TAN: ilsingoliotin lo ilkorianga

(Evening Songs of the Youth)

A Maasai bull. Each clan has different markings for their animals.

I was up again at 6 a.m., just a bit after the chickens started their early morning call and response. We got some footage of the cattle being let out to graze before heading into the boma to see the preparations made by the school kids. Monika and Maiko were in their school uniforms already. Maiko had the snazziest stripped socks. Breakfast consisted of ugali and milk. After breakfast and Mateyo changing into his school outfit, we were off on the twenty minute hike to school. The kids were a little uncomfortable around the camera and kept looking back at us as we followed them.

Sabina whipping up some ugali for breakfast. Monika, all ready for school.

Maiko in his school uniform, quite a change from his normal dress. Home sweet home with a calabash in front.

Our arrival at the school yard caused quite a stir amongst the students. They were all quite excited about the cameras and all crowded around to see the viewfinders. This is always a dilemma because suddenly all the subjects are on the wrong end of the lens. Chantal and I shot and photographed while the students swept the school yard and Adam and Sandrine went to talk to the teacher, Mr. Kizumo.

Playing the camera game. Sandrine and Adam talking to Mr. Kizumo, the teacher at the school.

Class began at 8 a.m. This was the last week of school for the year and there were examinations today. I took some photos inside and spent the rest of the morning with some other Maasai youths that were milling about the, drawn by the mzungu (us.) We had lots of fun checking each other out and playing with my cameras.

The interior of the one room school house. During the dry season, the Maasai supplement their diet with ugali, a corn meal porridge. One kilogram of maize is $0.18.

The big kids were just as fascinated with the cameras. Hanging out with my new Maasai friends.

While the students were finishing up their test, we followed some cattle down to the local reservoir. The tiny green puddle is the water supply for a community of about 2000 people plus all of their livestock. The cattle are made to drink from troughs placed at the edge of the reservoir. The cattle would wade into the lake quite a distance to drink if left to their own devices. They would be far enough into the water that they would foul it with their urine if they should feel the urge to let some go. The goats and donkeys are more civil and manage not to pee in the pool.

Adam with the watering troughs for the cattle in the background. A crazy lady that yelled at Sandrine in Swahili for a good five minutes.

A couple of Maasai ladies decked out for a trip to the watering hole.

We headed back to the school after a bit to find it closed for the day and all of the students gone. We hiked back to the boma and had a bite to eat. We with our mzungu food and Adam and Jerome with ugali and milk. After our meal we jumped in the truck to go and find a gathering of women. Sandrine was interested in interviewing some of the ladies that Rafael and Adam had trained in AIDS education. We came across a large group in the shade of some trees. There were about 30 women and half a dozen men.
The meeting turned out to be a grievance against the men. It seems that the women had gotten some industry together to make some money and had allowed to the men to help them keep track of the finances. The men had to date not been forthcoming with the money that had come in from the women’s efforts. The meeting continued on for about an hour after we arrived, with a person at a time being recognized to speak.

Speakers at the Maasai meeting.

Eventually the meeting broke up and Adam requested that some of the AIDS educators be allowed to talk with us. The verdict was favorable and four ladies and one of the elder men came to talk with us. The rest of the ladies went a short distance away to consider what the men had said and come up with a group response.
Sandrine asked questions of the group of AIDS educators through Adam. Large portions of the conversation were dominated by the elder man that had joined the group. I think the conversation would have been more interesting without him there shepherding the ladies. Eventually Sandrine finished her questions and we asked if they had any questions of us. We answered for our part as best we could, only having general knowledge of the AIDS situation in each of our respective countries. Just after we finished up, the other ladies broke up their meeting and came back over to finish their grievance with the men. We headed back home.

The group of AIDS educators.

We played the camera game again for a bit before Sandrine asked what the kids normally did in the afternoon. Mateyo and some of his friends have been hoeing a section of ground that had been slashed and burned in preparation for planting maize. We followed the kids some distance from the boma and filmed them working the soil in light of the setting sun. After getting enough footage, we headed back to find Monika being fitted with a wire armlet. She was being prepped for a special dance.

Monika with some of her friends. Mateyo with his friends working the new “farm.”

Monika being fitted with a wire armlet. A toy car made from a gas jug with flipflops for tires.

At dusk a group of ladies approached, singing as they came. The song was to announce their arrival and that they brought news of the earlier meeting. Their news delivered, the ladies quietly moved on to the next boma. We had our dinner just after dark.
Just as we were getting ready to call it quits for the day, a group what looked like teenage boys and pre-pubescent girls arrived and started up a courtship dance. We were quite taken aback. The boys were arranged in a line facing the girls who were similarly in a line. The boys sang and bobbed their upper torsos to the rhythm of their song. The girls were adorned with large circular beaded collars which they tipped back to front by undulating their shoulders while singing as well. Periodically the song would change and a couple of the girls would approach the boys. They would scamper back into line because the boys would all jump forward making menacing animal noises. This cycle went on for a good 3-4 hours, with a few more girls arriving along with a great deal more boys. One of the boys who seemed to be a caller of some sort, herded all the others back into line if they got out of place and kept the whole thing going. Sabina and the eldest sons wife came out to give the girls encouragement. The boys invited me to join in the jumping and pouncing part of the dance a couple of times, to everyones amusement, especially the older ladies who thought it was a riot. Eventually a large group of boys broke off and went away.

A sample of the ilsingoliotin lo ilkorianga [ilkorianga.mp3]

The evening dance with the boys lined up on one side and the girls on the other.

Two girls approaching the boys, only to run back before the boys leapt out. Monika showing off the uses of facial tissue.

The rest of the group lingered around the truck and the fire. Monika kept wanting to get into the truck, but I feigned not having the keys and avoided having to keep track of a bunch of kids reeking havoc in the vehicle. One of the boys thought some tests on agility were in order. They were quite impressed with my jumping ability. I showed them how to “Weave the Stave,” an extremely challenging feat of holding onto a stick or staff and putting one leg over it and then bringing it behind ones torso and over ones head and finally passed the other leg to end up with the stick back in front of ones body without having let go. After about twelve tries, one of the Maasai youth got it down. The next feat was to pick a stick up off the ground in ones teeth without touching the ground with ones hands. This was not as easy as it might sound and took quite a bit of maneuvering before I could pull it off. Needless to say none of the others that came forward could do it. My being able to accomplish it earned me a very hearty handshake.
Next up were a few rounds of touch the mzungu’s hair. One pair that approached got growled and barked at, which caused the rest of the group to erupt in laughter. Of course after that point everyone wanted to try. Eventually I grew tired of the game and backed away as the kids approached. Soon thereafter the rest of the group started to disperse and I was left to head for bed. Finally got to sleep well after midnight.