Interviewer(s): I003
Interviewee(s): P473

I003: If we may start our interview mum

P473: Mmmm…

I003: You have told me that in this village, since you came your elder child is almost 37 years old.

P473: Mmmm…

I003: Now for how long did you stay before getting your first-born child?

P473: I waited for like 3 years before getting my first born child.

I003: Like 3 years or so?

P473: Yes.

I003: So to speak, you have lived in this village for almost 40 years, Is it so?

P473: Yes.

I003: And now, you have told me that your main economic activity is animal rearing and also farming?

P473: Eeeeh I also farm.

I003: You grow maize on large scale?

P473: Yes…I do and especially maize.

I003: That is fine. You have also told me that you have six children in your household and one grandchild. Therefore, this means that you are nine people in total?

P473: Mmmm…

I003: So, before you came to this Kambala village, where we you living?

P473: I came from Kilosa.

I003: aaah…Kilosa was your original home?

P473: Yes…

I003: Now let us talk about your original home Kilosa. When you lived there, was the family house a side or you all lived together with relatives in that you could eat in your uncles or aunties house or it was just a homestead on its own?

P473: It was a big homestead with many houses.

I003: Therefore, you would easily move from one household to another and eat?

P473: Yes. I would eat in uncles and aunties households and even sleep at grandmother’s home.

I003: Ahaa…

P473: Yes.

I003: May be another thing, when we now come to your family in Kilosa, how many siblings did you have?

P473: We were born nine in total.

I003: You were nine in total?

P473: Yes.

I003: Out of the nine children, were there male and female children?

P473: Yes. Four were male and five females.

I003: From these male and female children, you will find out that male have their role and female too have their role to play and women too had their roles to play too. What roles did the female children play in the family?

P473: We did not go to school so our work was to milk cows when they come back from grazing and in the morning before they go.

I003: What of cooking? Who used to prepare meals?

P473: It is the mother who prepares food.

I003: Ahaa…therefore, mother’s main duties was cooking food and yours was to milk cows and looking after goats.

P473: Yes, milking cows and looking after goats and also counting cows

I003: A girl’s work was to count cows when they are back from grazing or?

P473: Not counting alone but to find out what had not been done then we do it. For example, you come home and find out that two to three cattle are missing, that is when you can raise alert about the missing cattle.

I003: What about the male children, what was their major work?

P473: Their main work was to graze the cattle and also treating them when they are sick.

I003: So, that was a male child’s work?

P473: Yes.

I003: And what about fathers’ responsibilities?

P473: When the male children are treating cattle by injecting them, during this time, the father’s role was just to supervise and look after how they are treating them. If at all cows are missing, he would inform the father then rush to look after them.

I003: Mmmm. And what was mother’s role in the family?

P473: Mother’s role was to wash clothes and to prepare meals. She also ensured that everybody in the family got satisfied. For instance, we used to eat ugali (maize meal) once in a day.

I003: So, you ate it rarely?

P473: Yes…we ate ugali like twice in a month we did not like ugali.

I003: Mmmm…. Therefore, what did you use to eat for the rest of the days?

P473: We used to take fermented milk, fresh milk. When you just looked at ugali one got bored.

I003: hahaaa… you used to feed on milk and meat alone?

P473: Yes. We fed on milk and meat. There was a special period for eating meat for instance as from June to July we used to eat meat from the wild and we completely forgot eating ugali.

I003: Okay that is fine. In your family, is there anyone who is educated?

P473: No, there is none.

I003: So, all of you had not gone to school even to class one at primary school?

P473: None.

I003: Okay. I would wish to know the type of food you used to eat in those days when you were young. You earlier said you used to take milk most of the time and that you ate ugali rarely. Now which other foods did you used to eat?

P473: Nothing.

I003: What of foodstuffs like bananas?

P473: No. Sometimes we used to eat ripe bananas.

I003: Therefore, you used to eat ugali alone though you took milk most of the time?

P473: Yes, because most of the people did not know how to prepare other foods apart from ugali which they cooked well until it was ready.

I003: I would like to know which foods did you use to eat rarely…like rice?

P473: It was just ugali…unless one travelled is when he/she would eat rice. The children do not know rice and when cooked, they refuse to eat.

