Maasai Babus

17 December 2009

We had another draining, yet successful week of village visits. The drains come in the form of long and bumpy daladala rides, cultural frustrations both during our presentations and apart from our presentations, and then having to wake up the next morning to do battle all over again; the successes come in the form of meeting new people, learning of their struggles, and sharing our knowledge with people who desperately need it. Plus, we get to explore many new areas of Northern Tanzania, which I never get enough of.

We received some wonderful news about a generous donation that was given to us by Gerry and Lois Olsen in order to buy basic medical equipment for the villages that we visit. We have already provided a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff to both the CWCD and to the Karatu regional hospital.

Yesterday, we returned to a village that we visited last week, Matudumomye, in hopes of speaking with the village men as well. It was Stacie’s birthday, so the village women, in coordination with Mama, had a large celebration planned with singing, dancing, and a wonderful feast. I felt so guilty that they provided such an extravagant meal for us, but was glad to see the 20 gallon pot filled with pilau for the whole village (it took three women to carry it).

We took a half an hour out of our celebration to revisit the Sambasha antenatal clinic, which was the site of our first village visit, and it was this clinic that inspired the Olsens’ wonderful gift. We bought a stethoscope and a blood pressure machine to present to them, and the elation shown by the two nurses was enough to pull tears to my eyes. They bounced around the room giving hugs to anyone and everyone. One nurse looked at me and said that just that morning, she had suspected hypertension in one patient, but had to refer her to a hospital in Arusha, which is a good half hour drive, simply because they had no equipment to properly diagnose her. We have pictures of the event, but I wish that Gerry and Lois could have been there to witness the joy that their gift brought to this rural clinic. There will be many more of those stories coming up.

If the excitement at the clinic wasn’t enough, the ride to and from Sambasha included a daladala full of Maasai women who were just as thankful and showed it by serenading us with their traditional songs. Whit and I were joking that it was the ultimate surround sound system.

We finally returned to Matudumomye, and were able to talk with 20 of the elder men of the village. This was our first presentation to a group of men, and I was a little apprehensive. I had no idea how they would react to our information, and it doesn’t help that they all carry big sticks (for walking) and machetes. But they were very attentive, which is all I can ask for. However, their questions and concerns showed the fundamental difference between relationships here in Tanzania compared to relationships that we are accustomed to. They asked a question about how to protect themselves if their wife is unfaithful, as if it happens all the time. But the very next thing they asked was what they are supposed to do to protect themselves when they leave their families for weeks or months at a time, because they simply cannot last a couple of weeks without having sex (supposedly). It is so hard to listen to them talk about their relationships here because they are nearly always based on money and convenience, rather than love. It is so easy for us to why HIV spreads so easily here, but the challenge is trying to explain to them these concepts without seeming like we are pointing fingers and blaming them. I feel like we have to be blunt at times and point fingers at harmful behaviors, but I don’t want to upset them to the point where they question our credibility…it’s quite a fine line.

Whit and I filled out an application for a program called STAR that works to promote women’s and children’s rights, and the CWCD was one of 12 selected out of 90 NGOs who applied. Mama, the director, has to travel to Dar for a meeting on Monday, so we will know more about what our membership in the program means. It was a nice little success story for Whit and I that we can tangibly see.

Stacie, our roommate and co-worker, decided to leave this week and is taking off tomorrow. I’m actually really looking forward to having our own apartment for the first time since our wedding, but we both are a little jealous that she gets to go home and see her family for the Christmas. The holidays have been very difficult for us here as we miss our families and friends and traditions, but we have some fun plans for Christmas.

(This picture is of us presenting to the group of men. I love the traditional dress of the Maasai men (the ones mostly to the left us). Definitely one of our more intimidating crowds.)

Written by Zach