Thanksgiving: Masaai Style
Bumping up and down, knocking foreheads and cheering Mark on while he violently shifted gears, our small group found our way to a small Maasai village in a 1960s, totally gutted “Bushman” Land Cruiser. Our Thanksgiving Day was not spent in pajamas, and was miles away from any televised sports; but explode out of the small car we did singing and dancing, excited to start our second day building a play structure and visiting rural and dusty bomas filled with women and children. It was a day of sharing cultures and serving this area we have learned to feel, once again, at home in. Each hut we visited we entered with wide eyes, observing the dynamics of family life. The women wrapped in colorful fabrics and beads go for water with unruly mules; the children play in the sand and look after the animals of the compound and the environment is cruel: dry and hot. Where there is hard work and what seems like endless chores, these families welcomed us in, smiling big and willing to engage about the new learning center that has recently crept in offering English classes and an early childhood center. At a shaded and jovial lunch of good ol’ American peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, our group shared how much love they felt from the Maasai, and we thus sent this love back to our families who would be celebrating their Thanksgiving in the next several hours.