Mama Seno and the magic calabash

images and text by Helena Remeijers Molhoek
story told by Mama Kone and illustrated by Konina

Ever thought about how to keep your things cool when the power runs out? 

We are so used to having a fridge and when we travel we have icepacks and cool boxes. But imagine you're out there in the wild and a shepard just offered you some lovely fresh milk from his cows. You're camping, you're far from everything and there is no electricity around. What do you do?
I discovered the perfect nomad fridge in Maasailand! The magic calabash.
The calabash plays a very important role in the Maasai culture. It serves many different purposes. But it's most important use is for preserving milk. It's a flask and a fridge in one.

Women use the calabash as a container for milk, to store it and keep it cool. On the farm in Indupa Konina shows me how to prepare a calabash to get it ready to use. Here comes the recipe.







What you need: A branch from the acacia tree (1M), an branch from a wild olive tree (30CM) and a calabash.

You can grow the calabash yourself. It's a perfect storage container, given by nature.

Peel the acacia stick.

Braise the end of the acacia stick with a stone so that it becomes soft.

Then chew on it a bit like licorice wood. The taste is slightly bitter but pleasant. These acacia sticks, but then a smaller format, are also used as toothbrushes.

Once the stick has become a nice brush you fill your calabash with water, close the lid and shake it.

Clean the calabash with the stick and the water.

Empty the water.

Get your olive stick and burn the end in the fire.

Put it in the calabash while burning and close the lid, then shake it. This way the ashes from the olive wood get spread everywhere in the calabash. Then open the lid again and take the burning stick out.

Now clean the calabash again with the acacia stick. Repeat this procedure several times.

Now the calabash is clean and can be used to store milk again. A Maasai child traditionally drinks only cow milk up to the age of 10. From that age on, the child will also start eating meat and bones. Every child has it's own calabash. Often very nicely and uniquely decorated. For the Maasai cow milk plays a very important role. It's the basis of a person's diet. They believe that God gave the Maasai the cow to accompany him through life and provide him with all the food he needs. 

Source ‘Mama Seno and the magic calabash’: Project Fabel 
and: Helena's Adventures

- See more at: Project Fabel and: Helena's Adventures