Interviewer(s): I003
Interviewee(s): 479

I003: Mama if I recall correctly you mentioned you are 40 years old and you are Zigua by tribe and you were born in this village.

479: Yes.

I003: And your main activity is farming and cattle rearing.

479: Yes.

I003: Before moving here when you got married, where did you live before?

479: Within this area in a place called Mabanda; it is made up of smaller neighbourhoods

I003: I would like to understand the family structure while you were growing up living with your parents. Did you have other homes within your homestead where for example you could go and eat say at your aunt’s house?

479: No, there were many houses in the area which belonged to other people. It was like an organized community, unless you would actually go visit your uncle’s house if it was close by.

I003: So your aunts and uncles did not live around near you?

479: No they lived far off.

I003: How many were you all in total?

479: There were nine of us. Two of my sisters passed away so there were seven of us left.

I003: So you had brothers and sisters?

479: Yes

I003: What were some of the responsibilities for the boys and girls at that time?

479: At that time my brothers were still very young and so were not involved in any activities as such. The eldest was in the motor bike business, another was in the business of roasting and selling maize.

I003: I am asking about when they were young, what household chores or responsibilities did they have?

479: They would herd the cattle which my father had.

I003: What about for the girls?

479: Fetching water, cooking, chores within the home and going to the farm as well.

I003: Who did the cooking?

479: The girls did.

I003: What about your father? What was his main activity?

479: He was a businessman, he had a shop and he was also a farmer. He passed away around that time.

I003: I am sorry about that.

And what your mother’s responsibilities?

479: My parents lived together for some time but separated after some time when I was young. When she left she became a business person selling honey in Kenya as well as animal hides.

I003: What were responsibilities though in the home before the separation?

479: She would make and sell African doughnuts. She did not really engage in housework as such after all we were there to help out with that.

I003: Were there any of you who were educated?

479: Yes all my siblings studied until class seven.

I003: We want to move to meals. What kind of food did you used to eat in your home?

479: We ate ugali, milk and vegetables.

I003: But there must be something you reminisce about enjoying eating in plenty as a child?

479: When we were growing up things were good, we would eat pretty much anything we wanted things did get a bit more difficult after our parents separated.

I003: Why did they separate, do you know?

479: No, I did not. We the children did not know, we can only say it was God’s will. He would associate well with us but he and our mother were not on speaking terms. I grew up and got married and around the time I had my fifth child they reconciled.

I003: What foods were prepared specifically for certain family members who nobody else would eat it?

479: We all ate the same food whatever was prepared for all.

I003: Who liked rice the best?

479: Small children.

I003: And these foods you would use; would you farm or buy them?

479: My father farmed quite a bit and would store any excess.

I003: And which ones would you buy?

479: Rice.

I003: And what about meat?

479: We would buy that as well.

I003: What about traditional foods which would grow wild, which ones were used?

479: Hare lettuce, Night shade, and Kungujuu.

I003: Who would make the decision in the home over what foods to prepare?

479: My mother.

I003: Not your father?

479: No, he had many homes so my mother would make the decisions for our home.

I003: Were the children involved in the discussion on what to prepare?

479: Yes. The children could make suggestions on foods to prepare.

I003: While you were growing up, what would be used to determine that one has grown up? Say a boy growing up and can now be referred to as a young adult?

479: Perhaps when a girl started her menstruation period I could not really say for boys.

I003: And what would be done in recognition of this transition into adulthood?

479: It would depend. When I was young the celebrations would happen when the girl finishes class seven. But nowadays our children go to secondary schools and so celebrations are done over the holidays. The girl is celebrated with dance and thereafter she is confined to the home for about three months or more unless she has a fiancé. In our tradition, once a girl has reached puberty and started her menses, she should not encounter males who could be free to marry her. It is taboo.

I003: When they are kept indoors what happens?

479: If she has a fiancé she will be given some advice and guidelines otherwise she is just kept indoors.

I003: So the celebration of song and dance may be done more than once? At the point of beginning her menstruation period and again once she is let out from being indoors?

479: Yes, that is right.

I003: Those who would receive lessons and advice, who counsels them?

479: It depends, if her grandmother is there, she would do it or her grandmother from her father’s side or her aunties.

I003: And can all these relatives counsel her?

479: No only one person will take on that responsibility.

My mother for instance was kept indoors for a whole year. When she was let out they danced a particular dance called Sero and they dressed her in furs.

