Engaruka

I joined the GSC team in Engaruka for 2 weeks. This village is located 4 hours Southeast of Arusha in the foothills of the Rift Valley. Engaruka is home to the Maasai pastoralists and Somalian farmers. For 3 weeks in February, GSC volunteers trained BIA to farmer groups during the morning and HIV/reproduction health to a primary school in the afternoon.

WEEK ONE:

Teaching

During my first week in Engaruka, I trained over 30 Maasai villagers about sustainable agriculture. Unfortunately, after the first day it was apparent that none of these villagers used farming methods for survival. Unlike previous trainings, our Engaruka students showed little interest or enthusiasm in learning gardening techniques. During the practical sessions, the GSC volunteers constructed the majority of the compost and double dug beds while our students observed from afar. The Maasai in Engaruka (unlike in Arusha) practice traditional customs; they are pastoralists, NOT farmers. Maasai rely heavily on cattle for food, dowry, and income. Therefore, in the rare occasion that Maasai decide to farm, they use the crops solely for income and not for their own nutrition. Every day Maasai mamas spread their vegetables (mostly small tomatoes and onions) on the dirt road in the village center. Similarly, every Monday and Thursday mamas from surrounding villages would travel to Engaruka in attempt to sell their meager amount of fruits and vegetables.

The highlight of my first week was teaching Reproduction Health to a classroom of primary school students. I taught the same group of students for 2 consecutive weeks (first week about reproduction and second week about HIV). My classroom became an open forum. Although I used the lesson plan as a guideline, I spent the majority of my time answering questions that students did not feel comfortable asking their parents or teachers. Most of the students who attend Engaruka Juu Primary School are orphans (over 100 students board) and, as a result, turn to their peers for insight about sexuality. Throughout the week, I clarified and ended several rumors about sex and reproduction. Students were eager to learn (while laughing) and wanted me to stay longer each day. I loved ending our class with singing and dancing--who knew that the Macarena would be so well loved.

Camping

We camped at Moses Campground in Engaruka Juu. The site is located at the base of the Rift Valley among Maasai bomas. A Maasai boma or Maasai home is constructed of cow dung and sticks. The bomas tend to be temporary shelters until the cattle are ready to be herded to a new location.

Camping in Engaruka was one of the most beautiful experiences (excluding the 106 degree heat). A Maasai man named Israel was the director of the site. Over the 2 weeks, he took us on hiking excursions into the Valley. (We were not allowed to hike without a guide due to the lions, buffalos and hyenas that resided in the mountains). Along with guiding, Israel and his wife cooked dinners for our team. Since most of us enjoyed vegetables that they were not used to cooking, we took the initiative to cook our own dinners periodically.

During our camping excursions, I share a tent with 3 other girl volunteers. I think I have mastered sleeping on a thin pad, packing the bear essentials, using a headlamp after 7PM, defecating in a hole, and showering in the dark.

Slaughtering

Every Thursday, Engaruka Chini has a livestock market. Maasai villagers herd their goats and cows for miles to sell them in Chini. Our team purchased a goat to kill and cook for dinner! At our campsite, Israel used his Maasai machete or panga to slit the goat's throat. Although I was not a fan of the goat meat, I like the taste of a medicinal tea that consisted of boiled goat blood/remnants and plants.

Weekend

Over the weekend, our team visited Lake Natron and an active volcano called Ol Doinyo Lengai or "Mountain of God." Lake Natron is a flamingo-breeding center (both greater and lesser flamingos present) due to the alkaline and shallow water. Thousands of bright pink feathers outlined the lake as the sun set at Natron. Lengai is the only active sodium carbonate volcano in the world (3450 meters). Like Mt. Kilimanjaro, most hikers climb this peak at midnight due to the blinding sun and heat. Last year, villages surrounding Lengai were forced to evacuate due to a major eruption. People suffered due to the massive death toll of cattle and farmlands being destroyed. Needless to say, our organization believed that it was too great of a liability to allow our team to hike the volcano.

WEEK 2:

Teaching

After our first week of teaching BIA, the message was spread to Engaruka villagers that they would not be paid for our training sessions. Unlike GSC, other NGOs pay their participants to attend training sessions. I feel that this recruiting method is ineffective and hindering to other non-profits. By using money instead of knowledge as the incentive, villagers fail to implement the skills learned. As a result, only 4 people participated in our training. Initially, I was extremely frustrated with the turnout of our classroom but as the training proceeded I realized that this group was present for the sole purpose of learning. Unlike our students during the first week, these students were more than willing to help make compost and beds. They asked questions and were on time for every training event. With such a small class, I was able to develop close relationships and tailor the training sessions to each of their needs. At the end of the week, we all exchanged mailing addresses and I was offered a plot of land!

Like BIA, there were many challenges while teaching HIV prevention to the primary school. Unfortunately, the headmaster did not want condom use or birth control to be mentioned in our lesson plan. How do you effectively teach students about HIV prevention without mentioning the word condom!? Additionally, why was I allowed to speak about sex and reproduction freely the previous week but be restricted in what I teach about the following week? To make matters worse, we were forced to cut and mark out pages of the GSC booklets that were given to the students. While teaching prevention, students inevitably inquired about condom use and told us that other NGOS had demonstrated how to use them!

Condoms in Engaruka?

After dealing with this complicated situation at the school, I was curious about the prevalence of condom use among Maasai. Shockingly, condoms are not sold at the stores in the village center! In Maasai culture, polygamy is heavily practiced. Typically, the men that I met in Engaruka had at least 2 wives. Concurrent relationships and lack of condom use is a deadly combination for the spread of HIV. Furthermore, villagers in Engaruka do not trust the condoms that occasionally are sold at the stores due to their well-overdue expiration dates.

Reproduction

For Maasai, reproducing children is a top priority. Before a couple gets married, the woman must breed a healthy newborn. If there are problems with infertility or the newborn is unhealthy, the man will refuse the woman's hand in marriage. It is common for a close relative or friend to give their newborn away to an infertile woman so she can marry.

Walk and talk and love

I love to wonder. Every day after work I ventured into town alone or with a volunteer. Walking exposed me to more homes, people, and cornfields. I spent my time speaking to villagers about daily life in Engaruka--their informal education, marriage and family life, being a pastoralists, their means for water and nutrition, the harmful effects of global warming etc.

One day, similar to the situation in Ngurdoto, Harry (GSC staff) and I were trapped in a rainstorm. We were welcomed into a Maasai boma by a mama and her children until the storm passed. How will I leave this beautiful country and these beautiful people?