Eye for an eye the world goes blind

Today we trekked out to dangerous territory. We went to the village where all of the conflict is, the place where a Maasai man was shot to death and then the warriors killed five people. The place where the police brutality has taken place. The place that has been absolutely devastated by theft and where the people hide in fear.

After breakfast this morning we headed into Morogoro to buy as much food as we could for the village. The people are not able to go out for fear of being hurt or killed. After we filled up the SUV with food we embarked on our journey. As we got closer to the village it was eerie as the Maasai that typically line the streets and can be seen everywhere were no where to be found. As we turned on to a secondary road the stares of the people couldn't go on with out notice. The deeper we got, the longer the stares became. The expressions on the non-Maasai peoples face could told a story of negative emotions toward the Maasai, toward us, toward the whole situation. It felt as though we were driving to a forbidden place as we got closer to the village because the lack of Maasai. I never really realized how many people we typically saw at any given time on our way into the villages. There were no Maasai to be found, and the people that we did see on these secluded roads did not have the usual welcoming smile and wave, but instead a stare that penetrate into the soul.

When we arrived in the village, there was no one to be found, we were expecting people to be taking refuge in the school or the church, but no one was around except for three men that were waiting for us at the church. We unloaded the food and sat and talked with the men. As time went one a few more men showed up, but the women and children were no where to be found. It was too dangerous for them to live their regular lives in the village. As we talked with the men they told us that those that still remained in the area were living in the bush, in hiding. They hide from the corrupt and brutal police, the people that come to retaliate, the people that come to steal.

We were taken to the school where they had hidden all that they could before thieves came and ravished the village. Peering into the windows of the school it appeared that everyone left as fast as they could. Benches were flipped, school papers were everywhere, and the sheer chaos in the room reeked of fear and urgency. I couldn't help but think of the images that I had seen of WW2 where people left in such chaos.

After the school we walked to where the village had their well. While we were standing looking at their watering system a large truck came barreling through. The truck, and the men in it, had come to grab whatever they could. Apparently they have been there several times before to just take things, but the Maasai will not stop them. The Maasai are a strong people, but they are also gentle, and smart. They are not going to create more conflict for themselves by trying to stop these robbers. It blew my mind how the truck just came driving up in the middle of the day as if it were this persons job to come to this village everyday and just take things.

When we got back to the church, we noticed that women and children had come out of the woodwork, but were very cautious with at coming anywhere near us. They didn't know at first why we were there, but as they started to realize that we were there to worship with them they started to come in droves. The odd thing about it was the fact that they Maasai women, who are typically more than hospitable, avoided looking at us and shaking out hands. I am not saying that all of them did, but many of them refused to acknowledge our presence, which I feel is completely understandable.

The service was abnormally short because PH was told that the women wanted to go back to where they had come from as soon as possible. It was something out of the Bible...the whole thing really. As Tim has more than likely mentioned in his Blog, they made the bread unleavened because they needed to leave in a hurry.

I am still trying to sort out my thoughts about the whole situation. I think the magnitude of it is still not realized in my mind. A Maasai man was killed, and in a crime of passion the warriors killed five men. (that was something that we learned today. The news reports had said that the warriors retaliated and spoke in language of premeditation. After speaking with some of the villagers, which some of them may very well have been the warriors in question, we found out that the warriors had watched their friend fall to gunfire and they reacted immediately) One of the commissioners had said that the village is nothing but violent no good people and that their village should be destroyed and their land turned into a national park. I in no way support killing, but what is done is done. Maasai are dead, non-Maasai are dead why does an entire village of women and children have to suffer? This seems oddly like foreign policy in the US....

My brain is taxed, and my nerves are close to being shot.

Peace,
PHW