I003: What about boys?

479: They do not have all that.

I003: What do they have?

479: They have the circumcision ceremony and thereafter they have a dance celebration immediately after circumcision the young men cannot have a bath, not until they heal thereafter they can have the traditional celebration dance.

I003: How old were you when you got married?

479: I was eighteen. ##I003# #	How do you sustain your family with your husband?

We depend on crop farming and my husband is also a businessman selling cattle although things have changed, he hardly goes to the market to sell the cattle because of the drought he is unable to sell. Sometimes the animals even die and we suffer a huge loss. Things are so difficult they are selling cattle for as low as five thousand only.

I003: So if you compare today’s situation with that when you were growing up, which do you prefer?

479: The time when I was growing up because things seemed easier. We would never experience the kind of drought which plagued us last year.

I003: How has this drought affected your family?

479: It has negatively affected my family. We have a large family so when food prices are up we spend a lot of money on food items. In addition when we cook we cannot rely on leftovers as the older ones have a good appetite and therefore you are forced to cook again for each meal

I003: Please tell me about the responsibilities of girls nowadays?

479: They fetch water although they are in school for the better part of the day and they travel far for school. We have water fetched for us for morning bath by motorcycle or bicycle as the place is far. This is all to save on time in the morning. But in the evening they do all the chores likes cooking, washing dishes, buying some buckets of water from the mosque for cleaning the bathrooms or for cleaning the house. I have two boys. The elder one I bought him salon equipment to run a salon and he also does phone charging in that shop. The other one is very young.

I003: And how do you compare your responsibilities now as a mother and those of your mother as were growing up?

479: My responsibilities are here in this house looking after my grandchildren. I cook for them. I no longer have a business to run. With this drought there is hardly anyone in the market on the market days so I have nobody to sell anything to. The Maasai seem to have moved away.

I003: Let us now discuss about foods the different foods used when you were young and now. Say for instance at gatherings?

479: At gatherings we had pilau.

I003: Why do you think such foods were prepared mostly at gatherings?

479: Because it was special. It was something different from the usual ugali. Nowadays however it is common and not a specialty anymore reserved for celebrations.

I003: What about foods which were reserved for men or for women?

479: We did not have that here, all people ate same foods.

I003: What about the changes in foods that are new and in the amounts eaten, do you see these changes?

479: Yes. Things are different. In our younger days, children would see foods like pilau and get excited whereas nowadays they only see pilau as very ordinary food

I003: And which are new food items available now which were not available in the past?

479: Like plantains,

I003: Any other?

479: I think the rest are the same as what was eaten in the past.

I003: What tribes are in this community where you live?

479: There are very many mixed tribes here even some Maasai from Arusha.

I003: What do you think has led to changes in types of foods consumed?

479: The mixing of different tribes has come with a lot of changes including changes in food items. Even farming methods have changed for example we have learnt to grow plant beans alongside the maize and harvest as we go along.

I003: What are some of the tribes here and what are some of the foods they have introduced in this area?

479: Like bananas.

I003: Is that really a Maasai staple food?

479: Yes, the Maasai like it very much. It is also a common item at celebrations.

I003: Are there food items cooked with milk?

479: No. Although there are some made with fermented milk though like beans although my family does not like it. Fresh milk can also be added to kande or hares lettuce similarly to how coconut milk is added to food.

I003: Which food items would give the impression that one is poor or one is wealthy?

479: I do not think there are those which give the impression of wealth as such because I too cook most foods in my home although I am not wealthy.

I003: What about foods which signify poverty?

479: The cost of foods went up so rice and flour were selling at the same price per kilo so whether one ate rice or ugali it did not matter.

I003: What else besides the mixing of tribes in this area has contributed to the change in foods? Like drought and education of children in schools.

479: Yes. They learn different methods of food preparation in school and the drought forces you to eat what’s available.

I003: Which of the reasons you mentioned do you think is the main reason for the change?

479: I would say education the main contributing factor and second is drought because you will be forced to buy what is available.

I003: How have these new foods affected your family? Is it positive or negative?

479: It is both positive and negative because we eat different things but the drought also has affected people’s health.

I003: Let as discuss milk now. What is the difference in the importance of milk when you were young and now?

479: When we were young it was available and priced low nowadays it is a little more expensive.

I003: How about if you cannot get milk, does that affect your meal planning?

