Tepesua Widows' Village

What a terrific few days it has been. I've been in "Maasailand" at a place called Tepesua - a widows village set in the middle of the savannah. Many women are left widowed at a young age as many Maasai girls are circumcised at 9 years and married to much older men at 11years old. The men die and, as the women have no inheritance rights, in many cases they are caste out of their communities and have no place to go. They cannot return to their home village, unless they bring back the cows - usually three and any offspring of these cows - to their families.  To support these women, Hellen created a village where 13 widows live. They survive by selling their jewelry and the herds of sheep, goats and cows they may have.

I was staying with Hellen Nkuraiya we went to the market one day to buy sheep and goats for the widows. This is how Hellen and I traveled back to the village.

Before we got in the "taxi" we ate lunch at the local place. I chose not to eat the stomach of the goat and was served goats meat instead. Here is lunch . . .

There was a lion around, so a Maasai Warrior stood guard over my manyatta all night. Here he is . .

The lions are very scared of the Maasai Warriors as, to become a warrior, you have to kill a lion.

Here are the widows welcoming me . . .

I was also given a Maasai name "Nareku", which means "someone who brings good things to others". I am honoured.