Rhythm of a day for a young Maasai
We asked if any of the KCEA students would like to write an essay to help us appreciate their lives and culture. The first such contribution is the following essay which we found so apt and beautifully descriptive:
In chilly mornings and sometimes sunny the maasai girls wake up, get out of the manyattas so gracefully and (as it is in their culture) the first thing they do is greet their siblings. Then they proceed to greet their parents; in the maa culture girls don't sleep in the same house (manyatta) with their parents.
After greetings, the business of that particular day starts.The young boys go to milk the goats and sheep as the grown up girls milk cows with their mothers. After milking the cows, sheep and goats they all go to the house to prepare tea.Their breakfast is normally tea alone with nothing else or even sometimes there is no tea as tea leaves and sugar are not affordable to most of them. So they just boil the milk and take it. After the humble breakfast, the business of the day continues; the cows are separated from their calves for the purposes of milking them in the evening.The young boys take care of the calves and the grown up boys go to take care of the cows. Sometimes, though rarely, girls also take care of the cows. They just dress in their Maasai shukas with necklaces made of beads round their long necks and those who are lucky enough have shoes.
The cows are taken care of the entire day. They are taken to the river to take water. Since cows from different homesteads meet at the river taking water the young Maasai gentlemen and girls meet and vibe as each of them wait for their herd to finish taking water. Afterwards they all disperse and each of them takes their herd back to their ground. As the cows graze, the person taking care of them whistles in such a way that it sounds as if they are humming a song, that whistling makes the cows graze more peacefully as it makes them relax and get to know that they are protected from any danger. At dusk, as birds sing the melodious songs,and as the sun sets so beautifully,the young people take the cows back home.They are milked and the milk is used for making evening tea and also taken for supper.That is how a day is for almost every young Maasai person