I003: Now during that period in your family, which food do you think the girls did not eat or the old people did not like to eat or a particular group liked to eat or you all liked the same food?

P473: We all liked and ate the same food like ugali and during the dry spell we used to take fresh milk because there was no enough milk to ferment. They bought a 20kg bucket of maize flour which we ate and took long to run out.

I003: Which food was liked mostly by the male or female children in the family?

P473: No food was liked by either…ugali was the favourite meal.

I003: So, you grew maize or where did you get the maize?

P473: We just used to buy the road side.

I003: Were the market available in those days?

P473: Yes, the markets were there though far away and the boy child was one who was sent most of the time to the road side or to the market to buy maize. There was nothing big one would achieve by going to the market unless buying soap and other crucial items otherwise most of the things was available buy the road side.

I003: Did you used to eat green vegetable those days?

P473: No. We did not eat vegetables.

I003: Okay, when you were young, who used to make decision and who would go to buy food for instance food has run out and we need to buy more?

P473: It was both father and mother. We could just see food has been bought.

I003: Therefore, you were not involved at all on what should be bought?

P473: We were not involved at all.

I003: Meaning it was the responsibility of the father and the mother alone?

P473: Yes.

I003: Mmmm…it is okay. And on many occasions, was it the father or the mother who was making final decision on what food should be procured?

P473: I do not know. It was up to them as we were waiting to eat.

I003: So, you were waiting to eat the food which was procured?

P473: Yes.

I003: Okay. We now change to a different topic. Now during those days when you were still in Kilosa, how did you learn that a boy or girl had grown to adulthood starting with the girl child, which signs did you see and conclude that now this is an adult person?

P473: For girls, she would be married off when she grows to adulthood. When another one comes, she is married off in the same way.

I003: There was nothing else that you would see or use to identify that this one had grown to maturity for instance organizing a traditional dance/initiation ceremony to show that she is now ready to be married?

P473: A traditional dance is there. For instance, when three boys grow up, we organize a ceremony to initiate them to adulthood. Then we find out that there are three girls who have also grown to adulthood, we pass them through the same initiation ceremony with boys in order to cut minimize the cost that could have been incurred. They therefore go through initiation to become a Moran

I003: By Moran you mean one who is circumcised and has now become an adult?

P473: Yes. He is now an adult.

I003: Can one become a Moran without lighting fire (initiation)?

P473: No. He cannot become a Moran without being initiated.

I003: Okay. If a male child is called Moran, what of the girl child?

P473: We call them Ndito, she remains to be called Ndito until she is initiated to adulthood is when she stops being called Ndito.

I003: Ooh…okay. Now why do you sing and dance for her?

P473: We just look at years…when she grows big and breasts develop is when we know that she has grown to adulthood.

I003: Others call it adolescence. Do you have the same thing here?

P473: No.

I003: She can still go through adolescence while still young?

P473: Yes.

I003: Ahaa… so, the traditional ceremony goes for one day or how many days?

P473: It even goes for four days.

I003: Aaah?

P473: Yes.

I003: Yours was how many days?

P473: Four days, it was a big ceremony. That is when we saw rice being prepared. People ate and really felt that it was a good ceremony.

I003: okay. We have dwelled on the past years and let us now look at the recent years. You said that since you came here, it is almost 40 years now as your first-born child is 37 years old and you were here three years before giving birth. Now I would like to know you’re the main economic activity currently that enables you to earn a living?

P473: It is still animal keeping. Right now we have land that we cultivate and therefore we no longer sell animals to buy food during hunger but instead sell them to pay school fees.

I003: So now you grow crops, isn’t?

P473: Yes.

I003: And the crops you grow now are not for food but instead for taking children to school.

P473: Yes.

I003: If you were to compare those days how life was while you were in Kilosa and nowadays you are in Kambala which one is better?

P473: I do not know what to say but may be things are worse. For instance, I look after all jobs and carry all responsibilities unlike in the past whereby I just used to sit idle and things were fine.

I003: Okay so how is life nowadays? Is there any changes? Has the role of a girl and a boy child changed?

P473: It has changed.

I003: It has changed in which way?

