Interviewer(s): F002
Interviewee(s): P, T003

F002: How are you ladies?

P: We are fine

F002: My name is Zahra Majili, I am with Sister Mariana Kinabo, and Brother Mbaba Malaki, All of us are from Sokoine University, we are working with an International firm that is engaged in animal husbandry known as IRI, they were here sometimes in the past working with the Maasai Community or the Livestock rearing community. But we were also working with a University that is in America known as Emmory University. We are doing research. The main aim is to know in what way food has changed and what has caused the changes. And if you remember we came here in February and March and did some dialogue with you; some of you were there but some weren't but in the dialogue we were able to come up with another issue and we decided that there are things that we would like to know more. That is why we back again today to try to know more of the food changes in general. The information that we will get will help us to know how the Livestock community lives and in what way we can help these communities so as they can improve the consumption of their food but also to have good health. In our dialogue we will record but we will also be taking a few notes and in the course of the dialogue we can ask one of you to help us. So I would like you to be free and if a person feels she can help us in what we ask for be free to volunteer to do so. and do. The dialogue is done on your own free will and a person is free to stop and get out if she thinks she would rather do that; and we will allow her to do that also and our dialogue is confidential meaning that we record here and when we go back we are the only ones who will listen to the recording so as to write and put our information right. But what we are talking here is also yours if you see something that is not good please leave it here but if there is something that you feel is good and can be told to others you can do so; but we are insisting that our dialogue is confidential and not that we are going to report you to your husbands or relative that so and has said so and so. This will not give a good impression and that is why we say the dialogue is confidential. Maybe I would like to ask you one question; are you all ready to participate?

P: Yes.

F002: Are you all ready?

P: Yes

F002: But in the course of the dialogue I would like all of us to contribute; I would not like to see one of us keeping quite sulky like an orphan. I would like us all to cooperate and participate. Our dialogue is decided into several areas. The first area will be on the changes of diet, the second area we will talk on issues related to milk, the third area we will talk about the consumption of cow blood and also we will talk about food that is consumed on different occasions; celebrations, funerals, we will talk about that; but also we will talk about issues related to education and training on diet and health in general or nutrition. So we will be following that order. I am asking for your patience and would like you to contribute as much as you can so as we can reach our goals. We have heard in many communities that there are changes in the types of diet that we are consuming; For example people have reduced eating the traditional diet and are now eating foreign diet or say you have absconded from the diet that you were used to and are now resorting to new diet. Isn’t that so?

P: Yes.

F002: For example the Maasai now have stopped eating some thing or you have reduced.

P: We have reduced

F002: Ehe drinking milk, eating meat and you are now eating other types of food.

P: Yes

F002: Like what types of food don you eat now.

P: We eat rice, maize meal; we eat a variety of food which if found currently. We have reduced or stopped eating most of the food we have been eating in the past. But we still drink milk.

F002: You can see now, we are still drinking milk and we were not eating rice in the past; isn't that right?

P: Yes.

F002: What about maize meal?

P: We were not eating

F002: But nowadays we do eat. What about fish?

P: We don't eat

F002: You don’t eat up to now? Even your children don't eat?

P: To date the some of the children eat

F002: You can see nowadays the children eat. What about chicken?

P: We don’t

F002: You as elders don’t eat but what about the children?

P: They eat.

F002: What about vegetables?

P: We eat

F002: Beans?

P: We eat

F002: You see; food like that we eat; Ok we have seen that there are changes, we were eating food of a certain type and now we are eating other types of food. But also there are cooking styles; we are cooking differently nowadays. In the past how were you cooking meat?

P: We grilled it and then put it in the water and cook it like that. When it is still not well cooked we take it out and eat it like that.

F002: What about today?

P: Nowadays, we roast it until it is well cooked but we also grill. The one that we boil we eat with the main meal, we add to it onions, tomatoes and cook that together with the meat.

F002: You see nowadays you put onions and tomatoes; what else do you add to the meat? Apart from the onions and tomatoes; don’t you add some cooking oil?

P: We do

F002: You put some cooking oil. You see

P: If the meat has a lot of fat we can also use that to cook with.

F002: So you see we have changed the style on how we cook our food. But we have also changed the kind of food that we eat. Now I would like to know what caused it. What has caused you to eat other types of food that you were not eating in the past? Or what caused you to start cooking like this and stop the way you were cooking in the past?

P: What caused is that in the past there was darkness, we were living in the remote forest areas and were not living with the Swahili people in the same village; but now we are living together. In the past our children were not even given injections or medications. We were giving them roots herbs from the forest; but as we started coming to live in towns or near villages we started changing our cooking styles and eating other types of food; as we have now mixed with other tribes.

F002: What other reason that made you eat other types of food?

