Gender and Sexual Health in Kenya

Published on April 24, 2011 in Health and Medicine and Maasai Culture. Closed

Supa! I, along with Barbara, have been doing research on gender and sexual health in Kenya and the Maasai community. The research has been really interesting and has influenced the lessons plans we’ll be teaching this summer.

The lessons we’re working on cover girls’ empowerment, girls’ sexual health, and information regarding famous female Kenyan leaders. The goal is to empower girls, especially those that do not attend primary school. Often, these girls have even less access to education, let alone access to education regarding their bodies and sexual health. I’m really looking forward to working with Barbara and the team members from Tulane to formulate the lesson plans.

The research Barbara and I have done has really put the current challenges facing the Maasai community into prospective. For instance, the traditional male age-set system (which is discussed in an earlier blog) heavily influences Maasai women and girls. Because the men determine the women’s social status, the women are completely dependent upon the men for their social standing and influence within the community.

For now, Barbara and I are going to continue to research and plan lessons. I’m looking forward to an awesome summer in Kenya!

First Swahili Lesson

Published on April 21, 2011 in Language, Swahili and Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , .

Elephants love Swahli!

Swahili is Kenya’s official language (although interestingly not the official language of school instruction, which is English). Let’s learn some!

When greeting one person, there is a greeting and a response:

Meredith: Hujambo, Kylie! (Hello!)

Kylie: Sijambo, Meredith! (Hello!)


When greeting multiple people, the greetings change:

Fritz: Hamujambo! (Hello, all!)

Bali and Sophie: Hatujambo, Fritz! (Hello!)


Here is one way of asking how someone is doing:

Melissa: Habari? (News?/How are you?)


And three ways to respond:

Katie: Mzuri (Good!) [mm-ZER-ree; or even "Missouri"]

Barbara: Njema (Great!) [nn-JEH-mah]

Cyrene: Salama! (Peaceful)


In Kenya, when visiting a friend in their home, it is polite to knock gently on their door and announce:

Alyssa: Hodi! (May I come in?)

Ian: Karibu! (You are welcome)


Of course you will want to thank your host:

Alyssa: Asante sana (Thank you very much) [hint: LION KING]


And to say goodbye:

Haset: Kwaheri!


Tips:

Swahili typically places the stress on the penultimate syllable. Meaning, its pronounced kah-REE-bu, as opposed to KAH-ree-bu or ka-ree-BU.

ng’ although similar in sound to the English “ng” in “singing” poses a difficulty, for it usually occurs at the initial of words. It is luckily quite rare : ng’ambo (= foreign), ng’ombe (= a cow).

The vowels are never pronounced with the dipthongs we are used to in English (I= /ai/, A = /eh/). I’ve found it useful to think back on my Spanish classes for pronunciation guidance. For a more accurate explanation of some pronunciation rules, visit http://mwanasimba.online.fr/E_Chap01.htm!

Practice your pronunciation by singing along to this very popular Kenyan song!

Jambo Bwana

Jambo Bwana:

Jambo (Hi)
Jambo bwana (Hi sir)
Habari gani? (How are you?)
Mzuri sana (Very fine)
Wageni mwakaribishwa (Visitors are welcome)
Kenya yetu (Our (country) Kenya)
Hakuna matata ((there are) no worries)

Traditional Medicine

Published on April 7, 2011 in Uncategorized. Closed

Rural communities in the Maasai Mara, such as Losho, do not always have easy access to western medicines and doctors.  The World Health Organization has estimated that 70-90% of rural areas in developing countries rely on traditional medicine.  For years medicine men have filled in for the role of doctors.  The traditions of local medicine are not new and have been passed down to new generations throughout the history of the Maasai.

In 2004 the Kenyan doctor to patient ratio was 1 to 7141.  This number clearly indicates the problem of access to doctors and medicine.  However, the medical practitioner to patient ratio in 2004 was 1 to 987 in urban areas and 1 to 378 in rural areas.  The 1 to 378 ratio in rural areas shows that traditional medicine is available to people in rural areas as an alternative to western doctors.

