Have you ever considered what your life would be like if you were born into a different culture. If you were born a Maasai woman then your life would be different in so many ways. I often pray for the Maasai women and children here in Tanzania.
Your life may be similar to this...
You wake up and wrap yourself in a cloth that you have laid out to wear today. You only have one pair of sandal shoes, so you slip those on your feet. You them begin to sweep your one one dirt floor home and wait until tomorrow to fix the grass roof. You also notice that tomorrow you might need to gather some more cow dung and mud for the walls and floor. You will mix it up into a smooth mixture and apply it with a flat stick.
For now you decide to go ahead and make the long journey to collect water. Your only water source is miles away, and it is from a dirty, diseased water pond. It is also the same source of water for the cows to drink. You collect your water with large buckets, put one on your head, one in your hand, and head back home.
After you make it back with the water you go to look for some firewood for your cooking. You find your dull cutting tool, and head out. You climb up to cut branches from trees and bend over to pick up large branches that have fallen. During the wood gathering you are watching out for snakes because you know that one bite is often deadly. Once you have gathered enough wood for cooking, you tie the branches together with some bark that you have pulled off from a nearby tree. You put the bundled wood on your head, and again make the long trip back home.
You then start to cook some food. You don’t have to worry about what to cook, because there is only one thing to eat, your corn meal mush, called ugali. You are glad that the corn crops were good this last rainy season because you still have lots of corn meal which you have made from pounding the dried out corn.
The cooking is done in your little one room hut because the wind outside would blow out the fire. You sit in your smoke filled house, coughing and wiping your burning eyes. You have a little trouble seeing where you put your stirring spoon because the house is dark and has only one small window.
Did I mention that during all of this, you have a baby tied to your back. You can feel that he is wet and you need to change his cloth. He is not wearing a diaper or any clothes, he is only wrapped in a blue cloth. You know that you will keep giving birth, no matter your age or health, because many cows and many children are seen as a status symbol for your husband. You have given birth eight times before, but many of your children are not alive today. You are grateful that this one is healthy. You know that the tribe doesn’t even recognize babies until they are three months old, because there are so many infant deaths.
You are just one of your husbands many wives. You have recently overheard that he may be getting another wife, one that is 15 years old. She has recently had a female circumcision, like you did when you were her age. He is excited because her dowry is only 3 cows and a goat. You know that it is traditional for the Maasai husbands to openly beat and abuse their wives. You are thankful that yours hasn’t done that in a long time.
After you have served everyone their food, it is time for laundry and dishes. You bend over to scrub the clothes and wash the dishes with what little water you have. You don’t have any soap so you just do the best job that you can. You try to reserve some of the water left over for drinking, cooking and bathing.
Your children, ages 3 and 5 were in charge of herding the cows all day and they have just returned.
It is now time to go and milk the cows. When you are done milking you set it aside to ferment for a few days. You see your children covered in dirt and dust everyday. You know that it would take to much water to give them all a good bath, so you at least try to wash their hands and face.
You look around you and see all the flies. It is so dry right now that the flies keep getting into your babies eyes and mouth to drink. You have tired to fight them off at first, but now that idea just seems impossible. You are ready for the rainy season but fear the mosquitoes and the malaria that kill so many during that time of year.
Since you are a woman, you have never been to school. This is the only life you have ever known. You go to bed on a dirt floor happy and content. You are happy because your families health is good and no one is going to bed hungry. You are content because you have served your family well and have done the best job that you can do.
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I often think about how much more we, as Americas are given. Our lives are so much more blessed, yet are we happy and content. All to often we listen to the television, radio, magazines, etc. that tell us we need more to be happy and content. The Bible teaches us that we should be happy with just food and clothing. How often do we just want more.. more things, more spare time? We need to search the scriptures, find happiness and contentment in Him, and say a prayer of thanksgiving for the life and blessings that we have each day.
About the pictures:
The above picture is of a Maasai woman and her youngest child, named Omari. She had given birth to a total of 9 children, but many had previously died. You can see her one room mud hut in the background of the picture above. If you look closely at the picture below you can see that her face/eye is swollen, as she had recently been beaten.
We visited this woman again at a later time, helping her with a mosquito net and childrens clothing. I often think of her and her life.
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