P: Sometimes it was stubbornness. We were just refusing to eat food like rice without any reason

Laughter - (talk in Maasai language)

T003: (Explanation from an interpreter) In the past there were seeing rice grains as small sort of insects and there were saying "who can eat such small insects". so they were seeing the rice as insects.

P: But nowadays we see rice as very good food.

F002: What made you change and start thinking that rice is good food?

P: In the past when we were young and were starting to pursue services say coming to hospital for treatment; for food we had to go to eating places. When rice was ordered and we tried to eat we found it good and now we are used to it.

F002: So you learned to eat rice from eating in restaurants and eating places like that?

P: Yes we started learning from eating in restaurants, and we decided to cook ourselves at home. In the past we did not know how to cook and we were putting in a lot of water; but slowly we learned and now we are very good at cooking that.

F002: Our colleague said in the past we were in the dark in that we were living in the forests; but as you started mixing with the other tribes you started to learn other things which included eating other types of food; but another colleague here said that frequenting the villages and other areas made you start eating in restaurants and other eating places where you started tasting other types of food and found them good. You started learning to cook. In past you were not doing well but as time went on you improved and now you can cook the food well. What else? That made you start eating other types of food?

P: It is only that in the past we were living a life of seclusion. Our children were not going to school and hence the life we had was that which we knew getting food from off the land. When you tell the children to go to school they refuse but then the children started going to school and we started mixing and see the food and other things; we started liking them as well.

F002: So you said the children are going to school isn’t that so?

P: In the past they were not

F002: But now they go?

P: They go.

F002: When they go to school and come back; are they the ones who are teaching you how to cook?

P: Yes they come and teach us; we look at them when they cook and after that we try to cook ourselves and in due course we knew how to cook nicely.

F002: Ok. We have seen the children going to school and coming back; how they cook and you learned from them; anything else? What made you eat other types of food and reduce drinking milk and eating meat?

P: In the past we were eating meat only and no other types of food. We eat meat and sleep; in the morning we drink milk and then meat during the day. We believed that if we eat other types of food our stomachs will be harmed in some way.

F002: So why are you not eating meat only nowadays?

P: We are still eating meat but the way we prepare no is different from what we were doing in the past.

F002: So how do you cook nowadays such that you don’t eat meat only throughout the day and sleep

P: We now put many addition things in the meat like onions and tomatoes and roast the meat but in the past we were just boiling it and eaten only partially cooked.

F002: Why are you not drinking a lot of milk today?

P: (talking in Maasai)

T003: (Translation) what she was saying is that in the past they were only eating meat but nowadays they eat chicken and even fish so the mixing with other people have made them eat many other things,

F002: Drinking a lot of milk like you were used to?

P: Yes. we drink yoghurt, we drink fresh milk but we know about hygiene, we boil the milk; as in the past we were milking the cow and drinking the milk as it was. We are now doing like the Swahili, we cook and boil the milk before drinking it.

F002: So mixing with other tribes has made you change but also women going out and eating in restaurants has also contributed to the change; but also the children going to school. When they come back they were teaching you how to cook other types of food. Maybe I should ask you about cooking energy. When I say cooking energy I mean I mean firewood or charcoal; hasn’t this contributed to the changes in food types? Availability of the energy making you cook something else

P: (Talking in Maasai)

T003: She says that they always cook using firewood only.

F002: Maybe we should go now to an issue related to changes in culture. Say in the past there were certain culture; do you have any culture that you have now abandoned?

P: There is.

F002: Ehe can you site an example.

P: In the past we had many things that we observed but for some time now we have abandoned many of those. We have reduced many things that we were very strict about in the past.

F002: Why have you done that?

P: We have done that because in the past we had a lot of things that were not logical. (laughter)

F002: Ok

P: Say our old women of the past were being built a room in the remote area which they were using alone in the past but we don’t do that now.

F002: What about a culture that is related to food eating habits which you are not observing now?

P: Say when there is a Ceremony of a girl during initiation, there is a ritual which we do to the meat that is going to be eaten. When the meat id brought inside the house it had to be hanged by the door and then put into a pot of water and brought inside the house. The meat is then cooked and the girl who is involved does not get outside the house until the meat is cooked and all the people have eaten. The meat is also not cut to small pieces but it is eaten as it is; everyone taking up the piece, biting and handing it over to another to have a bite as well.

F002: What about now?

P: We don’t have that now.

F002: What has caused you to leave such a behavior?

P: We have realized that it is not good; actually it was stupid; after mixing with the other people we have realized that it is foolish to eat one chunk of the same meat together ten people biting one after the other.

F002: Ok.

P: Also in the past when I was young, I remember when there were men say who have come to the house we were sending them one gourd of milk and they were all drinking in turns out of the same utensil. But that is not done now. We send everyone something to drink with and not drink from the same drinking utensil.

