from a freshly slaughtered goat.

The corn needed to cook ugali, has to be bought or planted and is therefore costly, as are vegetables and often both are not available in sufficient amounts to feed large Masai families. The Masai therefore often only eat ugali once a day and as a second meal, cook a simple porridge out of the corn flour mixed with milk and/or water.
Malnutrition is an issue prevalent in Masai country, but one that is yet to be addressed by a worldwide audience.

It is one of the many challenges I hope to address by continuously working with our community members through my Masai Education Fund. Teaching women and men to use family planning methods to reduce the number of children they put into the world so that they are able to take better care of them and reduce the pressure an increasing human population is putting on their rangelands, cattle and therefore on the survival of their beautiful culture.


I have received nothing but love and support by my friends and family and likewise by people who I have never met but who have taken an interest in my efforts to increase quality of life in Masai country - and I would like to say THANK YOU!

If you too, would like to know how you can help, please get in touch, so that we may work together towards a brighter future for one of Africa’s last remaining ancient tribes.