Village #8: Ikwavila

We've never had the chance to visit Ikwavila before this year.  We've heard of it, seen it placed on a hand drawn map somewhere out beyond Mahuninga and Mahove.  But until this year we had no way to get there.  This road is new. Last time I went to Mahove, we took the road to Mahuninga, turned left, and the road stopped at a bridge.  Now the road continues all the way to Mafinga, quite a ways away.

Here's the chapel.  We were there on a Thursday, one of the days Bibi Sharon and Bibi Jude were at Ruaha on safari.  So it was me, interpreter Pastor John Mhekwa, Evangelist George Kioniani, and Pastor Paulo Massinga.  We arrived around 9 a.m. before anyone was expecting us.  The women insisted on going back to their homes to make us chai.  Sometimes chai just means tea, and sometimes it means breakfast.  We got the full service.

They told me I was the first wazungu (white person) to visit their village.  So it was something of a surprise to find a church elder, above, who spoke very good English.  He had attended secondary school at some point.  His young son, with just a little prompting, said to me with perfect pronunciation, "Good morning, madam, how are you."

Once I took out my camera and started taking photos, everyone wanted a photo taken.  I promised to print and send the photos we took.

One grandmother asked our interpreter to tell me that she was the one in the photo with Bibi Rose, from the 2008 trip (above). 

Her name is Elizabeth Kweka, the grandmother of our sponsored student, Bariki Kipilipili.  She and Bariki's mother gave us a chicken in thanks for the scholarship support.  She also noted that she is actually an Anglican, but worships here with the Lutherans as there is no Anglican church nearby.

Here, as well as at other Maasai villages we visited, we heard that change is coming.  The government is encouraging remote Maasai villages to consolidate so that it would be easier and more efficient to provide basic services like water, education and healthcare.  So the people of Ikwavila are considering relocating to Mahove, since it now has water.  They would retain their grazing lands here, posting a few people in rotation to watch the herds.  Interesting possibilities!

Funny story from Esau, our driver:  when he was growing up, the first mzungu (white person) he met happened to be a pastor, and for a long time he thought all wazungus were pastors.  :-)