F002: Why have you stopped drinking from the gourd nowadays?

P: Because it is unhygienic. It is like you are eating another person's saliva.

F002: Is eating another person's saliva a problem?

P: Because you are sure of the state the other person is in.

F002: Let’s now go back to the changes in life style; I will make you go back a little. What were the Maasai depending on in the lives in the past? Say without such and such a thing life does not go on. They were say depending on livestock but nowadays the Maasai are engaged in agriculture; isn’t that so?

P: Yes it is.

F002: Ok. So from livestock keeping to agriculture; how had this combination contributed in the changes in diet

P: Just as I was saying we came from the remote forests and found our colleagues farming; that is when we also started farming and in the process we started also to turn and eat other types of food like beans peas and other types of food. Actually we are now not depending a lot on the livestock as we were in the past.

F002: So when you grow beans, peas, okra and thing like that; is it for your consumption?

P: We eat mostly.

F002: So the change from livestock keeping to farming has made you change a lot in what you eat and you have also copied from the others people making you eat a wider range of food types. Maybe we can now go to responsibilities; the responsibilities that are for males and those for females. In the past there were chores that were for men only and women were not touching them but now you do and there were chores that were for women only and men were not doing them but they now do. Can you mention some of these?

P: House

F002: House.

P: The houses were being built by women but nowadays even the men do that. Also we are seeing our colleagues go and cut trees and use corrugated iron sheets in their roofing and so we are also trying to do that. But as of the building there are some men who are still not helping the women to build the houses.

F002: So nowadays the men also build the houses but in the past that was a women's chore.

P: Yes.

F002: What else were the women doing that the men did not do?

P: ehhe

F002: Ehe what is the chore that the Maasai women are doing which they were not doing in the past?

P: It is building.

F002: Any other thing? Are the Maasai women not going to the market nowadays?

They say that the men a nowadays involved in sending the livestock to drink in the water holes and pools.

Are the women not going to the auction market nowadays?

P: They go.

F002: In the past were you going to the auction market?

P: No were not.

F002: What do you do when you go to the market?

P: You go there to buy some things that you would like to buy for your home

F002: Like what for example.

P: Like food like clothes; you can get them there.

F002: Aren’t there Maasai women selling food at the auction market?

P: There are

F002: Aren’t there any Maasai women doing business; not necessary at the market but even in the streets here. Are there any who do business?

P: There are

F002: What business do they do?

P: Cooking burns

F002: Now you have said it that the women now are engaged in business; is that right?

P: Yes.

F002: In the past they were not doing that

P: Yes

F002: Why are they cooking the burns nowadays?

P: They bake the burns and also cook rice and sell.

F002: Why are they doing that now?

P: It is development.

F002: How does the money they get contribute to the change in diet

Or when she gets the money; what does she use it for? A woman cooks the burns or rice and sells or goes to the market to sell some item and get money. What does she use the money for?

P: Even in the market you can buy something to eat and do that. Or the child does not have anything or say does not have clothes, I buy for the child; I don’t depend on the father to do that.

F002: What about food?

P: I food I can also chip in and help with food in the house

F002: But you don’t do that a lot?

P: No.

F002: Ok.

P: On ensuring that the people in the house eat is the father's responsibility.

F002: What about vegetables and food that are accompaniment to the main meal?

P: Its him

F002: What about cooking oil? onions and things like that; are they all his responsibility?

P: Yes.

But if you have money you can also buy so as to help

F002: Ok.

P: But not such that I fail to do what I want to do.

F002: So your responsibility is buying clothes for you and the children

P: Yes.

F002: Ok. Maybe we can now go to something related to price changes; food prices. In what way do you think the food prices have contributed to changes in diet or changes in the ways or style of cooking that we do? The food prices and when I say that I don’t mean maize alone; I mean all the types of food; what are the prices like?

P: The prices are very high nowadays. For example rice nowadays is being sold at two thousand shillings; it is up by seven or eight hundreds.

F002: Do you see it as high or low?

P: It is high.

F002: How does it affect you in your food preparation at home?

P: If you buy a kilo of rice it is two thousand.

F002: Is it enough?

P: It is not enough.

F002: It is not enough?

P: If you have a family it is not enough. But if you have a small family it can be enough.

F002: So we can say when the prices are high, the consumption of some types of the food is reduced.

P: Yes.

F002: We are still talking about why you have come from eating meat and drinking milk only to eat other varieties of food. How about the availability of the food; are in plenty making you also eat the food? What can you talk about that?

P: Even in the past there was plenty of food but we did not know that. There were potatoes, cassava, maize, and there are a variety of all these vegetables' but we did not know about it. we were just sticking to the meat and milk. But what made us know was when we mixed with the other people.

