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| Mzee Oloiboni second left, third his younger brother and the writer. |
ARUSHA, Tanzania – For centuries the Maasai people, who are
found in northern Tanzania and southern Kenya, have lived in harmony
with nature. They view their place in the complex ecosystem of Africa as
its guardians.
The Maasai are semi-nomadic and follow
the rains with their herds of cattle. The men in the society are
warriors and herders. Since they are out with the herds all day the
women are in charge of village maintenance. They build the houses,
maintain the water supply, and gather the firewood, cook, and handle any
other duties involved in running the village.
About 100 kms from
Arusha on the way to Ngorongoro and Serengeti, in a remote area deeper
in the wilderness, there is one Maasai village, Eslalei, which has been
drawing tourists albeit on a low scale, according to analysts. This is a
village owned by one Maasai man Mzee Oloiboni Meshuko Ole Mapii.
The
Boma is perched on a hill and within the vast wildernesses that
traverse through its heart and one of those exquisite wonders is the
fact that Mzee Oloiboni Meshuko Ole Mapii (with his age not known but
believed to be over 110 years old) is the proud husband of eight wives
and it is home to over 300 members of his family that includes sons,
daughters and grandchildren.
In the Maasai culture polygamy is
widely accepted and has been practiced for many years, Mzee told says.
This, he says, shows a man’s wealth, but also assures the continuation
of the man’s clan. All sons and grandchildren, are also married to
between three and five wives.
Fronted by a hill and wilderness the
Oloiboni’s Maasai village, which looks like a suspended town, has the
right ingredients for a cultural-getaway. In the comfort of the coolness
of the area, we enjoyed the endless view over this magnificent scenery,
stretched over soft plains and acacia trees. From here we could watch
giraffes, zebra and gazelles crossing the wildlife corridor of Tarangire
and Lake Manyara national parks.
On my recent visit accompanied
by Elirehema Maturo from the Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB) responsible
for Cultural Tourism Programme, I meet Eslalei’s oldest citizen. In a
voice that cracked with age, he described how he arrived in the area 60
years ago, full of expectations for his new life and later a life loaded
with ‘his’ unique small village setting.
After the short
introductions and warmed by their welcoming, we headed to a place where
the old man was sitting. One of his main daily activities is to consult
with most of the family members to make sure there is peace and unity
among the family members, we were told.
In addition, he consults
on all cattle herders (now over 40 herders who takes cattle, goats and
sheep out for grazing) daily to make sure they are loyal and happy with
their work.
“I am so proud of my wives and all family members,”
said Mzee Oloiboni, flanked by his younger brother and two grandchildren
aged more than 40 years.
He says he moved into the area
migrating from Ngorongoro crater, nearly 50 kms away and settled in the
area where he married one wife after another until he had eight wives
(two of whom have now passed on).
With the typical Maasai
friendliness that is born out of Mzee Oloiboni, he invited us to visit
his hundred plus grass thatched huts that are well spaced out to ensure a
reasonable amount of privacy and several cattle enclosures within his
sprawling village. The two grandchildren walked us through the vast
area, including one of Mzee’s new houses, built within the surrounding
areas furnished with modern or city-like furniture’s and amenities.
Mzee
Oloiboni is a keen cattle owner with over 3500 cows and over a
thousand goats and sheep. However, in Maasai culture one is not supposed
to give the exact number of cattle, so we knew the figures were not
real.
And as part of his help in the communities nearby Mzee
Oloiboni loans out a few cows to outsiders for a few years for them to
have milk and blood. Mzee is a connoisseur for fresh cattle blood as
well as meats, milk and local medicine roots boiled as soups and served
alongside main dishes.
It was not until the early 1980s that
Maasais became much more entrenched in a market economy and, hence, more
impoverished generally speaking. As a result, the Maasai, which once
was a proud and self-sufficient society, is now facing many social,
political and economic challenges.
With western influences afoot,
Maasais are moving towards a new way of life by developing the things
they need to survive and prosper within their villages such as water
supplies and school houses. They strive to maintain their cultural
heritage and incorporate it into their new way of living.
Naturally,
Mzee Oloiboni has also grasped the modern culture and has put up two
houses that depict the urban styles and a primary school (Oloiboni
Primary school) with classes from nursery to standard six owned fully by
him.
The school, with a total number of 160 children, is
registered in Monduli district and three teachers are seconded here by
the government of Tanzania to teach alongside other teacher volunteers
from Heart Tanzania, one of the donors for the school. The school has
six classrooms and at the school, I met teachers who had a very fruitful
working relationship with the clan’s siblings.
Despite of its
uniqueness of the Maasai Boma cum village owned by one clan it sees a
limited number of tourists both local and international, and has only
managed to attract a small number. “If only tourists could come here
more often then I would ask them to help me to support the school” Mzee
Oloiboni said as we left.
By Elisha Mayallah
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