Month: October 2018

In the SFS Tanzania program, we talk a lot about people and their culture since they are directly affected by the implications of wildlife conservation policies. There is a total of 126 different tribes in Tanzania. Around our camp, we are primarily surrounded by people from the Iraqw tribe, while areas closer to the national parks tend to be occupied by the Maasai. We were able to discuss their traditions in the classroom, in the field, and through a lot of literature readings. We were able to visit two locations, one discussing the traditions of the Iraqw tribe and the other was a cultural boma to understand the livelihood of the Maasai people.

The Iraqw tribe:

The Iraqw population are mostly agro-pastorilist; there are around 462,000 individuals ub Tanzania, in which approximately 80% of that population is Christian. The Iraqw population take a greater advantage of their natural resources in order to improve their lifestyles. Natural resource uses include, medicinal and hygienic uses, in addition, they contribute to cooking, construction, and maintenance of livestock.

Livestock has a great importance to Iraqw people as it helps with multiple aspects of their life, including, symbolic meaning, and nutritional benefits to both themselves and their environment which plays a role in this tribe’s culture. Livestock such as, cows, served as the standard measurement for currency in comparison with what is used in modern days, gold in the 1970s!  Uses of livestock for clothing purposes contributes towards the socioeconomic status of the people wearing thus, influencing social interactions within this tribe.

Marriage is another big ritual in Iraqw culture, however, the gender roles tend to be skewed in favor of men being superior to women. Part of the reason for this undeserved superiority is because men are able to ask multiple women to be their wife and whomever accepts their request will marry them. Even though marriage is not equal, the symbolic cultural beauty behind such courtship in Iraqw tradition is very important in this tribe. There is great symbolism within the wedding dress that is made out of goat skin and takes women approximately four months to make. The dress is full of colorful beading that represents symbolic meanings that include, vegetation, blood, milk, water, forest/wood, and the sun. All these resources are highlighted in a single wedding dress in which two people become one; this dress especially highlights the importance of natural resources to Iraqw culture.

Daniel showing us the beautiful wedding dress worn in among the Iraqw

Lucie and Lucy were able to be part of the wedding showing as Daniel guided them through the ceremony 

Me and couple of other students were also able to be part of the wedding ceremony as Daniel explained it to us Disappointed that my outfit didn’t match but happy to be part of the ceremony and try to throw spears in the distance 

Me and the mama of the house. This house is leveled with the ground to avoid elephants as they can walk over the house without damaging it!

The Maasai tribe:

Maasai practice a variety of ceremonies that are often life altering for individuals among this tribe. Such ceremonies include, coming of age rituals (especially common among the male population), marriage, and much more smaller ceremonies. However, these cultural ceremonies have been greatly impacted by governmental enforcement. We focused on the impacts that cultural bomas and tourism have on the Maasai and their culture by discussing the positive and negative aspects of the economic, ecological, and socio-cultural changes among this tribe.

All the gals doing womanly things! Happy to be spreading cow poop (that acts as cement) all around the boma 

The Maasai performing their dances infront of us

We joined the dance party, we didn’t want to miss out on the fun 

All the sheep drinking water from the water bank as we waited to get some water for the bomas 

I hope you enjoyed this cultural experience as much as I did!

Until next time,

Baadaye!

 

These five days of camping were the highlight of this semester abroad so far!  Our days were very long and full of fun activities. The trip was absolutely amazing but there is no better way to describe my adventures other than through a lot of pictures from the national park and other educational opportunities.

Day 1: Tarangire National Park safari and animal count transects

On the first day, we visited Tarangire National Park to appreciate the wildlife and contribute towards SFS’s running data collection on animal counts and vegetation type during our transects. We were usually a group of 5-8 in the safari car and each of us had a different task that contributes towards the data collection process. The tasks included, spotting and counting the animals, identifying the species, their sex and behavior,  keeping track of the vegetation type along each transect, and making sure there is a note-taker recording all this data. After gathering this data we were able to analyze when we returned to the classroom soon after this expedition.

Me holding a wildebeest skull at the National Park

You’re seeing what I saw through my binoculars. African Elephant (Tembo) 

We were able to see a mom and its baby in their natural habitat

-fun fact: female elephants have a more sloped stomach than males. They also have a right angled head shape.