P473: It has changed in that I have to be asked everything that is needed e.g. which food is to be eaten. And that is why I said that responsibilities have increased.

I003: Ahaa. That is to you as a mother.

P473: Mmmh…

I003: Well you said that you have six children?

P473: Yes.

I003: So what jobs do they do at the moment especially the male child?

P473: The male child looks after cattle like now during the dry spell, he takes the animals to ronjo (bush) to herd them till when the rain falls is when he brings them back when there is pasture.

I003: Therefore the work of a male child today is still to look after cattle just like in the past?

P473: Yes.

I003: What about a girl child, what role does she play at the moment?

P473: All my children are in secondary school and I only stay with one girl at home and she will soon go back since she did well in school. Last year, we got some problems whereby the cattle were emaciated a result of prolonged dry spell and are getting back to health after the rains resumed.

I003: Ahaa…is she a girl?

P473: Yes, she is a young girl, my last born.

I003: Now do you think there are any changes in the role of both male and female children today compared with the past especially the girl child?

P473: Yes there is a change.

I003: Really?

P473: Yes. Today’s children are not honest at all. They do little work then sit under a shed and pretend that they are tied; I mean they are very cunning. Even my last-born girl can go up to Songea town alone.

I003: Really?

P473: Yes. They are cunning. During our days, we even feared to go Mikindu market alone.

I003: But what of today?

P473: Today children are cunning and they do not fear.

I003: What do you think has changed them?

P473: Education.

I003: let us move to another topic that deals with food. In the past, there were some foods that you used to eat but are not available today. I don’t know if that is true. Do you think there are some foods that you used to eat in the past but are not available today?

P473: I have even forgotten what we used to eat.

I003: Mmmm. Let us look at the foods that have emerged today for example you would see people eating chicken, chips. These are some of the foods that you did not used to eat during your old days but you eat them today. Is it true this exists?

P473: Yes. It is true that this exists.

I003: Okay. Let us move on. Today, we have new meals for instance you will find people eating rice, chips, fried chicken and also the way they are cooked is different from the way it was done in the past?

P473: Yes it was boiled those days but today it is fried and you cannot even imagine that you are eating meat.

I003: Do you think it has changed?

P473: Yes it has changed.

I003: Which foods do you think have changed?

P473: Like those chips they mix with eggs I mean those chicken meats is what we do not like but children like them.

I003: Why do you think they like it?

P473: I really do not know. When you bring it they just eat.

I003: Don’t you deny them?

P473: No.

I003: So if they feel like eating then they should eat?

P473: Yes, they should eat if they want to.

I003: Now lets us talk about these new foods. Why do you think these new foods have started emerging, the way they are cooked has changes for instance you told me you used to boil meat in those days but today it is fried using onions, tomatoes etc. Why do you think is the reason behind all these changes?

P473: I do not know we just see it coming.

I003: But you why don’t know?

P473: I do not know the reason behind all these changes. In the past we used to boil meat but today it is fried till it dries up. In the past we even eat uncooked meat.

I003: But today?

P473: Today no.

I003: Now this is where I now want to understand, in the past it is masai alone who used to live in this village, today I see many other different tribes living here like Pare, Chaga, Meru. Which other tribes are here?

P473: Gogo

I003: Don’t you think that they are the ones who came with their foodstuffs and the way they cook that made you emulate and too change your cooking style here?

P473: No…

I003: Not that way?

P473: No…we have just known by ourselves.

I003: Do you think it is because children have gone to school and this is what has brought about the change?

P473: Eeeh…it is because the children have gone to school and have changed compared to us when we were growing.

I003: Therefore, they have learnt how to eat different foods (diet) in school?

P473: Mmm.

I003: Okay. What else do you think? May be drought has also led to change in diet for example a drop-in milk production has forced people to eat other new foods. Is this true?

P473: Yes, it is true because for now, the dry spell has prolonged.

I003: Do you think this has contributed to the changes?

P473: Yes it has, for instance in the past, there was milk all throughout till when the rainy season resumed but today, the prolonged dry spell has driven all cattle to far places for pasture hence we are forced to eat green vegetables and bananas.

I003: So drought has also contributed to changes in diet?

