A Village called Morloo

Just a week ago I was waking up from spending my first night in a boma, a small mud house like the one you see above ... I woke up to the sound of Mama Grace blowing on the embers to reignite the fire. It was a welcomed sound because the house had cooled down just a few hours before after the night fire had died down. Grace, a 4th grader, was already up and preparing for school. A few minutes later when I finally sat up, a cup of steaming hot tea was passed to me for breakfast. 

Elise, Christy, Grace and I shared a bed made of sticks and covered by cowskin. It was a cozy fit in our small bed, but we loved it. Before bed we'd sing Maasai and Swahili songs and tell stories from the day. Elise and Christy are 2 of the 4 NMSI interns working with AH during their summer break from school. 

During one of the nights while the rest of us were still falling asleep, Grace started talking in her sleep in her 2nd and 3rd languages: "Bring me my Bible!" she said in English, and then in Swahili she said, "Napenda wageni!" ("I love the visitors!"). We were happy to hear those words. 

I was blessed to spend the 4 days in the boma with NMSI's intern team. They have also been staying with me in my apartment in Narok when they aren't staying in the rural communities, so I'm enjoying the time laughing and talking with American girls. 

Mama Grace preparing tea and Chapati for dinner on our last night in her home.

We love chapati! Chapati is a fried flat bread made of flour, salt, sugar and water.

Nancha gave me a beaded necklace she made. Here she stands with the Morloo school sign on the main road, pointing visitors in the right direction.


Here are the Morloo primary school students performing their "singing games" dance for me and the interns the morning we were leaving their village. The students traveled to Narok to perform in the Rift Valley Provincial Music Competition that was held at the college in Narok town. They won 1st place (out of 15) for their traditional dance and will be representing the Rift Valley Province in Mombasa for the national competition! Our interns watched them compete in Narok and were like proud parents when their students won!

We wanted the "real Maasai" experience, so we helped with daily chores like cleaning out the goat pen (here Elizabeth and Christy use animal hides as shovels!). We wore Maasia blankets during the day and used them for sleeping at night.

We carried water from the well to our homes-- 20 litres each... on our heads! They don't balance the water on their heads but rather use a leather strap from your forehead to the large jug. While waiting at the well for our jugs to fill up the mamas went to the bushes and brought out "toothbrushes"-- a certain stick used to clean your teeth. You can see us chewing on them in this picture. Our teeth felt cleaner after we used them!

Matt, me, Jackson and Christy pose with the fresh carcass of a gazelle we discovered on our long walk to visit another community. mmmm! We wondered which animal had just feasted...

I've stayed in rural communities before, but this was my first time to sleep in this basic style of home. Going into it I was afraid for sure, but I was really blessed by the experience and now can understand the life of the Maasai a little bit better.