Traditional medicine within the Maasai incorporates to the use of local and abundant plants.  For instance, tapeworms are treated with albizia tree bark.  The bark can be chewed directly or ground into a paste and mixed with milk.  Similarly, the acacia tree bark can form a bitter liquid to combat generic stomach pains.  The sodom plant serves many purposes in health care. The stem and roots of the plant are said to have antibacterial properties and are used to alleviate stomach problems and stop bleeding.  Additionally, the stem can be cut open and used as a toothbrush.

There is value to the traditional medicines and plants used by the Maasai.  Traditional medicine is a large and growing industry in western countries.  Many research institutions are documenting and testing plants from around the world to determine their medicinal properties and create potential new drugs.  Similarly, many people have adopted the practices of traditional medicine as a substitute or addition to western medicines.

Maasai Age Sets

Published on March 24, 2011 in Maasai Culture and Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , .


The Maasai community defines itself through constructed age-sets and ceremonial rites of passage.  As boys mature and prepare for elderhood, they undergo a number of rituals that signify changing their roles, statuses and lifestyles.  Each ceremony is an important expression of Maasai culture, bringing “new life” and a new importance to the men. Women, on the other hand, do not undergo such initiations into society. Instead, they define themselves through their husbands age-set.

Once boys reach between fourteen and sixteen years of age, they undergo their first ritual: enkipaata. This “senior boy ceremony” marks the creation of a new age-set and initial preparation for warrior hood. Accompanied by a number of elders, the boys will travel throughout the land and settle in thirty to forty enkangs. During this time, the boys are united through rituals of dancing, singing and working on the homestead.

After enkipaata, the boys go through emuratare, or circumcision. Seven days prior to the procedure, boys gather and herd cattle together to prepare. Just before dawn on the eight day, boys are cleansed by a cold shower and circumcised. Male circumcision is one of the most defining transitions, markings a shift from boyhood to manhood. Throughout the procedure, boys must remain calm and resist flinching. If the male does not flinch, he is showered with praises, honor, respect and gifts. If he does, he is disowned by the Maasai society.

Men are then gathered for emanyatta, a ceremony that marks introduction into warrior hood. For the following ten years, men reside together in twenty to forty enkangs. While in the camp, men learn about the age-set brotherhood, animal husbandry and their role as protectors. Warriors greatly revere this time and are wary of its ceremonial ending through eunoto.

Two ceremonies, Enkang e-kule and Enkang oo-nkiri, are then performed to transition men from warrior hood to fatherhood. The first marks the first time than men eat in front of their lovers, signifying a change from their former self-sufficiency. Additionally, a bull-skin ritual is performed amongst the men.  Men wrestle to get close to the skin, which then reveals whether or not their wives had sexual relations with men outside their husbands age-set.  If she has, she must regain her husbands respect by presenting him with a female cow.

Finally, around age thirty-five, men are initiated as junior elders through Orngesherr. Once an elder, men must assume full responsibility of their families and move onto their own homesteads. This significant change is represented through the shaving of an elder’s head, which had not been cut since pre-warrior hood.

As noted above, females mostly define themselves through their husbands, instead of strict age-sets and ceremonial rites of passage. However, nearly all Maasai women will undergo female circumcision, or FGM. This operation has become engrained into Maasai society, leaving girls exiled if they choose not to undergo FGM.

A very belated post

Published on March 14, 2011 in Service-Learning and Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , , .

