THE O’BRIEN SCHOOL FOR THE MAASAI

NEWSLETTER - OCTOBER 2013 ISSUE

Term Three has Started!The end of Term Two brought about a one-month long holiday. After our fun closing

activities, most students went home and used the holiday to visit family and friends, help

their parents at home, and rest before a very busy Term Three. Grade Four, however, contin-ued to come to school in order to review and study for their National Exam in November.

We also hosted great volunteers from Cornell/Qatar Medical School who planted over 50 trees throughout the Sanya Station Village!

Finding Solutions to our ProblemsManaging a school in the middle of a Maasai village can be quite difficult. There are many aspects of the Maasai Tribe that we are still

learning about. Culture differences, customs, and language barriers arise on a daily basis.This newsletter is the first issue of many that

will contain information, direct from our villag-ers, on Maasai culture, beliefs, and traditions.

We hope you enjoy!

In this issue:•End of Term Two•A Trip to Sanya Station Primary•A Glimpse Into the Maasai•More Pictures•Support Those Living in Dusty

Lands

Please refer to the last page for contact info!

“We can do no great things, only small things with great love.” - Mother Teresa

Term Two Closing CeremonyTerm Two came to an end on August 2, and we had a great celebration for a good term and also the farewell to one of our

long-term volunteers, Rachel Brigell (Office Manager). In the two days prior to the Closing Day, we hosted dancers from the dance crews, Contagious and Contagious Juniors. Contagious is a renowned b-boy (breakdancing and hip hop, mainly) dance

crew based in Arusha, Tanzania. Its members have competed around Africa, and some now study across the globe. This is their second visit to the school for workshops. Our students and staff love Contagious dancers’ performances and lessons! Recently, Contagious opened a dance studio in Arusha to teach children and young adults and have seen much success with the Juniors.

Always focusing on the importance of education, they taught our students basic routines to perform at the closing ceremonies. The students realized that they cannot learn how to dance well without discipline, memorization, counting, and repetition.

During closing, the students performed on stage and impressed all students, staff, and parents!Special thanks to: Calvin, David, Gerald, Mic, Paul, and Tim

Calvin and Gerald teaching the upper-level students their choreography.

Bboy Silence (Gerald) showing off his power moves!

Tim and Mic teaching the students to be synchronized and to keep time.

Our students’ attempts at their own, unique power moves!

High-fives from David, Paul, and Mic for the student volunteers!

Sanya Station Primary SchoolA couple of months ago, volunteers from the O’Brien School for the Maasai visited a local government school that is located just a few kilometers away from the O’Brien School. The school, Sanya Station Primary, is the biggest primary school in the village.

Primary Education is universal for all children in Tanzania. So, since Sanya Station Primary School is a government school, the students do not pay school fees. However, it can be difficult for families to afford to pay for uniforms, books, school supplies, and “extra donations” (hidden fees) for teachers and food. That is typical in most government schools.

Sanya Station Primary School has 566 students in Grades 1 - 7. Grade 7 is split into two classes, but some Grades have 90-100 students in one classroom!They have only nine teachers for all eight classrooms. When we visited, two of the teachers were out for extended leave and two were absent. There were only five teachers watching over all 566 students!The school is monitored by a Headmaster and they have one cook. The students and teachers are responsible for cleanliness.Many of the children that attend that school are also Maasai, but there is also a large population of non-Maasai. While we were there, the students were not in class.

The Headmaster took us to various classrooms to meet the students, but most of them were just focused on getting their picture taken. The teachers were marking papers in the middle of class time. The students did not eat that day because the cook did not come. Typically, they get some porridge and a little local food for lunch.

Overall, there is a big difference between Sanya Station Primary and the O’Brien School for the Maasai! We have donated many of our desks, books, and blackboards to the school so that we can assist the school. Seeing that makes us so thankful for all donors who made OBSM so beautiful, well-stocked, and enriched!

