Massi Tribe

The Maasai Tribe.

 

            For my trip to Tanzania I am researching the Maasai tribe that lives there and I found a lot of interesting facts about them.

Maasai's unique culture, dress style and territory of the wild and wildlife in Kenya and Tanzania have made them one of Africa's most famous tourist attractions. The Maasai make decorative beaded jewelry including necklaces, earrings, headbands, and wrist and ankle bracelets. These seems to be really cool designs. The Maasai also create interesting wood carvings. A lot of these art pieces are sold to tourist. You can find the beautiful Maasai art all over the world.

            Another interesting fact that I found is that most Maasai men stand over 6 feet tall and are warriors. Their very important god is the rain god Ngai. When the children are young they sing and dance for it to rain. Also when boys turn 14 they traditionally spend up to 8 years looking after livestock far from the village. When they come back they are to get married. The two facts that stood out to me the most was that traditionally to become a man you would have to kill a lion but today killing a lion is illegal and if you do you will go to jail. The other fact is that warriors drink cow’s blood because they believe it makes them stronger.

            The Maasai women are very important in the society. The women make the homes, milk cows, and collect water, cook, and look after the children. But women are considered a minority in society also and are usually represented by their father or husband. A question I would a Maasai women is “If you could, would you change your style of living?”

            Learning about the Maasai tribe is very interesting and I hope that when I go to Tanzania I will learn more about the tribe.

People who inspire me/ animal I would be

People who inspire me

My Uncle Richie inspires me a lot.  I like his personality and I like how he lives on the beach.  He’s athletic and stays in shape.  He can be funny and serious at the same time, which I like. This inspires me because I want to live like my uncle on the beach.  I want to be fit and I want to surf in my free time.

 Another person who inspires me is my mom’s friend, Kevin Kemp.  I admire how Kevin is in the military and how he travels all around the world keeping the USA safe.  Even though I have only met him a couple of times he inspires me a lot.  He inspires me because when I get older I want to travel the world helping people and go to all the places he has been.  I respect all people who are or have been in the military and I’m going to respect them the rest of my life.

The third person who inspires is my cousin Eddie Stewart.  He inspires me because he graduated from college and now has a good job. I want to go to college and then get a job that will support me.  I am inspired by Eddie because he seems really happy in his life and his job. 

                An animal I thought represents me is a wolf. I think I would be a good wolf because wolves travel in packs and always protect their pack. I am a loyal friend and would always protect them. Wolves are untamed and move as they want. They are feared and respected. They are strong.  I like all of these characteristics. 

Fears, difficult things and changes.

Happy New Year everyone. I hope it was an excellent one!  Since my last blog post I have received my passport and have raised more than half the money I need. Thank you to everyone for their donations, it really means a lot and has given me such a boost to my goal of $3000.

            As I start thinking about my trip there are things that scare me. My biggest fear going into this experience is that I will get lost and separated from the group and won’t be able to find my way back. Also that I will get homesick and not feel good or be in a bad mood and not be able to do the job. I am a little nervous about the trip still, but not as much as I used to be. I have never left the country before so this is going to be a big step for me being away from home.

 I think that the most difficult thing during this trip will be the constant working every day and running out of energy to do the work. I haven’t done a lot of hard work for a long time before, so I hope that I will be able to do this without any difficulties. Another difficult thing will be the language barrier, and the confusion that comes with that. I am just starting to learn the language of Tanzania, Swahili, which is a fun language to learn but sometimes hard to pronounce. I have never learned another language before so this is difficult for me.

The way that I think I will change is that I will see how good we live and see how spoiled we are. When I come back I want to see how great of a life I have and cherish it.  Everyone I’ve talked to who came back from a CGA trip has changed for the better. When I come back I believe I will be a harder worker and be more appreciative of my life.  

 

Thanks for reading my blog and stay tuned for my next one.

Tate.

Tanzania

            Hi my name is Tate Carlson, I live in Eagle Colorado and I am a Freshman at Eagle Valley High School.   I applied and was selected to go on a service trip to Tanzania with Children’s Global Alliance (CGA). 

 CGA is a nonprofit organization based out of Vail Colorado.  I will be working at Naserian School and orphanage in Arusha, Tanzania. There are 150 students who attend the school and 32 children who live at the orphanage attached to the school. I will be assisting teachers in the classroom and improve living conditions for the children. To get to Tanzania I will have to raise $3000 in 6 months. I plan on earning some of the money through a part time job and I hope to raise some of the money through different fundraising efforts. This blog will help my friends and family keep in touch with what I am doing to get prepared for my trip and while I am in Tanzania.  If you want to learn more about CGA or would like to make a donation,  their website is www.childrensglobalalliance.org.

 

Please let me know what you think of my blog or ask me any questions about my trip.

Thanks!