479: Not really, I will cook what is available although because I have cattle I readily have milk and keep some for my family’s use. Although it serves me well because milk fetches a good price and I get money to sort out other items in my home.

I003: Milk prices today are very high, what do you think the reason for this is?

479: Yes milk nowadays is priced high because of the reduction of milk production due to shortage of pasture. We have lost so many cattle due to the drought. We depend on the sale of some cows in order to pay school fees for our children. The free government education promised by President Magufuli has not yet rolled out.

I003: And what about conflict in the area between farmers and herders? Is there conflict sometimes?

479: Yes, although it is not as bad as it is in other areas where people kill each other over such conflict.

I003: Is fodder readily available for cattle presently?

479: Yes, for now it is there.

I003: How many litres of milk would you get in a day?

479: At least 10 litres but we would keep some and sell the rest. We have not milked in a while; we have had to buy because the cows are not giving birth.

I003: Who normally goes to the market to buy food items which you need?

479: I do it when my children are not around. If they are around I simply send them to buy what I need.

I003: And who decides on what to buy and who goes to the market to buy it?

479: I do although we do not buy much because we grow a lot of it. If my children are around I will send them to buy because the shops are close by.

I003: And who decides what foods to buy to cook on a particular day?

479: I do.

I003: What about your husband? Can he suggest?

479: Yes sure even my children suggest. I prefer to buy foods which can be eaten by the whole family.

I003: Does your husband go to buy some of the foods?

479: Yes sometimes he will go to these shops close by to buy rice and other times if he sees something good which is in season on his way home he will just buy it and bring it home.

I003: And how about the distance travelled to the market then when you were growing up and now? In which case did you have to travel a longer distance to get to the market?

479: They are more readily available nowadays.

I003: What is your favourite meal to prepare here in your home?

479: Ugali.

I003: What influences what you decide to cook on a particular day? Is it the needs of your family, or the availability of food items or what your children desire?

479: I buy various foods depending on how much money I have but ugali is included every day at some point of the meals. The rice gets finished really fast so I cannot prepare it every day unlike ugali which lasts.

I003: How about pricing?

479: Yes, because if something you like is available but expensive you cannot just buy it. Also my husband and I are not doing well at all in business so we do not have the money to buy expensive food items.

I003: Of the reasons you have cited which is the main factor affecting what you will buy?

479: Pricing.

I003: And the second?

479: The preferences of my family.

I003: And the third is the availability of the food items?

479: Yes.

I003: And finally influence?

479: Yes.

I003: Let us discuss the drought that you experienced recently versus droughts you may have experienced while growing up.

479: The drought has been there in both instances. When I was young people would make ugali from cassava flour and the alternative for that was rice. That was all that was there to eat.

I003: Do you remember when it was?

479: No, it was a rather long time ago, I cannot recall.

I003: And what caused it?

479: I cannot say I was young.

I003: Did the drought last a long time?

479: Yes it did. I remember the then president organizing for food aid like powdered milk, beans, oil and some flour similar to millet.

I003: And how about in the recent one? When was that?

479: It was this year.

I003: How are you living now after that season has passed?

479: We just eat what is available.

I003: Did you lose many cattle in the drought when you were young?

479: Yes, many.

I003: How did you manage through then and now?

479: In the past we did not have it too hard because my father had a shop which was doing well and we could afford to buy food items. The value of money then and now has also changed. What you could do with ten thousand shillings back then is very different to what ten thousand can do for you today. For example my dowry was ten thousand five hundred which was about four cows it was a lot of money then.

I003: Here within your family, how do you get information on nutrition, and healthy lifestyle?

479: Perhaps from the hospitals.

I003: Where else in schools, churches, mosques?

479: Yes, from schools through our children we get a lot of information.

I003: Have you ever received this education on nutrition good health? Not really only the one at the clinics and do you use that knowledge within your home?

479: Yes, when my children were young I got some good information which was useful.

I003: How can such information be spread far and wide to reach other people in the area?

479: Through government initiatives, with people going door-to-door.

I003: How about via radio?

479: That too although some people do not even have radios.

I003: So perhaps through the mosques and churches.

479: Yes, however not everyone goes to the churches and mosques. More is received from children who learn these things in school.

I003: And who should this information be conveyed to?

479: I would say to mothers and women in the home because they are the ones who run their homes. Men usually come home and find meals are already prepared.

I003: Thank you Mother I am done, I am grateful for the discussion.

479: Thank you.