Visiting Mohammed’s Family and Wamang’ati Friends
August 14, 2009-
- Her necklace and bracelet have been on for years and do NOT come off
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- Grandma and I go to the same shoemaker. Steel belted radial tires.
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- Babu (Grandfather) loves Mohammed
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- Lauren is MIA. She was at a French class in the city.:-(
A few weeks ago when all of our summer volunteers were still here Laura, Laura, Ali, Rachel, Skye, Helen, Terri, Vivian, George and Mohammed all crammed in the car for a road trip. Eight Wazungu Women, a Man and a Baby- a new Feature Film. Our poor truck has never been the same since after the terrain we crossed, but a good time was had by all! First we stopped off to see our friends Mwajuma and Mussa and their family. They belong to a semi- nomadic pastoralist tribe called the Wamang’ati. Cattle and livestock are their pride, joy, lifestyle, and chief (usually only) source of wealth. They live very simply, usually in grass huts, but do not perceive themselves as poor if they have cattle. Mussa, the husband, was travelling, but his wife Mwajuma was happy to receive us. They are incredibly gracious people and love our visits. They like to have photos taken, especially ones showing their cows. We try to always make prints for them.
Before anyone had to have any warm, raw milk, we headed down the (dirt, gravelly, dusty, potholed) road to visit Mohammed’s family. Just when we thought we were close we had to go pretty far off the main road. Mohammed’s mother died shortly after he was born and his grandmother could not properly feed or care for him. Now that Mohammed is a little older, strong, walking and healthy, he is ready to go home soon. His house is remote, but he will be well loved by his family.
