I was so excited the morning that I headed to Maasailand. This has been a journey 30 years in the making. When I was little, my father always enjoyed learning about the world. He had a library of books and periodicals on many world subjects. Some of my most vivid memories were of sitting on the couch as a little girl and reading his “coffee table” books. My favorite book was on the Maasai. I must have gone through that book a hundred times. I was fascinated with a culture so different than my own – with beautiful, ornate jewelry and clothing, large earlobes decorated with hundreds beads and just a mysterious wonder about them. And now, I would finally meet them in person and be able to experience their culture firsthand.
It was apparent as we drove closer to Saikeri in Maasailand that we were entering another world. On our way to Maasailand, we passed a city called Ngong. Mike, from Fadhili, drove and pointed out Ngong to tell me that it was the town where I would shop if I needed anything. So, I assumed that we were really close to Sakeri.
Town of Ngong
And 45 minutes later, when the paved road had turned into red dirt, rocky roads and the mountains and hills appeared and the giraffes roamed free, we had arrived.
Arriving in Maasailand
The site where I stayed had the medical clinic, the homesite and a school next door. One of the volunteers offered to tour the school for me and you could see students anxiously watching the arrival of the newest volunteer. I was told ahead of time that it would appear that the children were charging toward me because they walk toward you with their head down. But, it was their greeting in a respectful manner. And as each child bowed, I was to put my hand on their crown. I would find out later that day when seeing patients that the respectful bow for elders also goes for adults bowing to their elders. We saw some older patients in the clinic and before assessing the patient, it was expected to great the patient, bow out of respect and then go forth with the evaluation. There is something about that bowing that I really liked and it was nice to see, unlike American culture, how the elders are the most respected in the community.
The Saikeri Medical Clinic
The homesite
Before starting in clinic that afternoon, I walked down to the Maasai Market, which is on Tuesdays and Fridays. On Market Days, you see many gathering to sell clothing and goods. The restaurants are open selling mandazi (which are like small elephant ears to us!) and ginger soda and one of the most popular places is the store that sells Safaricom prepaid minutes and charges your cell phone. With this modern era, it is wild to see the Maasai villagers in their decorated clothing with one additional accessory – a cell phone carrier! Almost every adult you see will have a cell phone carrier. Communication is key! I stopped in one of the restaurants to have an afternoon snack of mandazi for 5 Kenyan Shillings (or less than one US cent!!) and some ginger soda and we sat in the women’s sitting area (in the back of the restaurant – when in Maasailand, do as the Maasai do – who was I to discuss equality!!). After a snack, we headed back to see afternoon patients at the clinic. Many of the visits were the usual type of visits that you would see in the US – upper respiratory infections from the common cold and family planning usually with Depo-Provera. And, the clinic was completely walk-in, so you never knew what you would see next. Certain days were set aside for pregnant patients, immunizations and days where insect-treated mosquito nets were given out. I also saw patients for things I had only read about in text books like malaria and brucellosis. For those, I pulled out a handbook I purchased specifically for the trip, “Where There Is No Doctor,” which really came in handy.
The clinic had very limited supplies when it came to medicines and supplies. The sterilization process for some needles and instruments consists of burning them. There is an otoscope to look in ears, but no electricity to charge it. The scale to weigh patients is broken and the basic evaluation consists of getting a temperature and listening to heart and lungs. But, despite these tough conditions, there was a lot of good treatment that was coming out of this clinic. And with the closest hospital almost an hour away and the ambulance of the town being a bicycle, the villagers are very grateful for the clinic and Maggie, the nurse who runs the clinic.
Maggie
Maggie is Maasai and she is an amazing woman. She is not even 30 yet and she has made strides in her community. She was the first in her village to go to college when the majority do not complete high school because secondary education (after elementary school) is not free and if your family cannot afford it, your education ends forever, most likely. Maggie was determined as a young girl to make a difference. Funds were raised in her village for her to attend college which was hours away and she was only able to come home once yearly for the three years she was in college. When Maggie graduated, she was offered positions to be a nurse in more developed areas with less hardships, but she was determined to return to her Maasai village and give back. She not only runs the clinic, but she also owns a goods store in town at the market and is shortly opening a pharmacy.
Maggie's shop in the market
She is a true entrepreneur!! I learned of microfinance only in the last year and when I think of what she did with only a small amount of money, I see the benefit in financing other women to do the same. Maggie has an amazing heart because relative to many in the US, she still has very little – a small home with two rooms and no running water or electricity and no automobile. But, she wants to do so much and with what little she has, she wants to give back. Maggie is passionate about her people. Her dreams for the clinic are to have running water (which I have agreed to help fund), a real maternity ward so women come in to labor instead of laboring at home where complications cannot be taken care of and an ambulance – a real vehicle – for medical emergencies to get those who need it in town. One of her other great passions is providing the support and funding for young girls to further their education past primary school to secondary school and into college. This is not just a financial issue – it is a social issue. Many young women in Maasailand see their goal as completely their initial education, getting married and having children and that is it. Maggie wants to change their thinking which will change their future. And speaking of changing their thinking, one of the most heartbreaking talks I had with Maggie is the topic of female genital mutilation (FGM) and fighting to end this. There are certain rituals that I do personally feel should not be disturbed because this is the inherent pride and history of a person’s culture. But, FGM is not one of them. And many Maasai women like Maggie want it ended too. Female Genital Mutilation is a procedure that all (to date) Maasai women will undergo at the age of 12. It involves removing the clitoris and labia minora with a sharp knife by a village “doctor” without anesthesia. And according to the Maasai, it is what make as a woman “clean.” If the child doesn’t bleed to death, she has to deal with the awful pain, risk of infection, risk for a fistula, and future struggles with a constricted canal for child-bearing and intercourse. The biggest obstacle to ending this practice is that socially if this isn’t done, a woman will be “unclean” and no Maasai man will want to marry her. I have delivered a woman from Somalia who underwent a female circumcision and it just broke my heart to watch her labor without any pain medication (per her husband!!) with such a constricted canal. But Maggie is a woman who can move mountains, so I have full confidence that she will be the pioneer and stimulus to end this practice forever.
Maggie - The Hope and The Dream of the Maasai
Next, my first night in Maasailand………
