A Visit to Maasai Land

We loaded up the vans and headed out to into the bush to visit one of the Maasai villages.  We were told it would only take about an hour and a half.  I'm not sure how long it took us, but it was definitely longer than that.  The ride was super bumpy, the roads were super curvy.   We drove over rocks the size of small animals.

In the last little town we passed through, we picked up a driver with a huge black water tank who drove ahead of us the rest of the way there.

At one point, our van had a really hard time getting up the steep hill over the rocks that jutted out through the dark earth.  Kind of kidding, Dave asked if we needed to get out.  But after the third unsuccessful attempt, we all climbed out of the van.  Our driver drove ahead of us as we climbed the dusty hill.

 The view from where we got out of the van and walked

We finally got to the church!  The guys unloaded the water tank that had been donated from California.  The pastor was so excited!

The children from a nearby school walked to visit us.  They sang a few songs for us and did some dancing.  They were absolutely adorable.  One of the women sang for us.  Then we sang a few songs for them (which I'm sure was quite amusing).

After we were finished, we went back outside the church.  The women had set up some of their jewelry to show us.  The kids were excited to just have us there.  The flies were swarming.  It reminded me of pictures and commercials I've seen my whole life.  But I've never seen anything like that in person.  Garry told us that he has seen the flies so bad that you could physically see them laying eggs in the kids eyelashes.

We were invited to visit the home of Pastor Amos and his wife Lillian and their family.  We walked out in what seemed like the middle of nowhere...just bushes and lots of dirt.  I honestly don't know how in the world they remember where they live or how to get there.  Eventually, we get to a small area with a fence made from wooden posts.  Inside the fence were two small huts made of a dung and mud mixture. The roof was made of tin with rocks holding it down on top.  Their goats mingled in the distance.  We were invited to go inside the home.  Only a few of us could fit at a time. I crouched down to walk in.  Once I turned the corner, it was pitch black inside.  There was one large room with two beds (I think...It was really hard to tell) and a small place to cook.  After our eyes adjusted a little, we realized there were other people in there and we didn't even know!

It's so humbling to be invited into their homes.  To see a peek into their lives.  It makes me realize how much I have that is truly not important.  Of course, I'm thankful for everything I have...but how much is really necessary.  While their lives seem so simple, sometimes I long for a little simplicity.  Not too much, but just a little. :)