“May God give you children, may God give you cattle.” -Common Maasai Prayer

The word Maasai means “speaker of the language, Maa”. There are two groups of the Maasai: those who are semi nomadic and live a pastoral lifestyle (the Maasai proper) and those who are settled and practice some agriculture. The Maasai in our village are the latter. Many have lived their entire lives in Sanya Station while others plan on settling their own families here permanently.Within the large tribe that extend throughout Kenya and Tanzania, there are different geographical sec-tions of the tribe. Within these sections, the Maasai inhabiting the areas are divided into clans. There are a total of five clans, and each clan has its own name, territory, dialect, ceremonies, ways of life, and even leadership authority. So a Maasai from our village might go to Arusha (which is only 40 kms away!) and not even be able to communicate with a fellow Maa-sai in Maa because the dialects are so different!Overall, the origins and history of the Maasai are quite mysterious and full of legends. What has been passed down to some of our

students and staff members is this:The Maasai came to East Africa and inhabited the land. Fending off dangerous animals and struggling with drought and barren lands, they learned how to follow the rains. They faced and defeated many tribes, causing them to be much feared. They were feared so much that they were relatively undisturbed during times of slave trade.They lived on milk, butter, honey, and the meat and blood of cattle, goats, and sheep. They dis-liked farming and kept strong to their traditions.

The Maasai

Maasai 101: Cattle and HerdingThere are seasons in Maasailand: the rainy season and the dry season. The Maasais life is determined by the seasons. In the rainy seasons, Maasai women are frantic to maintain homes, but the cattle are able to feast on the abundant grasses so it is a time of celebration. Many ceremonies take place during this time, and people are healthy. In the dry season, everything turns dusty. All vegetation wilts away and the cattle weaken and many die. The boys must take the cattle elsewhere just to find good grazing lands. Our villagers often take their cattle to faraway places so the students don’t see their brothers and cattle for months at a time. After school, most boys must immediately go home to tend to their cattle.

Cattle are their most prized possessions, so the Maasai live in true harmony with the seasons to protect and nourish their cattle. They guard the cattle in the bitter cold of the night and under the equatorial sun during the day to protect them from predators and thieves. One of our student’s father has killed two lions in his life-time to protect his cows. Cattle form the basis of the Maasai culture because they are the main forms of sustenance, wealth, and power. Generally, someone is poor if they have less than 50 cows. All cows are branded according to the familial clan.

A Maasai family love and care for their cattle just like their own children. Each cow has a name according to their temperament or coloring. Maasai learn to sing to the cattle, describing their features and personalities. In return, these cows give them milk, a staple in their diet, and meat. However, the Maasai strongly believe that you cannot drink milk and eat the meat at the same time because it will cause their cows to be cursed. Also, it is disrespectful to the cows if they feed on it alive (milk) and at the same time, dead (meat). The Maasai also drink the blood of the cows during the dry season when food is scarce. They use an arrow to pierce its jugular vein. Many of our villagers do not need to drink the blood in the dry season, but many women still drink blood after giving birth. Also, some children and warriors will drink the blood if they are injured, recently circumcised, or need extra strength.

They utilize every part of their cattle, in-cluding the urine for medicinal purposes; the dung to build their homes; its horns to make containers; its hoofs for ornaments; and its hide for clothing, shoes, and bed mats. There are also certain ceremonies and methods required to slaughter a cow respectfully. The cattle sleep in enclosures in the center of their engang, or settlement. They use branches from thornbushes to keep them inside. Young calves often sleep inside the family’s huts.

“...without cattle there are no Maasai.”

Pictures from Term Two Closing!

International Day of the GirlFriday, October 11, was

International Day of the Girl Child. Always teaching the girls to stay in

school and work hard, we are hearing both the boys’ and girls’ perspectives broaden and the girls’ job aspirations

widen. Our girls want to be police officers, tour guides, doctors, pilots teachers, accountants, judges, and

administrators of schools!Typically, girls of the Maasai tribe get married around age 15 and then start having children. The O’Brien School

offers them an opportunity to receive a quality education and to find a job

that can better support their families.

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“Giving frees us from the familiar territoryof our own needs by opening our mind

to the unexplained worlds occupied by the needs of others.”

- Barbara Bush -