We had a couple of outings to visit the general store, the open market, and some friends of the World Concern staff. It was delightful to be able to experience the warmth, smiling faces, and hospitality of so many. Love, friendliness, and opening your home for a visit from a stranger translates in all languages. We were thrilled to acquaint ourselves with the Maasai people. Families of tribal leaders live in houses built of wood, aluminum, and concrete while others live in mud huts. It was fascinating to find out that when there is a marriage the women go out to find sticks, twigs and the needed materials to make the hut. She then builds it herself using animal dung as a plaster to hold the sticks and twigs together. Wow! What a gift for the husband. The Maasai are one of the most impoverished tribes in East Africa. They raise goats and cattle to trade or sell. They live in small villages called manyattas, which are in a circular arrangement. In the evening the cows come into the center of the village to be protected from wild animals. The oldest son or man takes them out in the morning to graze, and before sunset, they bring them back home.
As we entered a hut it was very dark. We bent down and held hands as we weaved into the main room of the small home. The design of each hut was the same but the decorations on the walls were different and expressed the personality of the woman who built it. The longer you were in the hut the better you could see and as your eyes adjusted to the light you could appreciate this home. There were beds on opposite walls. Similar to a twin bed on one side, for the children and a double on the other, for the parents. I sat along with others on the double bed behind other team members. The beds made of straw, sticks, twigs, covered with animal skin or blue tarp. Each bed sat a foot or two off the floor. The center, the living space had small stools to sit on, a stove built to vent out a chimney, some worked better than others and it was much more spacious then they looked. It was all incredible, lovely people living extraordinarily and opening their homes to us.