F002: Ok. Esther what do you say; I can see you are smiling.

P: (laughter)

F002: Ok ladies we are moving on well so far. Now we will move on to the second area which is also about the types of food we eat; but in this exercise we will arrange the types of food and see which ones have contribute more in the changes. You mentioned about the reasons why you changed the food you eat; now what we will do is arrange the reasons as we have said them ; the first, the second, the third and so forth. So we will mention the reason and you will say whether it is number one, number two and so on. What is the first one?

The first is mixing with other tribes. Going to eating places, schools, changes in living styles, and the changes in responsibilities of the father and mother and also the changes in food prices. That is what they mentioned.

Ok. You have heard what you have said; first mixing with other tribes, going and eating in restaurants. You mentioned about children going to school but you also mentioned about the changes in life styles that nowadays you farm and you don’t herd cattle only. Also farming has contributed a lot to you eating other types of food. But we have also seen the changes in responsibilities that the women also go to the farms, go to the markets, cook various types of food and sell; all this has contributed to you eating various types of food. Now what is the first among all these? What contributed more?

P: Are we talking about the food

F002: No the reasons for changes; we have mentioned them; we have five of them. Mixing with other tribes, going to restaurants, and then you say the children when they come back from schools and they cook and you gain knowledge from them. and there is change in life style that now you farm but you were not doing that in the past. This has contribute to your eating okra, beans but also we have seen the changes in responsibilities that the women are now selling things and buying food buy you have said that you at most buy clothes. But we have also seen the issue of prices; that when the prices are high the eating of that particular type of food is reduced. So in the five things that we have mentioned; what contribute the most in you eating other types of food? Or let’s say which in number one?

P: For us to eat other food?

We have started eating other types of food as we have come to mix with the others.

F002: So we say the issue of mixing with other people is the first

P: Yes,

F002: The second? we have for issues remaining now. we have school, going to eating places, starting to farm, starting selling food, and the food prices. Now what is the second issue in importance

P: (Talking in Maasai)

T003: They say that the second is school and the third is farming and the fourth is food prices meaning the prices being high determines the type of food they eat and the fifth is the selling of food.

F002: Ok ladies I am grateful that we are going on well. You have been able to arrange the issues on what contributes to the changes we have. Ok now let’s go to issues regarding to milk. Before we were talking about things in general but I would like us to go particularly to milk. In what way is milk important to you.

P: Milk is important in several ways we milk the cows, we drink, I give my children, the other I store them so as to become yoghurt, I skim the milk for oil in which I use for cooking the food, I also take some of the milk to sell and I get money which I can use for a variety of things. So to me milk is important.

F002: That you can drink as fresh milk or process it to yoghurt, you can also process it to oil for cooking food. What does milk help you when you drink it?

P: It helps in that I get health but also fill the stomach.

F002: What about the others? Don’t leave everything to Grandma Sarah. What about you what do you say. Grand Ma Sarah says when she drinks milk she get health but then fill the stomach. What about the other; Is it the same?

P: Yes the same.

F002: Ok tell me what you mean when you say "Healthy" What do you mean when you say if you drink milk you get healthy.

P: Health is being strong

F002: Ahaa; our colleagues here says that being healthy is being strong. Another one?

P: Being healthy is being strong.

F002: When you drink the milk what does it do to the body?

P: It gives you strength.

F002: You get strength. Ok we have heard that if we drink milk we get health and you said that being healthy is being strong. What do the others say; what is Health? The way you understand it. What is health? that when you drink the milk you become health how do you look?

P: You get fat.

F002: You get fat. Our friend here says that you get fat. What else? Health; I would like us to know more about the health you have been talking about.

P: You gain more weight.

F002: More weight.

P: Yes, in many instances when people are health they get fat.

F002: So being healthy is getting fat, gaining more weight

P: Also having enough food

F002: Enough food

P: Maybe we don’t know in details about that.

F002: What we want is for you to tell us what you know. Ehe in what way is milk important to you. One of you has said that you can drink, you can process yoghurt and also oil. Isn’t that so?

P: Yes.

F002: What is another importance of milk; to you?

P: If I use in food I stay for a long time without hunger.

F002: So you don’t get hungry quickly?

P: Yes.

F002: Why is it like that? that don’t you get hungry quickly? What is in the milk that makes you not feel hungry quickly?

P: The milk is light .

F002: The milk is light; so why then don’t you feel hungry when you drink milk? and why do you feel that your stomach is full?

P: The milk is heavy and have nourishment. Also milk is important in that if a person is poisoned and you give that person milk it can save her/his life.

F002: So milk also neutralizes poison.

P: Yes.

F002: Ok what is another reason? So far you are contributing very well. what else? What is the importance of milk to the body?