P473: Exactly.

I003: What else do you think has led to the change according to you do you think the availability of market, has forced traders to bring here different types of foodstuffs and do you think this might have contributed to you buying these foodstuffs?

P473: Yes, it has contributed because in the past, we did not see all these but now we see all these different foodstuffs in the market and we buy them.

I003: Therefore, you believe that this has contributed to the change of diet?

P473: Yes, it has contributed as you see different foodstuffs in an open-air market.

I003: And you find yourself buying them?

P473: Eeeeh…

I003: Was there an open air market in Kilosa in the past?

P473: It was not there.

I003: Where did you buy your goods from?

P473: We used to buy by the road side which is far.

I003: That is where you bought foodstuff from?

P473: Eeeeh…

I003: We have some foodstuffs which it is meant for the poor or low income earners. Which food is this that when you really find someone eating, you will simply say he is finished?

P473: It is difficult to change food here. We are used to eating ugali (maize meal), rice and occasionally bananas. I cannot really tell because we all eat the same food.

I003: For sure it is difficult to know, therefore there is no difference.

P473: Yes, there is no difference.

I003: There is food called Kididio?

P473: Yes, I know kididio (porridge-like relish). We used to eat when we were young. Nobody eats it today. It looks like ugali (maize meal) and was white just like ugali. In the past people used to eat but not today.

I003: Why?

P473: in the past, when a woman felt like eating salty food, then she would cook kididio and looks for vegetables.

I003: Why is it not eaten nowadays?

P473: It is because when you come to the market today, you will find beans, green vegetables, cowpeas leaves and all other varieties of vegetables.

I003: Therefore, when you cook it right now it means you do not have money?

P473: Not really but today’s children do not know kididio and it is only us who know it.

I003: Ahaa so now kididio is among foods which is not eaten nowadays. What other food which is not eaten nowadays that your children do not know but you used to eat in the past?

P473: It is not there because if milk, they too know it.

I003: Ahaa…therefore it is just kididio?

P473: Yes, just kididio because nowadays vegetable vendors come with baskets full of varieties of vegetables and we ask them ‘what is these? They say Chinese vegetables, cabbages etc.…are they eaten? Eeeh…so we buy them’.

I003: Ahaa…that is fine. Now, let us discuss about these three things. You said that the diet has changed firstly because of drought. The drought affects milk production in that there is little milk that false short of demand. Secondly, we talked of education. Children have gone to school but came back and have started eating fried chicken, meat, eggs and have changed the eating habit. And lastly, the availability of the different foodstuffs for instance when you move around, you will find people with bicycles selling vegetables.

P473: Ehee…

I003: Now, out these three, which one has made you change the eating habits? Is it drought, education or availability of other foodstuffs?

P473: I think it is availability of these foods that has contributed to change in diet

I003: Mmmm…now from availability of other foods, which one follows? Is it drought or education?

P473: It is education.

I003: Okay, when did you last cook kididio?

P473: Long time ago.

I003: You have not cooked kididio of late?

P473: No.

I003: long time ago?

P473: Yes…we go to the market and buy beans then prepare.

I003: Okay, Now let us go to another question. Do you feel that the meals have changed that is now people are eating vegetables, mixture of maize and beans (makande), rice and ugali when you go to a ceremony, you will find rice has been cooked. Now, in which way do you think this has affected the male and female children and do you think there is any harm?

P473: Yes. We feel very nice especially now we have varieties of food to prepare for the family like rice is good but those other new foods that are cooked with a lot of oil are harmful to our health.

I003: You mean these new foodstuffs?

P473: Yes.

I003: Now do you think the Masai culture will be eroded in the future as a result of these new foods?

P473: No. It will not disappear because it is about eating food to satisfaction as you just as you preserve your culture.

I003: Hahaaa…that is fine, you mean it has not affected your culture?

P473: No, there is no harm.

I003: What are the advantages of these foods?

P473: These modern foods are healthy though the only disadvantage is that it causes stomach aches as a result of cooking fat that is used in preparing them. And even to date we have those who do not eat these fried foods that are cooked in urban areas and instead buy the foods then prepare from home using animal fat (cattle fat)

I003: Now if we may look at milk. Do you see any importance of milk today compared with the past when you were young, when do you think milk was crucial to you?

