We've been to market!

There is much in the news at the moment about the drought in East Africa and many people are indeed very hungry. For the Maasai, the drought has caused massive losses of their most valued asset – their cows. We hear stories of huge numbers of cows dying, of herds being reduced from hundreds to tens and of some bomas losing their entire herd. Outside most bomas there is a place where they are burning their dead.



One woman this week arrived on our door step having walked over 30 miles looking for food. Her husband has left her with their 6 children and all three of her cows have died.

It is raining in Arusha but the rains have not reached all the outlying areas yet and cows are still being sold for a song. Once the rains hit Maasaini – which we are hoping they will very soon - the prices will rocket with so few cows left in the economy. With this in mind, we have been to market – several times – and this herd of scrawny specimens is the result. They will take a long time to bring back to good condition and we are feeding them up slowly and carefully. Some will be ready to give sooner than others.



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The black stone remedy

This woman had been stung by a scorpion on her foot and was in considerable pain. She is sitting here with a black stone on the wound which Lekoko had opened with a knife. The stone sticks to the wound and as she sat there for an hour or so, she said the pain was slowly drawn back down her leg until it left her foot all together and the stone dropped off. Black stones are an age old remedy for snake bites, stings etc all over the world and are made from animal bones. No scientific study is known which proves them to be effective and their value is debatable. However, this woman was happy with the result and that’s all that matters! Scorpion stings, although not fatal in a normal healthy adult here, are extremely painful and we have found that the stone helps every time.