Keeping up a blog has evidently gotten off to a bad start, but this doesn’t mean MASA hasn’t been keeping busy all year! Since my last post in Sebtember, Alyssa, Sarah, Ellie and I interviewed and finalized our team of engaged and dedicated volunteers. Within the next couple weeks we are each going to start updating the blog with everything we’ve been doing, which includes learning some useful phrases in Swahili and Maa, watching relevant documentaries, fundraising with jewelry sales, and covering important topics including service-learning, Kenyan history, the Kenyan education system, issues local to the Maasai community of Losho, ecology, pastoralism,  coming-of-age rituals, age-sets, language, “traditional” medicine,  diseases common to the area (trachoma, malaria, TB, HIV, etc), the healthcare system, and more to come. We’ve almost completed everyone’s individual presentation on a topic of their interest, and soon after we’ll each be posting a short entry about what we taught each other.

In the upcoming weeks, we’ll begin to really jump into project planning, which will involve a great amount of collaborating with the Tulane students as well as research and preparation on the Williamsburg front. Most of us recently bought our flight tickets (within the $1200-1400 range for both June and July volunteers) so our dates are pretty much set. As far as fundraising, there will be some opportunities for us to sell jewelry and sandwiches! News to come!

We’re also going to start contacting local hotels (Williamsburg certainly isn’t short of these) to get donations of unused, individually-wrapped soaps to promote hand-washing as a desirable behavior in Losho. Dr. Buchanan showed us this wonderful event that we’d love to bring to Losho http://www.globalhandwashingday.org/ The website talks about all the wonderful (and under-appreciated) benefits of hand-washing and celebrates it as one of the easiest, cheapest, and effective preventative measures against disease.

First aid kits are included in the donation items we’re looking to get. We’re going to talk to Walgreens or CVS to see if they are willing to let us set up a donation box. These are especially important for reinforcing our lessons on germ theory and encouraging practices such as properly cleaning and dressing wounds.

One piece of good news from Dr. Pellet is that many of the girls in the school are regularly using reusable sanitary pads. These wonderful little inventions allow girls to attend school during the week of their menstrual period. Unfortunately, one important obstacle to adequate attendance of girls is taboo associated with a menstruating girl. It is still the case for many girls in Losho that during this time, it is unacceptable for the girls to attend school as she must stay at home and be isolated from others. You can learn more about the benefits, construction and maintenance of reusable menstrual pads here: http://www.thegreenestdollar.com/2009/07/lunapads-product-review/ This is merely one site that talks about the life-changing potential of these items; they are being used by organizations and communities all around the world!

Last two things to mention that we need and still haven’t really figured out where we can find tents and reliable light sources (solar lights? battery powered lamps? hand-wind flashlights?) for teaching in the enkangs. Let us know if you can donate some, or if you’ve got ideas!

-Beyang

Applications out on Monday!

Published on September 16, 2010 in Uncategorized. Closed

The application will be sent out by email this Monday, Sept 20th, and will be due back by email on the following Monday, Sept 27th. If you are interested in applying and haven’t already given us your email, please contact Maasai.wm@gmail.com. We will try to make the application available on this blog site.

Available: Monday Sept 20th

Due: Monday Sept 27th

Interest Meeting for New Members

Published on September 9, 2010 in Uncategorized. Closed

The Maasai American Student Association is currently taking on new members. This upcoming summer, we will spend 2 months in Losho, Kenya – a Maasai village in southern Kenya’s Maasai Mara. The group will continue its six years of development work in the region, teaching English and pre-kindergarten classes at Losho Primary and running sexual education programs to promote the health of females in the community. We will use the year to prepare ourselves with research of necessary background to frame our project under the guidance of our partnering NGO, the MAO (www.maasaiamerican.org). For more info, visit our blog http://masa.blogs.wm.edu/ or email us at Maasai.wm@gmail.com

Interest Meeting:

Date: Tuesday, Sept. 14th

Time: 7:30PM

Place: BLAIR 229

See you there!

Summer 2011 Projects

Published on September 4, 2010 in Uncategorized. Closed

Look for for information on when we’ll hold our interest meeting! In the mean time, look around our site to learn about who we are and what we do.