We woke up this morning and headed to the site of a half finished school built by the government for the Maasai children in this area. The government funds the structure but then it is partially the communities responsibility to complete the project. This school is still in need of windows, tables, chairs, and for each classroom to be painted. We volunteered here for most of the day painting classrooms as you can see.
Later on in the day our guide received news from a local Maasai friend that here was to be a large ceremony with many people attending. We drove about a half an hour in the direction we were guided to unsure if we would find the gathering and if so if we would be welcomed to stay. We knew we were close as we began to see many Maasai men and women walking in the same direction we were headed. When we pulled up outside the boma (arrangement of Maasai huts usually surrounded by a ring of planted trees and brush to keep out wild animals) our guide asked us to keep our cameras in our bags and wait. Being a Maasai himself, we were warmly welcomed to an experience that very few visitors to Maasailand would ever know about or ever be allowed to attend.
The men and women were arriving seperately and I immediately started to wonder if this was in fact a circumcision ceremony. A traditional ceremony that is part of the Maasai culture and marks the crossing over from childhood to adulthood. The Maasai have historically performed the circumcisions on both male and female youth. However, the female circumcision has been outlawed by the government and remains a very controversial topic still. Here a group of women are arriving, you can see one is jumping up high. Both men and women in the Maasai are known for how high they can jump and it is part of the ceremonial dancing. The womenhave painted there faces with the red earth mixed with animal fat and they are bouncing their necklaces up and down and spinning them around their necks in celebration.
We were invited to eat as well but respectfully passed...
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