P: When you go to hospital and they find that you have a health problem they advise you to drink a lot of milk. We have seen some of the children in hospital who have health problems and are very frail, So these are advised to use milk with other food types so as to bring the child back to health.

F002: Ok thank you. Ehee another importance of milk

P: Milk is business

F002: Business, is it business for the family or for yourself as I know there are things done as a family and that which you do for yourself.

P: This is for the family

F002: Ehee another importance of milk? Ok we have seen that there are other types of food and milk. Can you tell me the importance of other types of food in comparison to milk?

P: To us we use milk and supporting food for the main meal.

F002: Mhhh

P: To us we use it with the main meal; you prepare your maize meal and then you bring your milk and pour it in cups for every one; if you have some beans it can also be a good addition but to us we use milk a lot.

F002: Sp when you compare other types of food with milk, which is more important?

P: Milk

F002: Milk. Why is milk so important the other types of food?

P: It is the only food that we know since our birth.

F002: Try to recall when you were a young girl a "Nditto"; at that time you had a grandmother. Now that you are the grandmother yourself, how important is milk to you? The importance of milk now as compared to what it was in the past. That milk is very important now or is average or it is as it was in the past.

P: It is not the same.

F002: Ehee.

P: Nowadays I can’t use milk to sustain me for the whole day.

F002: But at that time your grandmother was using milk to sustain her for the whole day?

P: We do that even now as we drink the milk almost throughout the day.

F002: What I wanted to know and is asking; is the importance of milk the same today as it was in the past? Or is there any difference; or in the past they were more important.

P: Nowadays we don’t put a lot of importance to the milk as we are used to maize meal. Also sometimes when it is dry the cows don’t have much milk so we drink milk but no a lot as we were used to.

F002: So its importance is rather reduced; not as it was in the past.

P: Yes.

F002: And it is because the livestock stay for long time in the sun.

P: Yes

F002: That the season is dry

P: Yes.

F002: Our colleague says that in the past milk was very important but nowadays milk is not that important mainly because of the weather.

P: Yes.

F002: Ok. In many communities we are told that accessibility of milk has changed. In some you can have milk but not have the purchasing power but in some cases you can also have some purchasing power but not have the milk now it is obvious that there are changes. How do the changes come about?

P: The changes is that there is a scarcity of milk mainly due to the weather. The dry seasons nowadays are very hot and dry unlike in the past when the dry seasons were relatively cool with some grass although few growing for the livestock to eat.

F002: So the first reason that makes milk scarce is the dry weather; so the milk are relatively reduced.

P: Yes.

F002: The first reason? It is the sun which is very hot; it is dry season and there is no grass. What is another reason that makes milk to be scarce?

P: There are also cow diseases. You can find a cow sick for example there is lung disease. If the cow gets this its supply of milk falls drastically. Say it is diseases and the dry weather.

F002: So it is dryness and diseases. Any other reason which has cause milk to be reduced?

P: (talking in Maasai)

T003: She says that the reason for the milk to be reduced is that there are many animal diseases like Lung disease and Ndorobo (East Coast Fever that is what is making the milk to be reduced this much.

F002: Ok. maybe I should ask about the changes in the style of cattle herding. In the past our cattle were grazing in and around where we live. Do you have "Ronjo" (place where the cattle are shifted to when there is scarcity of pasture) here; do you shift cattle from one place to another? and when you do that how is the supply of milk?

P: It depends when the cattle go to areas that have a lot of grass the milk supply increases

F002: Do you get milk?

P: We don’t maybe if we go to where the cattle are.

F002: Are there some who remain here or does the whole house shift?

P: We don’t all go; it is the cattle that go with a few for taking care of them.

F002: So when people go "Ronjo" where do you get the milk here?

P: There are a few herds of cattle that remain.

F002: So "Ronjo" can cause a shortage of milk; when the cattle are shifter to better pastures you have a shortage of milk here.

P: We have very little milk.

F002: There are changes in ethics amongst the youth or change in culture amongst the young people. What can you say about this in relation to the shortage of milk? Are the youth we have now the same as those of the past?

P: No.

F002: What are they like now? What are the youth we have now like; can you tell me?

P: The youth we have now are different in that they are educated; they don’t eat the things we were eating in the past like drinking animal blood. What the eat is food like cooked or grilled meat. The youth today are quite different.

F002: Are the youth who are educated going to the pastures to herd cattle?

P: Yes they go if it is holiday time or they have completed their schooling.

F002: Don’t you have some who refuse to do livestock herding?

P: There are some who refuse.

F002: Now say the youth not participating in cattle herding; can this affect the availability of milk?

P: It doesn’t

F002: It doesn’t, the amount will be the same?

P: Yes

F002: What about the issue of conflicts; Have you ever had some conflicts here in Mela area?