P473: It is important at the moment.

I003: Why?

P473: Because at the moment I sell milk and they pay me at the end of the month for example when I sell 20 or 10 litres per day I receive payment at the end of the month and no longer depend on my husband.

I003: So, you like it because you sell milk and get money?

P473: Yes, because in the past we just used to drink milk then pour excess in cattle yard.

I003: Aaah! You mean you used to pour milk in cattle yard in the past?

P473: Yes.

I003: Why did you pour milk into the cattle yard?

P473: Because we had so much such that some milk used to get spoilt so you have to dispose before milking fresh milk from the cows, and you know during those years, milk was not sold and no one would come to collect the milk.

I003: Did you use milk to cook food in the past?

P473: No.

I003: okay

P473: Currently we use milk to prepare tea.

I003: You have said that in the past there was plenty of milk, why do you think today there is scarcity of milk?

P473: It is because of dry spells.

I003: Therefore dry spell has contributed a lot to milk shortages?

P473: Yes.

I003: Apart from drought what else has led to the milk shortages in your household?

P473: Another thing that has led to food shortages is when most of the milk is sold in order to buy other items then it remains little for my children to use.

I003: Okay. In the past there was plenty of milk and one would go to his brother’s house and borrow milk but today you cannot borrow milk but instead you buy, why do you think this is happening?

P473: It is because most people are educated nowadays and understand the importance and value for money.

I003: Now let us look at other reason that has led to milk shortage. Is it dry spell and selling milk alone that has led to milk shortages or there are other reasons for instance when you walk around Mvomero nowadays, you will experience a dispute between farmers and pastoralists. Do you think this also contributes or there are other reasons?

P473: That is just stupidity by few people whose intentions are ill but this did not happened in our area. We heard that it happened in Mikindu area where only 50 cattle would come back and the rest like 200 taken away.

I003: 200 cattle are taken away?

P473: Yes, so this also contributed to the shortage of milk.

I003: Have you ever seen or experienced conflict between a farmer and a pastoralist?

P473: Eeeeh I have seen them fight especially women it is men who separate them. They take our animals and we follow up to a week and we leave our children without food and when we come back they cry of hunger.

I003: Or maybe you Masai have reduced the number of cattle’s population?

P473: Not at all. They have just dwindled in number as a result of conflicts. For instance, goats that you watched over the television that had been chopped (killed) so now in that village people are starting a fresh to rear livestock and this has led to food shortage as children no longer take milk as they used to in the past.

I003: You have mentioned four issues. You have said that milk is expensive because it is scarce as a result of drought that has led to insufficient pasture for cattle thus reduced milk productivity. Secondly, you said that farmers sell milk to earn a living.

P473: I meant during the rainy season.

I003: Okay during the rainy season?

P473: Mmmm…

I003: Now, why don’t they sell milk during the dry season?

P473: It is because cattle are taken to far places to herd.

I003: Another problem you face is land conflict between farmers and pastoralists as it leads to killing of livestock which in turn reduces milk productivity.

P473: Mmmm…

I003: Thirdly, you have said that the human population has increase and hence the grazing land has also reduced and this has contributed to milk shortage.

P473: Mmmm...

I003: You also said that milk shortage has been as a result of cows not getting enough feeds.

P473: Mmmm…

I003: Now, out of the four factors that you have mentioned, which one do you think is a common problem between dry spell, selling milk, land conflict and increased population that has led to reduced grazing land?

P473: It is the reduction of grazing land as most of the places we used to graze in the past has been cultivated and grown crops like rice, vegetables etc. And hence the grazing land keeps getting small.

I003: another one is conflict, selling milk and drought. Which one is next to reduced grazing land?

P473: Selling milk during the rainy season in that much of the milk is sold and only little milk is left for home use but now during the dry season, nobody sells milk because all the cattle are far away grazing on river valleys.

I003: Now between land conflict and dry spell, which one follows next in bringing about food reduction in the society?

P473: There is nothing much that has brought complications since last year apart from the dry spell.

