Interviewing women and saying goodbye to the guesthouse

The last weeks of our internship we spent joining the Vicoba groups organised by Enkaina - micro-financing groups for women empowerment. Two lecturers, Nashipai and Andrea, hosted the first sessions for new groups, explaining the system of loans and handing out necessary materials (stamp booklets, a safe with a lock). In simple terms, the system works as follows: each woman pays a set amount towards the collective savings each meeting. Then, if a woman has a good idea for business, she can loan money from the savings to start up. There is also a system of insurance, where women can be gifted money from the savings if some kind of personal disaster strikes. The money left in the safe at the end of the year is split over the group members. Women explained the savings helped them not only expand business, but also build houses and fund their children's school fees.

We collected data for Enkaina on the women's wealth, by asking them questions like "how many cows and goats do you have" and "how many children do you have" (children often send money home when grown up). Afterwards we asked them about their business goals, individually and as a group. It was tedious work - asking 20 women the same list of questions, two or three groups per day, six days... However, it was a nice way of interacting with a lot of locals and learning about the different forms of business in different areas. Some areas, most women owned land and used it for farming. Other areas were clearly poorer, with limited amounts of farming acres and livestock.

Some business ideas that came up during the sessions were: renting out plastic chairs for ceremonies (e.g. weddings), selling chai and mandazi (tea and fried dough) at boreholes or markets, selling petrol on the side of the road to boda boda drivers (motorbike) and selling pens and books to students. For group ideas, the most common idea was raising cows and selling them at the cattle market. This has already been succesfully done by some women groups. Another idea was grinding maize, to make maize flour - the basic ingredient for making ugali, a staple dish in East Africa.

To take a break from the interviews, we went camping the 6th-7th of August. We hiked up a hill and the Maasai warriors guiding us set up our tent on a spot with a beautiful view. They prepared a meal for us and then stayed up all night to guard us. Amazingly, they had enough energy to walk and laugh with us on the 18km way back the next day. We had a short night, as we had no sleeping mats, but enjoyed the walk, spotting baboons and impala.

After our last day of interviews, conveniently in Loiborsoit town next to the guesthouse, Lengai took us to a nearby honey farm. The honey is also a women's project, harvesting and selling facilitated by Enkaina. We donned protective clothing and two Maasai climbed in trees to weigh the boxes containing hives, checking for honey. We opened the crates and harvested the honey. At the second crate, disaster struck. Aglaë was missing a glove so she had her hand balled in a fist, but then a bee crept into the creases and she panicked, thinking it would sting her through her suit. She ran off and I, with my bee and wasp phobia, also got cold feet. Moments after, Suus came running past us clutching her neck, claiming she got stung. Multiple bees had entered into her suit. Lengai, with his bare hands, attempted to swat them away, being stung several times on his head, neck and hands in the process. Sara, our guide, got a bee in her hoodie. She 'lost network', her accurate way of describing her panicked swerve into Aglaë as she clutched her head. A bee stung her in her ear. After everyone had somewhat calmed down, Lengai led us back to his car, overcome with nervous laughter. Our fun activity was terminated, but we got to try some fresh honey so it was all worth it (says the person who did not get stung).

Our last evening in the guesthouse was on the 10th of August. We cooked for all the mamas in the boma, about 20 people. After cooking, we handed out gifts to show our gratitude for their hospitality. We gave both Kalanga and Lengai - the brothers who primarily hosted us - a shuka (a thick cotton wrap). We gave their wives and the boma's grandmothers smaller, decorative wraps, placing them on their shoulders in respect. After handing out gifts, we danced and sang Maa songs together in a circle. At some point the children were allowed into the guesthouse, performing a little dance, cheered on and guided by a very proud grandmother. Seeing a young Maasai boy proudly dancing with his miniature cattle stick never ceases to give me baby fever.