P: There are no conflicts here

F002: The farmers and the Livestock herders

P: No; maybe other areas but we don’t have that here.

F002: So such a thing has not affected availability of milk

P: Yes.

F002: But the last time we came there were some areas that were allocated specially for the herders

P: Mhhh

F002: When we came in February we had the impression that there were allocated areas for the herders.

P: Special areas?

F002: Yes special areas but you were not having any conflict?

P: There are areas when we have farms but with the cows they more or less eat freely; there are no areas that are allocated specifically for that.

F002: You have said that milk as it was in the past is different to the milk that you have now. Is the difference in taste?

P: No. Even the milk being in short supply but it is still the same.

F002: Ok. Now we will do an exercise as the one we did sometimes back. We will arrange our items. We have seen that the issue of dry weather have contributed a lot to milk being reduced. We have also seen the issue of animal diseases. This has also contributed to the reduction of milk supply. There is also the issue of shifting the cows for better pastures. Amongst these three things; which one has contributed the most to the reduction of milk supply?

P: It is the dry weather.

F002: Dry weather. Ok what is the next? Ok and why do you say dry weather is the most factors that contribute to the reduction of milk?

P: We say the dry weather as even if the cattle have not shifted as long as the weather is dry there won’t be much milk.

F002: What is the reason for the reduction then

P: It is because of the dry weather. There is no grass, the sun is hot, and the cows start to get thin and frail.

There is very little grass

F002: There is few grass; why is it like that? Why don’t you have a lot of grass?

P: It is because there is no rain.

F002: Ok. We have seen that the most important reason for the reduction of milk supply is the dry weather. We are remaining with diseases and the cattle being shifted to other pastures. What is the second factor; the first one is dry weather. What is the second factor?

P: The second one is diseases.

F002: Diseases; and the last one is the shifting of cattle. thank you we are moving on well; things are not bad although there are some who are a bit sleepy. Now I would like to ask questions related to the eating of cow blood. M tell us how is that nowadays

P: Nowadays people are not eating or drinking blood.

F002: You don’t eat blood completely?

P: Yes.

F002: Even that which you mix in milk?

P: Most of the children do not eat but some of us eat.

F002: You as elders still eat that? Do you eat often or once in a while?

P: Once in a while.

F002: Why have you reduced drinking blood?

P: It is because we have some food now

F002: You have some food?

P: In the past we were drinking and eating a lot of blood.

F002: What do the others say as regards to eating and drinking blood? Why were you eating a lot of blood in the past

P: We did not have a variety of food.

F002: You did not have alternative food. What do the others say?

P: As of us women we need the blood. When a pregnant mother delivers, she is served with specially prepared oil in which she is given. After that she is also given blood mixed in milk. In those early days just after delivery the mother does not eat hard food; she only drinks the specially prepared milk

F002: The ones that are mixed with milk?

P: Yes. the milk mixed with blood. But nowadays this is not done widely; many of the new generation don’t want to do that. Although we try to force then but some of them refuse completely.

F002: In the past what was the milk mixed with blood helping

P: They were helping in adding more hemoglobin

F002: Adding more blood to the body? What do they eat nowadays that can add more blood? IF they don’t want to eat the blood; what do they use as an alternative?

P: They eat fruits

F002: They eat fruits? Like what?

P: Oranges, bananas, sugarcane, and many others.

F002: So that is what helps them to add more blood; and so the mother who has freshly delivered eats that? You said you were giving the mother who has delivered....

P: A pregnant mother who has delivered is escorted to the forest where some soup mixed with some medicine is specially prepared for her

F002: What medicine is she given?

You can talk even in your tribal language.

P: Murugupwi

F002: Murugupwi. How is the tree like?

P: (Talking in Maasai)

F002: Do you use the roots or other parts; what do you do?

P: The barks are the ones that are used.

F002: What do you do with them?

P: We boil them and mix with blood,

F002: Then she drinks that?

P: Yes.

F002: Aren’t you also mixing with milk?

P: It is not mixed with milk.

T003: do you know the tree?

Yes.

F002: Ok

T003: It is a type of tree that is found in some areas and the barks are the ones that are used.

F002: What are the trees like, are they big in size

P: They are big

F002: Do you have them in the neighborhood?

P: There are a few near here but the others are some distance away.

F002: So now they are not drinking milk mixed with blood but are boiling the tree barks.

P: Yes.

F002: Ok. We have seen in the instance the a mother has delivered. What other instances do you use blood? What about when a mother is still to deliver?

P: You mean when she is pregnant?

F002: Yes.

P: When the pregnant mother is seen as having problems we try to think about sending to hospital; but when it is not possible we try to make the mixture of milk and blood and give it to her. In many cases she become vibrant again.