I003: Okay. Now did you say that the conflict is only between a farmer and a pastoralist or it is even occurs between the pastoralists themselves?

P473: It is not possible between the pastoralists.

I003: Why possible between pastoralists themselves for example someone else has brought his livestock here. Do you disagree?

P473: No.

I003: I would like to know, who normally goes to buy foods in your family?

P473: It is the husband who buys foods.

I003: And which type of foods does he buy mostly?

P473: At the moment he mostly buys bananas, rice, potatoes. Nowadays he buys different foodstuffs.

I003: A variety of foodstuffs?

P473: Yes

I003: Okay. And at the moment, do you sit together then discuss on which food to buy or he decide on his own?

P473: Sometimes I tell him, for example, when we have eaten ugali (maize meal) for long, I will tell him to go and buy different foodstuff especially during a market day. He goes with a motorbike and brings the food.

I003: Mmmm…now you have said that it is the husband who buys food most of the time. Which food does a mother buy? I mean you?

P473: For my case, especially during a market day like today I will go to the market buy fresh green vegetables and when I see good food I buy though I go to the market on rare occasions. I do not get out of home that easily.

I003: Is it your husband work to go to the market?

P473: Yes. It is the husband who usually goes to the market.

I003: Now in the past when you were still in Kilosa, where did you go to buy food? Was the market far?

P473: During that time we did not know anything like market.

I003: Okay Mother when it comes to cooking, do you cook at home?

P473: Mmmm…

I003: Now, when you decide that today I will cook ugali, rice or cassava, what is it that drives you to make that decision?

P473: It is just about changing the diet.

I003: Your reason is just to change diet?

P473: Yes. It is because I just want to change.

I003: That is the reason as to why you cook?

P473: Eeeh…

I003: Now, is it you alone who decides to change diet or it is because someone wants it changed? Is there a time whereby a child has ever approached you and said mum today I do not want this food or mum today we want this food?

P473: Nowadays children are more enlightened and they speak out on what they want and what they do not want. For instance, they will tell me mum today we want to eat this and I cook for them. Like now, the female children are grown up and they will just go to the kitchen and cook food.

I003: So they cook themselves?

P473: Yes.

I003: Another one if there is no that particular food?

P473: you mean substitute food?

I003: mmm…

P473: They will just eat ugali until market day when we will buy another food.

I003: Is there any possibility or has it ever happened that food is available at home but family members are not interested in eating?

P473: Yes it has happened, like rice, kande etc. It has happened several times. They would rather eat ugali for three consecutive days but not kande.

I003: Why they do not like kande?

P473: I really do not know why.

I003: Mmmm. Which food does the husband like most of the time?

P473: He likes rice and meat.

I003: Rice and meat is what he likes most?

P473: Yes

I003: Okay. Has the dry spell led to shortage of food?

P473: Led to what?

I003: Shortage of food?

P473: Yes, drought has contributed though the emergence of nearby markets has played a major role too as one can see everything.

I003: Out of all these things you have mentioned, firstly you have mentioned about the availability of food, people will eat what they want or feel like eating, another thing you told me is the nearby markets whereby one can go to the market and buy food he wants then bring home and another one you told me is that children like a particular food lets us say the taste whereby they will not eat if it doesn’t taste well. Do you have anything to add on that?

P473: I do not have.

I003: Okay. Do you think dry spell may affect availability of milk or money or contributed to lack of a particular foodstuff?

P473: May be scarcity of milk.

I003: Yes…do you think it can lead you into eating a particular type of food?

P473: Maybe one is only forced to change food if there is no any other food in the house.

I003: What if you don’t have enough money in the house, don’t you think this may contribute to change of diet in the household?

P473: It contributes because if I do not have money I cannot buy the food I want.

I003: Where does a Masai get his/her money?

P473: He/she gets the money from cattle.

I003: So drought can cause you to lack money?

P473: Eeeeh because when the cattle grow thin, we cannot sell it.

I003: Out of the three things you have mentioned dry spell, the nearby markets and availability of food at home will make people change diet if it is there. What do you think is the major reason that makes you to change diet.eg today I will eat this food and that etc.? Could it be as a result of dry spell, the market or what is it?

P473: No…it is just by will.

