We arrived at the village and Bosco requested an audience with Elias, the Chief. Elias welcomed us to the Masi village and gave us a tour of his village and his home. Elias is 71 years old, the oldest son of the previous chief, and has 10 wives and 45 children. He became chief in 1968, when his father passed on, and his son will continue the dynasty some day.

Elias spoke amazing English! It appears that before he became chief, he lived away from the village where he was educated and learned English.

The Masi people are nomads. The men (& male children) tend cows, sheep, and goats, while the women look after the children and village.

After meeting Elias, he brought us into the village where the women were doing a welcoming dance. We were pulled into the ring to participate.

The women wear the traditional blanket that you see in the photo. They leave the village when they are asked to marry men in other Masi villages. The women build the homes that they live in with their families out of tree parts and cow dung. The dung binds the other building materials together and waterproofs the house.

The men wear colorful blankets - mostly red and blue - and carry a stick with a ball at the end (for herding their flocks). They spend most of their time herding their flocks. Pictured here, they do a traditional dance where they sing, and each one in turns jumps as high as he can, minimizing all body movements, except for their feet.

This little boy was intrigued with Rick and his water bottle. Needless to say, Rick was thirsty for the rest of the day!

The school was very spartan. We were greeted by a loud 'Good Morning'! The teacher let his star pupil take the class through the alphabet and numbers, in English, and then we were treated to a rendition of 'Are you sleeping, are you sleeping, Brother Masi ...' The children had amazing voices, even at such a young age.

Robert has access to some National Geographic teaching materials and arranged to send them to the teacher.

At the ripe age if 14, Masi boys get circumcised (OWWWW!) without anesthetic. Until this point, they can wear whatever colors they want. After the circumcision ritual, they wear black and leave their villages with the group that underwent the ritual. They live on their own as a group, with livestock, for a number of years and when they return to their villages as men, they wear the traditional red and blue blankets.

Masi men seek wives from other villages and ‘pay’ for them with livestock.

Bosco fell in love with a Masi girl and was able to secure her hand in marriage for 7 cows! They live in Arusha and have 3 boys. They regularly visit Bosco’s wife’s village.