We arrived at the coeducational Sekanani School a little after ten.

Excited students met us. They were looking forward to hearing stories of life decades earlier to be told by an elder who actually lived them. Stories they could never hear after the elder died.

Ole Saloi, 74 years old arrived shortly before eleven and we went into the classroom. The students clustered around Mort who showed them his high-definition video camera, then they politely sat down. They were seated at long rough wooden bench-desks, three to a desk. We had about twenty students aged from 6 to 15 and also five adult men. The students were all in identical blue shirts, which appeared to be a school uniform. Our group sat in the front of the room facing them. We sat on wooden chairs with red plush covered seats. Bob introduced our team and briefly summarized the scope of the project.

Ole Saloi was tall and scrawny, with frizzled gray hair. He was dressed only in an old blanket, tied at one corner with string. That he did not wear an undergarment was obvious, as occasionally the blanket would droop. The modern microphone seemed out of place in the hand of this venerable personage.

Instead of telling stories, he lectured the students about the old ways.

For example ---"there are some people coming to take the land away illegally; it is really a bad idea (land redistribution). Let us be one and remember one another so we can see what will happen in the future. The Whites are still coming to take (our) land." Each time he mentioned the "whites" he would poke his finger and scowl at Bob. He was angry. The school uniforms may have well reminded him that these children were learning a new way. He felt that "the children studying here were not really doing something important.

They should not forget the Maa language and live without the cattle, for you cannot get food or drink without them." Ole Saloi is clearly being dragged into the 21st century and is most unhappy about it. He was asked about female circumcision. "Girls can go to school, but they have to be circumcised even if it is forbidden by law." The thrust of his remarks was that the old ways were superior and should prevail. Most of the students and all of the young men in the audience were attentive and seemed interested. Some though, sleepily buried their heads in their hands or gazed out the window.

The talk was clearly an unexpected glitch. We had expected stories, not a polemic. But for us this could be a valuable lesson. Perhaps Maasai elders are not the storytellers. Mothers and grandmothers though, in virtually all cultures are. We will try to get a grandmother for our next session.


Questions to students in the United States:

What do you eat before you go to school?

What is the time difference compared to African time?

How do you dress when you go to school?

What are your accommodation like? What sort of beds?

How many subjects do you do at school? Elementary school? How many grades do you have at the elementary school (classes)?

When do you close your schools?

What time do you leav e school to go home?

Are you ever beaten at school by teachers? Disciplined?

What are your schools like? Are they built of mud, bricks or wood?

Are you taught first-aid at school?

Do you go to look after cattle?

Do you have any cows and goats?

How many are you at school?

What is the name of your school?

How many teachers do you have per class?

Do they cook for you at school or do you have to rush home, have food and get back to school?

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