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| My Filson jacket in Masai land |
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| Masai drinking water |
#7 My week and a bit with
the Masai
Day
7 - Tuesday
I
was up early and into the bush. I love the bush, not just for hunting but also
to hear the bird life and enjoy the beauty of nature. Pastor
Musa’s house is located just under a ridge, so the clouds were still sitting on
top the ridge. It is cold here in Masai land this time of year. Thanks to my
good friend John in Seattle area, he bought me a ‘Filson’ jacket. Might as well
have the best, is what they say. It’s the kind tough guys wear. Thanks, John!
After
some chapatis and some chai we were off. Well, we were supposed to be off, but
we had to wait for the driver again. He has had two more flats since yesterday.
This guy I am not too sure about. Our patience is running a bit thin with him.
At the clinic
the line is long already. People have come a long way. When a tooth is in pain
your whole life is just not fun. Some have been in pain for months perhaps
years. In the rural areas of Africa there is only one dentist to every 150,000
people, I think it is something like one dentist for every 2,000 in the States.
It is not
uncommon for Masai women to have their front two teeth taken out as a sign of
beauty. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, as they say. Mark’s mother had
her front top two taken out when she was just a girl. Mark’s front bottom two
teeth were taken out when he was just 6 years old. It is a belief that if your
child get this certain disease that the mouth will close, so these teeth are
taken out so that at least you can get food into the mouth. My teeth are not
very good but I still have all mine; thanks to Dr. Rick!
I have done my
duty this morning and helped Dr. Rick get set up; it is also my job to take
some pictures of Dr. Rick at work. The plan today was to start our seminar at 9
am. But well, no one is here yet, it wasn’t till 11 that people started showing
up. Time is always coming, right?
Today was a day of challenges,
encouraging the pastors to create investors in their church and not just
consumers or church goers. Most Africans have become consumers thanks to all the
hand-outs that are given from the West; from the government to the church we
are guilty of this.
This is the
one of the first things I look for when I am in a group, who are the investors;
and it is with these that I spend my energy. I have spent years investing in
consumers and the fruit has proven to be very little. Even Jesus when he chose
his 12 disciples; they were all doing something before he called them out. I
actually wrote a list of all those I work with and even relate with, which ones
are consumers and which are the investors. This has helped me so much to see
where most of my time was being spent. That list has helped to prioritize my
own time of investment with others. I still ‘love’ everyone but purpose my time
differently.
A question
that generally always comes up in a group of pastors here, as it did today is
about polygamy. Having more than one wife, is this ok, is it a sin, what do we
do as pastors if a member has more than one wife? I often will introduce myself
letting everyone know that I have only one wife, I get a lot of laughs because
there are many men in the church that will have up to four wives. My father knew
of a man in Liberia where I lived as a kid, this man had 32 wives and like over
a 100 children. I can’t even remember my own 4 girls’ names much-less 100.
My counsel is
that it is not a sin, but it is better to be a man of one wife, you find it
throughout the bible. No, do not divorce any of your wives, keep them all. Treat
them right etc and no, it is better that you do not be a pastor of a church and
so on. A lot of the counsel that pastors get from Westerners is that if you
have wives, divorce all but the first.
This has brought a lot of confusion in the rural churches of Africa. Now you
have wives with no husbands and kids with no fathers. Who is going to take care
of them? The best is for the husbands to love their wives and kids and take
care of them. Anyway, this is a big thing here among the Masai. Mark’s mother
is the first of four wives.
The first
wife is always the first lady of the boma or home. She is the boss. It is not
uncommon to have a 50 year old wife and a 18 year old wife. Each wife has her
own house that she is responsible to build. Her house is often round and has a
round top. There is only one tiny window or hole about the size of a tennis
ball. Inside it is all black with years of smoke. There is small room where the
baby goats etc stay, then you go into the bigger room where most of life takes
place. Here is where most of the cooking takes place and the only light comes
from the small fire. The mattress is but a cow hide that is laid on top of a
bed frame made of sticks. All the kids
sleep on one side of the fire and mom and baby sleeps on the other.
The husband
then stays in his own house, it is generally a square house and he often is the
one that builds his own house. His house is made of mud while her house is made
of cow dung. You may think that this is unfair but it is the cow dung house
that generally lasts longer. There is no smell and easy to patch since all the
cows are home for the night. Your building material is just there in the stall.
______________________________________
Back
at the clinic Dr. Rick is having a blast, he has not been feeling so good
today, but he is pushing on. I know that he has been keeping his own journal; I
have no idea what he writes about. I am sure my name has and will appear a time
or two, not sure if that is a good thing or bad thing. Maybe I will sneak his
journal into my room and read it through with my new termite friends….
In all this day was great, we had our dinner in the next boma across the way. Had a full spread. All too good. Tomorrow we go to the local Masai market, we will do a clinic there as well.
Tutaonana kesho – See you tomorrow
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