I003: Could it be because of availability of food that makes you eat what you eat?

P473: Ehee…

I003: Mmmm…what of market? For example, when the market is near, you may see fresh vegetables or Sardines and decide to buy. Do you eat sardines?

P473: No.

I003: What of ‘singiri’ (sardines)?

P473: I do not eat even chicken but my children eat fish but not sardines ‘singiri’. Though now days they eat chicken but they do not eat (singiri) sardines.

I003: Why don’t they eat sardines? Is it because it is not sweet?

P473: I even don’t know.

I003: Or is it because of smell?

P473: May be smell because when you go closer to it in the market, it starts to smell bad.

I003: Ahaa…now here we have a question concerning dry season.

P473: Yes.

I003: Since you lived in Kilosa, have you ever experienced dry season such that there is no food?

P473: Eeeeh it has happened but I did not suffer much because during that time, I was being fed.

I003: Okay but it has never occurred to you that you have stayed hungry?

P473: It has never happened to me that I had to look for food that much.

I003: It has never happened?

P473: No.

I003: Since you moved to this village from Kilosa has food shortage ever happened?

P473: Yes, it has happened.

I003: When was it?

P473: It was last year.

I003: Mmmm…The dry season that just past?

P473: Eeeh…it was the worst drought that ever occurred as many cattle died. One could not admire to have a look at the cattle as they were emaciated. They could neither walk to the market or to the grazing field. We could just support them in order to rise up. That drought led to food shortage.

I003: That drought led to food shortage. Did you completely fail to eat food?

P473: We did not lack food completely because we relied on the goats.

I003: Meaning that you got money from goats?

P473: Yes, they were not affected by the drought.

I003: Mmmm…did it ever happen that you went hungry at some point?

P473: Most people suffered a lot but one who had goats was not affected and did not grow thin like cattle

I003: So there are families that slept hungry without food?

P473: Eeeeh…

I003: How did you manage to survive through that drought?

P473: It is only God who helped us, and also goats

I003: Therefore, the goats you had are what helped you?

P473: Yes.

I003: fine. Now I would like to ask you a last question mum, there is this education that concerns food/diet so that one has good health from eating a particular food etc. Have you ever received such education?

P473: No.

I003: here in this village for instance when you go to school, to the hospital…do you receive such an advice for example eats this type of food, green vegetables etc. Have you ever received such advice?

P473: Yes, I have received for instance when diagnosed with blood shortage in the body, one will be advised to eat certain fruits, green vegetables. We do get such advice

I003: Ahaa. From here do you get such advice?

P473: From the hospital.

I003: Ahaa… there is no any other place like through friends or other women when you meet? Do women have meetings in this village?

P473: Yes we do.

I003: Do you discuss about food/diet?

P473: No.

I003: You only discuss about your own issues?

P473: Yes.

I003: Don’t they teach such in churches e.g. People should eat this and that etc. Don’t they teach such issues?

P473: No, they don’t.

I003: Now I would wish to know if someone wants to come and share with you and your village such education about diet what should he/she do, how would you be informed, where will you sit and how will you be grouped, how will we start and do you wish to receive such education?

P473: We want such education.

I003: How will you be reached? Give your opinion now.

P473: I also do not know what to suggest because I have said that they should come and educate us and so long as they just say that we have brought this type of education, it will be well received.

I003: It will be received?

P473: Yes.

I003: And which group do you think should receive such education…is it men, women, children or who?

P473: That should be like a seminar whereby everybody comes to listen.

I003: Okay. Now whom should this seminar target mostly. Is it men, women or children?

P473: Women and children but even if men also attend and listen, it is not bad.

I003: But especially who?

P473: Women and children.

I003: Ahaa. Thank you very much. Now here in schools and churches, mosques and radio, which medium should we use to disseminate information that will reach out to everyone and where will the seminars be conducted. Should we use schools to disseminate information to homes, or should we use churches to reach people?

P473: Use schools to disseminate the information.

I003: Do many children attend school at the moment?

P473: Yes.

I003: Okay. That is fine. Mum i therefore appreciate a lot that we have come to an end of our interview and unless you have questions.

P473: I do not have any question.

I003: fine.