F002: Ok. Now maybe we should look at the use of blood you said that the use of blood has been reduced considerably unlike what it was in the past and the daughters and grandchildren don’t like it completely. What brings these changes that eating blood has been reduced like that.

P: It is because of the use of tea.

F002: Ok what else?

P: (talking in Maasai)

T003: It is that there are many other alternatives that the youth use instead of blood.

F002: So why don’t they want to drink the blood?

T003: It is just the changes

P: Many others use tea.

F002: So when they drink tea, are they adding more blood to the body?

P: No.

F002: Ok. Thank you; going on with our next area. When we came here last time you told us that there are some types of food that are eaten in ceremonies although in the past they were also not eaten. We are seeing that Pillau is now eaten in ceremonies; in funerals people eat white rice with meat; isn’t that so? In your thinking why do you think Pillau is so important in ceremonies? Or why is white rice important in funerals?

P: It is because rice is easy to cook not as maize meal and it has good taste.

F002: So it is simple to cook but it is also good food and very nice. What is the other reason of cooking pillau or white rice? Apart from the simplicity in cooking and it being very palatable.

P: With rice you can provide for a lot of people at a time

F002: Ok. lets go on with our discussions. In what way have the food being prepared in ceremony changed? if you compare what it was like when you were young and now; can you tell us how the preparations have changed?

P: In the past we were eating cracked maize mixed with beans and milk; the women come with gourds of milk and the cracked maize is prepared manually not using machine. So you prepare the food and the women come with milk from their homes. If a person can slaughter a cow then we have meat. So when we started seeing things differently we saw that cooking rice is better.

F002: And what about in funerals?

P: In funerals it is the same.

F002: What were you eating in the past?

P: In the past we were not eating in funerals.

F002: You don’t cry or eat in funerals?

P: When a person dies we just remain indoors and the corpse is prepared and some prayers done and the men go to bury the person nothing is done in the house. If it is an elder who has died we slaughter a sheep but in the past these things were not done.

F002: So in the past when the person who have died is an elder you slaughter a sheep; what about now?

P: You slaughter something like that but then you continue to serve food and other things you have prepared..

F002: Ok. We would like to know how the food that is being cooked for ceremonies have changed. We have seen that Pillau is eaten in ceremonies and we have seen that white rice is eaten in funerals but also in ceremonies. But you also eat other types of food. I would like to know; do the people also eat such food in their households and not in ceremonies only?

P: We also eat that in our households.

F002: You do that; it is not only in ceremonies?

P: Yes.

F002: Every now and then?

P: We just cook and eat with the family.

F002: What has caused that? That people eat the food in the homes and not only in ceremonies?

P: It is good food, if you can afford you eat that with your children.

F002: Also we have heard that when an animal is slaughtered the are parts of the body that are special for particular people. There is part that is special for the Grandfather, there is part special for grandmother; that of the father, mother and the youth. Is it right?

P: Yes

F002: How is that?

What do they do to a cow when is slaughtered?

P: It is eaten.

F002: Mhhh Don’t you have some arrangement that has been used since the past days?

P: There was

F002: Tell us about that; we would like to know about that. A cow is slaughtered after that what do you do?

P: After being slaughtered the cow is cut and distributed. There are parts that are special

F002: You just mention them.

P: There is Loloiye

F002: Whose portion is that?

P: It is for the young girls.

F002: Every part you mention you also mention whose portion it is. Ok go on.

P: Uza natenge That is for the women who are of average age.

F002: Which is the elders?

P: The elderly get the neck and legs

F002: What about that of the Moran.

P: kandaina which is the front legs known as the arms.

F002: What about the elderly women like these here?

P: Nyarasi

F002: What else? what about the intestines?

P: That is eaten by all the women

F002: Any other part?

P: The liver and all the intestines are for the women. Also the backbone is for the women.

F002: What about the men?

P: The parts are as we have mentioned earlier

T003: The neck is for the elders, the front legs are for the youth,

F002: Let them mention in Maasai and then say what it is.

T003: Nyang'ana that is the front legs; that is for the youth, liver for the women, Intestines for the women, the tail is also for the women. The ribs are for the youth.

F002: Ok. What will happen if the young girls have eaten ribs which are for the youth? You said that the girls are eating something else what if they eat the ribs

P: Nothing will happen to them but then it was strictly against the tribal arrangements.

F002: What about if the men eat liver?

P: That alright but then they will be contrary to the arrangements. but those were just arrangements. it is not bad and nobody is going against the arrangements.

F002: What if it happens that someone has done that?

P: The men eat goat liver but the women do not eat that.

F002: What if you eat?

P: There is no problem. But this is an arrangement that was done long time ago that goat liver is for the men and also sheep liver.

F002: Isn’t there anybody who will be fined for that?

P: No

One part is sensitive and you can be penalized for eating it; and that is if the men eat it. It is the tail.

