The Village at Meserani

September 4, 2005

Here are some more photos from our visit to the Meserani village. Arusha is the nearest big town.

We had seen buildings like these round thatched ones as we drove through the Tanzanian countryside. They were usually clustered together in groups of three four or five houses. It was rather difficult to have a good look at them as our truck rumbled by so I was glad we visited. Now I realized that each group of houses probably belonged to a single extended family.

Our village guide, who seemed to be a relative of the man who had fathered all the village children, seemed rather impatient with them as they gathered around us, shooing them away as he told us about village life.

He let us go inside one of the houses. Inside was one large round room with a central wooden pole much blackened by smoke. The walls are made from clay and straw. It was quite dim inside from the total absence of windows. There were a few simple pieces of wooden furniture on the dirt floor, some cooking equipment, and some bedding. There was very little else.

If this is anything like a typical Maasai home, they have very little affinity for knick-knacks or clutter.

This village consisted of perhaps eight or ten circular huts and one or two rectangular mud-brick buildings with flat roofs.

The yards were dry and dusty and mostly free of any vegetation except for a few thorny and withered acacia saplings.

There were some animals such as goats penned in enclosures made from twigs, but chickens roamed about freely. We saw some children with laden donkeys walking by too as we visited.

On our way out to the village we saw some people working in garden plots, but it is so hot and dry here that it must be very difficult to keep crops alive.

I wonder what the village looks like in the rainy season?