July 2, 2008 (Wednesday) 6:00 P.M. Day 10 Subterranean dwellings and Maasai raids This morning, we broke camp in Nou Forest and began another trek to a different part of the Iraqw village. The morning was misty again, which kept us cool for our 13 kilometer hike. We saw many similar vistas -- thick forest, rolling hills covered with corn crops, and Iraqw mud and dung-formed dwellings. Our destination was a unique Iraqw home, a subterranean dwelling that the current tenants found nearly a hundred years ago. The family graciously invited us into their home, where we compared the Iraqw way of life with our own way of living. Our “elders,” Dr. Vavra and Mama Jacobs, sat with the father of the house. The rest of us listened to the youngest son speak his thoughts about his people. A bright red shuka covered his body and his striking features were lit by a small amount of light from the door. We listened intently as the family described the history of the house. The house was called nyuma ya tembe (home of tembe). It was dramatically different from the mud and brick habitats we had seen previously. Deograthias explained the structure of the house and how the roughly hewn poles that support the structure were from the slopes of Ngorogoro. Strong and ancient, the family described how the poles would last for many years to come. Symbolic to the people, the structure showed the simplicity, durability, and artistry of our gracious hosts. Then, Deograthias began to describe the concerns he had of foreigners and his people. He shared the story of a nearby Maasai group driven from their land by an Arab foreigner who had paid the government for the land. He wanted to let us know of his anxiety of foreigners and other groups who might come to exploit their precious resources for commercial purposes. We described our American culture and spoke of what had happened in the past to our own Native Americans. We told Deograthias about our national opinion concerning the environment and explained that our expedition’s purpose was to work toward conserving the environment. After our visit, we shared gifts of pencils, crayons, and toys with curious children who had been watching us from outside the house. They were grateful for the gifts and thanked us as we walked to a nearby school for lunch. Today was a day of tending for the students as they maintain the garden and help clean the school. They had heard of our arrival, so many children remained at the school to see “the foreigners.” After lunch in the school yard, our expedition team played soccer, created paper airplanes and cranes, and gave out more pencils and crayons to the 49 students that were there that day. The primary level school has 450 students but only six teachers. We met two of the teachers and spoke to them of the Bay books we had written. After exchanging teaching perspectives, Dr. Vavra explained how the students at the school could do a similar project about the Nou Forest. After leaving the school, we drove to a nearby village with Karoli. At this location, a great Iraqw and Maasai event had occurred. According to the Iraqw, many years ago the Maasai drove the Iraqw away from their villages and stole their cattle. To escape from Maasai warriors, the Iraqw people hid in an underground cave. The Maasai and Iraqw are no longer at war, but the cave still exists as a spiritual remembrance of that time. Before entering the cave, we had to gain permission from the village elders. The entrance was small and looked like an animal dwelling. There was barely room for a human body to fit through it. Once inside, we were treated to a great surprise. The small entrance opened into the vast room the Iraqw had used as their dark hiding place. As thirteen of us sat crammed together, two villagers described how the cave had been home to more than thirty people, who had lived in secrecy for six years. After leaving the dwelling, we said our farewells to Karoli and the Iraqw, and then headed for our camp in the Yaeda Valley. Today’s blog is being written in the Land Rover as we head for Yaeda Valley. Reception has been poor for the past few days and we anticipate that this may continue. In advance, we apologize to our dedicated readers if we will are unable to post our blogs for the next couple of days. We will keep writing but our Celltell internet card may not suffice. Keep checking and we should be back online soon. The expedition team sends best wishes to families and dedicated followers at home (and beyond). It has been a joy to share our experiences live from campfire and Land Rover and we hope to be home soon to share our documentary.
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