Western life is often far removed from what most of the rest of the world experiences. It is easy to think of other people’s lives being similar to our own until we really see how they live. In many African villages, the daily lives of women are shaped by a complex interplay of cultural traditions, economic realities, and societal expectations.
Maasai women fetching water in Kenya.
The Maasai Women in Kenya
Like most poor women in African nations, the majority of Maasai women in Kenya are destined to live a life of poverty and cultural oppression. A noble and dignified people, the Maasai have proudly maintained their traditional lifestyle and cultural identity despite pressures of the modern world. They live a nomadic lifestyle raising cattle and goats, wearing traditional clothes, and living in small villages called manyattas, which are circular arrangements of mud huts. But increasing land acquisition throughout Kenya’s Maasailand is threatening their nomadic culture, and pressure to accept change is growing.
Just one generation ago, less than 20 percent of Maasai women in Kenya enrolled in school. Typically, Maasai girls are circumcised between the ages of 11 to 13 and soon afterwards married to a man chosen by her father in exchange for cattle and cash. A Maasai woman will never be allowed to divorce, except in the most egregious cases of physical abuse, and will never be allowed to marry again, even if the husband her father chooses is an old man who dies when she is still in her teens. Instead, she becomes the property of one of her husband’s brothers. She will be one of multiple wives and will have many children, regardless of her health or ability to provide for them.
She will rise early every day to milk cows and spend her days walking miles to water holes to launder clothes and get water, and to gather heavy loads of firewood to carry back home. If she is lucky, she will have a donkey to share her burden. She will live a life of few physical comforts, dependent on a husband and a family she did not choose.
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Obstacles to Education
Maasai girls must face many obstacles to get an education, and most of those are related to the high level of poverty among the Maasai. The economic, cultural and physical factors that combine to deny education to Maasai girls in Kenya are numerous and, taken together, almost impossible for all but the most determined girls to overcome.
Maasai girls who do enroll in primary school attend public day schools which are free. But all students in Kenya are required to wear uniforms, and many families cannot afford even the uniform needed for their child to go to school. Public primary boarding schools, which offer many advantages, are prohibitively expensive for most Maasai families.
Here are some of the key factors that hinder education for girls:
- Economic incentives for early marriage: A daughter’s marriage increases the wealth of Maasai girl’s family through combined cattle and cash dowries. Since a girl joins her husband’s family upon marriage, her father is relieved of the economic burden of supporting her.
- Return on investment: For those few families that are able to pay education costs, there is a widespread cultural preference for educating sons first. This stems from the tradition that Maasai girls leave their parents’ village and become a member of the husband’s family upon marriage.
- Family and peer pressure for early marriage: Early marriage is the most often cited reason that Maasai girls drop out of school. Maasai girls are taught that circumcision is a rite of passage into womanhood that accompanies puberty and an immediate precursor to marriage. Once circumcised, they are ridiculed by their peers if they continue their education, since school is for children.
- Fear of early pregnancy: Pregnancy is the second most frequent reason that girls drop out of school. In the Maasai culture, children as young as nine years old are not allowed to stay in the same house with their father, and instead sleep in a separate house without supervision. In addition, girls are not told how a woman becomes pregnant. This combined lack of supervision and ignorance make girls highly vulnerable to becoming pregnant, and pregnancy before marriage brings disgrace and a reduced bride price.
- Walking distance to school: Since the pastoral Maasai require significant land resources to graze their cattle, their villages are constructed far apart from each other. As a result, one school must serve several villages typically within a 15- to 20-kilometer radius. There are no cars, buses, horses, or even bicycles available to Maasai children, so they must walk this great distance. Even for those who make it to school, the long walks undermine education. Not surprisingly, teachers report that children who have spent two to five hours walking to school in the morning, often without having had anything to eat, are tired, and their ability to concentrate is impaired. Also, it is often late when children arrive home after such long walks, and they are still required to do chores.
- The nomadic Maasai lifestyle: The Maasai are a pastoral, nomadic society, and circumstances sometimes require that families move in order to find water and grass for their cattle.
Maasai children walking long distances to school.
The Impact of Educating Women
With this pressure comes a more urgent need to educate the current generation of boys and girls.
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If you educate a woman:
- She will know her rights and have the confidence and independence to stand up for them.
- She will choose whom to marry and when to marry.
- She will have fewer children, and they will be healthier and better educated than the previous generation.
- She will not circumcise her daughters.
- She will have economic security.
- She will spend 90 percent of her income on her family, compared to 35 percent that an educated man would spend.
- She will help support her parents.
The following table illustrates the transformative impact of educating women in African villages:
| Area | Impact of Educating Women |
|---|---|
| Rights and Independence | Increased awareness and ability to advocate for their rights. |
| Marriage | Choice of partner and timing of marriage. |
| Family Health | Fewer, healthier, and better-educated children. |
| Cultural Practices | Rejection of harmful traditions like female circumcision. |
| Economic Security | Enhanced economic stability and financial independence. |
| Financial Spending | Higher proportion of income invested in family welfare (90% vs. 35% for educated men). |
| Family Support | Increased ability to support their parents. |
Truth Runners Episode 49: Empowering Maasai Women through Education
Daily Tasks and Resourcefulness
Children are put to work as soon as they are able. The youngest infant is put in the care of the next youngest child who can manage. Gathering sticks for the fire or fruit which has fallen off a tree are jobs given to the little ones. Boys are given the job of shepherds to watch over and tend to the goats, sheep or other animals the family raise. One job which is most important and always needed is to bring water to the hut. You will see even the smallest children carrying a container to fill at the well.
I am always amazed at the resourcefulness of the children. Tying large containers they call “bidons” filled with 5 gallons of water which weigh about 42 pounds on the back of a bicycle and making it balance to roll back home is a challenge, but they make it work! Even with the littlest one on top the bike!
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