F002: If a man eats the tail he is fined; why?

P: That is a portion that is not for them

F002: What is the fine that is served

P: If you are a woman you have to give a young cow.

F002: What if I don’t have?

P: For example if the youth slaughter a goat and they eat the neck meat they will be fined by the elders. That can be in the form of money.

F002: What if they don’t pay?

P: They will have to pay.

F002: Ok we have talked about the changes in food which have happened in a certain time. Can you say if these changes of food have affected the community? You have seen that there are changes in food. we were eating this and now we are eating that, has these changes affected the community?

P: It hasnt.

F002: Effect can be either positive or negative.

We have seen that there are food changes that have happened over a certain time but we have also had some reasons which we mentioned and arranged then in priority. Now in what way has these changes affected the community?

P: (talking in Maasai)

T003: They say that those changes have helped them to overcome some ailments like cholera which affected the community here for some time but then was quickly addressed.

F002: In the consumption of the food which we are now eating. How has the changes affected the relationship between yourselves the Maasai? That these are eating this type of food and you segregate them

P: No that can’t be.

F002: I am grateful for your time and I think we are going on well. Now I am going on to the last few questions; and I would like us all to answer so as we can finish quickly. We have seen that we are eating variety of food; I would like you to tell me where you can learn or get information related to issues on food, issues on nutrition, and issues on health. Old people like you; where do you get the information?

P: Quite

F002: If you don’t get any information you can as well say so.

P: (Talking in Maasai)

T003: They say they have never had any information according to the environment they are in.

F002: It is not necessary things like training. It is just information that they can have; say maybe you are told to eat certain food because of this and that.

P: No

F002: You haven’t received such information?

P: No.

F002: Do you think such information are important to you? That if you cook this way the food will be adding blood to your body or if you do this or that you will have good health you will appear better; do you think such information is important?

P: (Talking in Maasai)

T003: They say that the information is important and they are ready to have it imparted to them.

F002: Who are to be given the information/education?

P: (Talking in Maasai)

T003: They say they would like to be given the information or education themselves.

P: (Maasai)

T003: They say that it will be good if they get the education but they think it will be better if the education is facilitated to their young girl for sustainability.

F002: Apart from their girls; who else?

P: (Talking in Maasai)

T003: They say they would also like to have the education but their girls should also be taught.

F002: Ok. At the begining you told us that the men are the ones who buy food.

P: Yes

F002: What about if we train you only; what about the men?

P: You can as well teach them; as it is important for the person who bring in the food to have knowledge.

F002: Ahaa that’s ok. How would you like it to be taught? Do you want it to be done in school or in the homes or in Health centers or do you want it to be done in churches or mosques; what is your preference or do you want it to be through the radio so that you cab just listen or to print papers like these so that you can just read by yourselves or looking at the television. How would you like it to be facilitated?

T003: They say it will be good if it is facilitated in groups or in their homes or even in Health centers but the radios can be used but not preferably so it is either in their homes or the Health centers. But also in churches or mosques is ok.

F002: Who is to train them; who would you like to educate you? Your children who has gone to school to be taught so as they can come and teach you or you would like people from the outside to come and educate you or the Nurses or teachers or your husbands' who would you like to train you?

P: Who will teach our husbands so as they can come to teach us?

F002: They can be taught so as they can have the knowledge to teach you. Or do you want to be trained so as you can educate others?

P: Maybe our children as they are also learned

F002: So if the children are trained

P: But I have reservation for the children; what do they know

F002: She doesn’t cook for me but when I am pregnant she know what food I am supposed to eat. Even the Nurses are trained about that; that when a woman is pregnant she is supposed to eat this and this so as to add more blood to her body. So the men can also be trained in that . Not that he is trained on how to cook. In training such as this we do not train to cook only there are many areas that are covered. We can say it is a training for on food consumption so as to bring good health. So there are a lot of things involved. So who would you like to train you? People who when they train you; you will understand more.

P: Just a person like you we will understand.

F002: But you know I don’t know Maasai

P: But we hear Kiswahili alright.

(Talking in Maasai)

F002: You have mentioned the Churches and Hospitals you have also mentioned in your homes; which do you think is more suitable?

P: In the groups like this.

F002: Ok thank you. You have told us that your young girls if trained it will be simple for them to come and give you the education. Or will be simple for them to come and educate others. Some of us don’t know Maasai.

P: Laughter and jokes.

F002: Ok Ladies We are grateful for your participation. We have been able to collect a lot of information from you. maybe before I turn of the recorder or close our conversation is there anything you would like to know from what we have been discussing? Anything at all about what we have been talking here. If it is something outside what we have been talking you can ask me after the session. is there anything you would like to know or you would like to advise us

P: There is nothing

F002: Ok thank you very much. Have a good day.