The Saturday market in Mile 46
images and text by Helena Remeijers Molhoek
On my last journey in Africa I visited this Saturday market in Miles 46, a small sleepy
Maasai town in the South of Kenya.
Saturday in Miles 46 is market day. It’s the most important day of the week for all people in
the neighboring villages. The women wear their most beautiful dresses and put on their special jewelry. It’s the moment to be seen and to socialize. Here the latest news is exchanged and
marriage arrangements are made. People do their shopping for the week and chat in the shade
of the numerous tearooms and grocery shops.
The Maasai elders discuss the news of the week. They’ve come walking from their homesteads to meet each other. Most young people nowadays have mobile phones
and many of them slowly alienate from their oral tradition and their culture.
But there are still young warriors who go through initiation the traditional way.
The cattle market is a man’s affair. Apart from milking it’s the men who take care of the
cattle. This is the place where cattle is sold and bought. Checking out the quality of the goats, negotiating prices, discussing the latest news. It’s the dry season. It’s a difficult
year in Maasailand.
This year the drought is extreme and lasts much longer than usual so the cows are
not in their best shape because there is not enough grass for them to eat.
not in their best shape because there is not enough grass for them to eat.
Many people migrate to more fertile places in the hope their cattle will find more to
eat. But those who are in big need of money are obliged to sell a cow or two, even
though the value of cattle is very low at the moment.
eat. But those who are in big need of money are obliged to sell a cow or two, even
though the value of cattle is very low at the moment.
Small huts give some protection against the burning sun and one can have a cup of
Maasai tea made of boiled fresh milk, black tea leaves and a tiny bit of boiled water.
Most people have this creamy tea for breakfast. Sometimes with a slice of buttered
bread or a chapati.
Maasai tea made of boiled fresh milk, black tea leaves and a tiny bit of boiled water.
Most people have this creamy tea for breakfast. Sometimes with a slice of buttered
bread or a chapati.
The women wear a lot of jewelry. They normally make their necklaces and bracelets themselves. This woman is finishing a new bracelet made out of beads and metal
string.
string.
Traditionally the Maasai only consumed the milk, the blood and the meat of their
cows and goats, and wild plants and berries which they’d boil with the meat and the
milk, and honey they’d collect from the trees of which they brew honey beer.
Nowadays the Maasai start doing agriculture.
cows and goats, and wild plants and berries which they’d boil with the meat and the
milk, and honey they’d collect from the trees of which they brew honey beer.
Nowadays the Maasai start doing agriculture.
They cultivate tomatoes, potatoes, mangos, pineapples, coriander, cabbages,
peas, spinach, bananas and watermelons. They also eat rice now, and maize
flour of which they make ugali, a kind of polenta, or maize cake which is the
basis of their contemporary diet. They also consume a lot of sugar.
Even though Kenya is one of the best and greatest coffee growing countries
in the world, the Maasai don’t drink coffee mainly because it’s very expensive.
Most coffee is used for export.
peas, spinach, bananas and watermelons. They also eat rice now, and maize
flour of which they make ugali, a kind of polenta, or maize cake which is the
basis of their contemporary diet. They also consume a lot of sugar.
Even though Kenya is one of the best and greatest coffee growing countries
in the world, the Maasai don’t drink coffee mainly because it’s very expensive.
Most coffee is used for export.
They have a great knowledge of medicinal plants. Traditionally every Maasai
knows what wild plant to use for what purpose. Nowadays more and more
people use chemical medicine but the traditional plant medicine is still used and
sold on the markets.
knows what wild plant to use for what purpose. Nowadays more and more
people use chemical medicine but the traditional plant medicine is still used and
sold on the markets.
A railroad runs through the town but today no train will pass.
The Saturday market is a busy and happy event in Mile 46. The colourful gathering of people
is a pleasure to the foreign eye. And what I find so remarkable is that, even though modern
life is tough for most of the Maasai people, they are the most cheerful and positive people
I’ve ever met.
is a pleasure to the foreign eye. And what I find so remarkable is that, even though modern
life is tough for most of the Maasai people, they are the most cheerful and positive people
I’ve ever met.
Source ‘The Saturday market in the small Maasai town Mile 46 in Kenya.’: Project Fabel
and: Helena's Adventures
and: Helena's Adventures
