There are approximately 841,622
Maasai in Kenya and a further 430,000 in northern areas of Tanzania with the word 'Maasai'
deriving from the word Maa; so Maa-sai means 'my people'. They live a
nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyle and are perhaps best
known for their distinctive customs and dress.
The
Maasai lifestyle centres on the herding of cattle and
they have an ancient tradition that God bequeathed to
them all the cattle on earth; a tradition quoted when
caught rustling cattle from other non-Maasai herdsmen!
Given this lifestyle, Maasai boys are expected to be herders from a young age, starting with
looking after the family's lambs and young calves from around the age of five
whilst girls learn domestic skills. The living is harsh with a life expectancy of just 45 years.
At the age of seven, Maasai boys
traditionally have the top of their right earlobe pierced signalling the
taking on of more responsibilities such as looking after older calves and
herding cattle with the rest of the family. The next stage for Maasai
children is at the age of sixteen or seventeen when the lower lobes of both ears
are pierced in a ceremony that augurs a new period when they take on sole
responsibility for cattle and moving herds. Shortly after Maasai boys are
circumcised; a rite of passage that then allows him to decorate himself with olive branches and carry a
quiver. Around this time Maasai girls are dressed in black robes and a leather
decoration is put in her pierced ear lobe.
Living a nomadic lifestyle presents challenges for the education of Maasai children although an increasing number of
them are eager to attend education. This is made all the more difficult because schools are so far away from their communities and, whilst some Massai children do undertake secondary eduaction, few have the opportunity to attend college. While at school, they learn English and Swahili, however their native language, Maa, is still spoken at home. Obviously when they are at
school they cannot perform their expected, traditional duties so such attendance is rarely encouraged and the situation is even
worse for girls as there is a clear expectation that, on growing up, they will
marry and live with their husband's kin without need for any skills outside domestic duties and child-rearing. (Culturally, Maasai girls normally are offered by fathers to marry older men to marry, often when they are between the ages of twelve and fourteen.) Today, however, programs to
bring education, water and health facilities to the Maasai people and this is
attempted whilst preserving traditional Maasai culture for as one Maasai warrior
put it, "A Maasai without culture is as a zebra without stripes. If we abandon
our way of life, our next step could be extinction."
Maasai Children: Child Sponsor Kenya
|
Maasai Children: Child Sponsor Tanzania
|
Maasai Children: Volunteer in Kenya
|
Maasai Children: Volunteer in Tanzania
|
![]() |
Details of current volunteer work
opportunities in each of the
countries of Africa.
Find how to sponsor a child in Africa
with our list of organisations,
charities, programs and projects.
Discover all about Africa, its tourist
attractions, history, people, culture
and daily life there.
A treasure trove of African
resources from webcams to
free downloads and news.