Olpul

Warriors are the standing army of their people and must concentrate on building up and maintaining their strength. One of the things they like to do is ‘party’ in their own unique way. This involves a group of men finding a secluded place away from the eyes of women to set up camp for a meat feast to last from several days to several weeks. Traditionally, they would only eat bullocks but nowadays, they might also bring the odd sheep or goat along and men older than the warrior age set like to take part. They may take a few younger boys and girls with them to do the work of collecting fire wood and cooking the soup. They will eat the meat either roasted or as a soup to which they add special tree bark and herbs which aid digestion and increase strength and courage. And there they stay, in seclusion, building strength and comradeship until every animal is eaten.

In this gorge, there were three different age sets in separate olpuls hidden along the dry river bed.

Fire!

Last Saturday night, the flat in our compound caught fire. We were out so the watchmen ran to the nearest neighbour to set off the alarm. From there the women in each boma set off a chain of loud ‘uuueee’ sounds from boma to boma. About 100 neighbours came running in with their buckets and formed a human chain from the pond to put out the fire.



But for them, the whole flat would have burnt out. In fact, no personal items were destroyed, no-one was hurt and we were overwhelmed by the care of our neighbours.

On Tuesday we went to market and bought a bull, 50 kilos of rice, tomatoes and onions, crates and crates of sodas and today we had a feast to say thank you.

A Muslim was invited in to slaughter the animal in order that neighbours of every faith could eat it, and then the Maasai took over.



The men arrived early to keep an eye on the meat!



Several women came in to help with the cooking.



And when the rice and ‘soupu’ (stew) was finished and the thank yous had been said, the roasted meat was brought out for the elders.



It seemed that this was the bit they had all been waiting for!



Everyone left happy, neighbourly relationships were cemented and our dogs are still licking their lips!

Living Water

As I sat listening to a friend speaking about the Living Water out in Maasailand, I looked down at my feet...



which had looked like this two hours earlier when I left home.



Then I looked at the people around me, everyone of them dusty and dirty...



and I wondered how people who live in constant dust would understand the concept of the Living Water, of cleanliness, and what’s more, inner cleanliness that lasts for ever!

The talk was inspired by the morning’s water run – a diverse experience as men, women, children and animals all partook of the same rather brown water.

One washed his clothes with the help of his shoe.... (if you’re wondering what is in his ear, it’s likely to be a film canister carrying his snuff. The large loops in people’s ear lobes are used to carry all sorts of very useful things.)



And then everyone dipped in.........



And finally all the containers had to go back in upright, together with all the women..........for the 6km return trip.



And in the end, after all that, not only did the water inspire the message, but the water containers were then used as the ‘pulpit'!

Celebrating the Cow Project

Last Sunday we celebrated with some of the women who have received cows. We wish that all those of you who have given so generously could have been there too. We had friends with us though and Jenny received necklaces and thanks on your behalf.

Firstly we met under the tree with the church. For many of the women, it was the first time they had ‘sat in church’ and heard someone so clearly speaking from the Bible. It went from Norman in English, to Graham in Swahili to Nosikito in Maa and back again leaving plenty of time for thoughts to be gathered and words to sink in.



Then they all lined up to say thank you.



They sang.....



and danced......



and gave us gifts.



Meanwhile, two women from the local village were preparing a feast under a tree in very windy conditions so the singing and dancing went on...and on.....and on... while the flames under the cooking pots were encouraged to point in the right direction and do their job!



Sadly, we have lost 5 cows who had not re-gained enough strength after the drought to withstand sickness. The project rule is that the women have to present us with the skin that has the G stamped on it, then they go back on the list for a replacement – just once.

This is Simbavo showing us her skin. She was heart broken when it died and did everything she could to save it.