Spotting and counting animals in the national park for our research

So many plains zebras (pundamila) at Tarangire National Park

A male impala (swala pala) 

Maasai giraffe (twega) famous for their unique pattern

-fun fact you can tell that this a female giraffe because females are smaller and have horns covered with hair at the top

Vervet monkeys, mom feeding her cute baby 

Our lunch break consisted of vervet monkeys stealing our food

Day 2: Tarangire National Park safari and animal count transects AGAIN and guest speaker on lion research

The second day, we continued the transects of animal counts since the park is huge and to cover a lot of the area we need to do multiple transects a day.

For the second part of our day, we went outside the park to a research center where Dr. Kissui explained his research on lions. He focused on how they track them using GPS colors and how that helps in animal count and distribution studies on large carnivores. He mentioned the main limiting factors for his research was the price of such collars and the poaching occurring as lion retaliation along with bravery to the individual responsible for spearing that animal. A lot of conservation efforts are concentrated on these topics and there has been a reduction in such consequences but it is definitely still an issue among the Maasai community.

We watched a lioness attempt to prey on an impala, AMAZING!

A closer look at this lioness

We tried to take a selfie with the lioness in the back but we clearly failed at showing it

Cheetah (duma) taking a little nap 

Some zebra traffic on the rode 

On the way back we stopped by the Tarangire National Park lodge before the guest lecture

Lions are identified based on their unique whisker spots 

Day 3: Understanding human-wildlife conflict

We talked to the park rangers about their practices to maintain wildlife conservation and management. In addition to how they deal with Maasai communities residing around the national parks, in addition to the poaching activities present in such protected areas.

We later interviewed Maasai community members that live in the wildlife corridors around the national parks to further understand the human-wildlife conflict. From what the local communities have told us, elephants were the biggest source of problems as they cause the most damage in such areas. This in turn, affects the livelihood of these people that are already financially unstable! These conflicts are not being resolved due to the governments availability to compensate for crop damage within a timely manner, as some individuals discussed how it may take up to two years to receive compensation.  Thus, more conservation and management plans need to be further developed and tailored to benefit both the people and wildlife!

-sorry I did not take any pictures those activities but here’s a picture from that day at our camp site!

Camp life was so much fun 

Day 4: Manyara Ranch transect walks and animal count and LIONS!

The fourth day was absolutely amazing. First, we started with the animal counting  transects, like the rest of the days but this was more intense since Manyara Ranch is a game reserve area that allows for livestock grazing. Therefore, there was a lot of cattle, goats, sheep, and donkeys to count that day. Regardless, it was a lot of fun!

Also, one of my highlights from this day was racing an ostrich run in full speed as he passed our car, that ostrich was going about 30-40 mphs, incredible!

Hundreds of cattle to count 

The closest I’ve gotten to elephants so far

The beauty of this lion (simba) was unforgettable, favorite moment!

The African lion enjoying the fresh air

Day 5: Background information on Manyara Ranch 

On our last day, we discussed the vegetation and availability of natural resources in Manyara Ranch. Understanding the problems in these places will help improve wildlife conservation and management.

Saying our last goodbyes to Manyara Ranch at the top of a mountain

I hope you enjoyed all the pictures!

Koheri (bye)!

Mambo everyone!

Today was one of our community service days; we were able to sign up for two activities that contributed towards helping our local community at Rhotia Village. I was able to help with trash pickup with a couple of friends around Moyo Hill camp (our campus). Then, many of us went to a children’s home to play games and practice English with the kids there! These kids were very intelligent and most even knew conversational English.

Meeting all these kids who knew their tribal language, Swahili, and are currently learning English, made me realize the power of language. Understanding someone’s language can help in understanding them and their culture. The importance of language has been further highlighted through my interactions with the people here that are at various levels of English. The little Swahili that I now know has helped me connect with people better and has allowed me to have actual conversations in which we can share some stories and knowledge with one another. In comparison, not knowing or understanding something completely can be very limiting and create barriers between people. So, I am glad that learning Swahili has been positively impacting my experiences with people since this language has been able to bridge two different cultures with each other.

 

Baadaye