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A day with a woman from Esiteti { 15 images } Created 17 Sep 2020

Just south of the Amboseli National park near the border of Kenya and Tanzania is a small village called Esiteti. Many of the communities that live here lead a nomadic life, but unlike most of the natives that live near them, these families live here merely by circumstance. After being evicted from one place to another by the National Wildlife service for fear of occupying wildlife corridors, this small community has settled for this area that seemed like the most sustainable for them and their livestock, despite the distance from many amenities.
Added to the fact that they are still constantly confronted with the issue of their current settlement also being a wildlife corridor which does not guarantee them a permanent settlement in this area, the reception from neighboring natives has not always been welcoming leading them to lead a quite isolated life.
But even more compelling, is the day-to-day lives of the girls and women of Esiteti who being Maasai assume. Over the past 1 and half years we have spent time training and equipping these women in photography skills so they could document the impact of living with wildlife being that they are tasked with most if not all domestic and care responsibilities of the homestead but what we got was raw unedited insights into their day to day lives. Here are their stories
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  • In this picture is a beautful sunrise captured by Esther Saruni.<br />
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Esther comes from a small village called Esiteti, just south of the Amboseli National park near the border of Kenya and Tanzania. It lies hidden in a canopy of acacia trees stretching into the distant abyss where parts of the shira cone on Mt Kilimanjaro can be seen peeking in the horizon.<br />
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For Esther and many others in her village, this is a great time to be up ahead of a busy day.
    Golden Hour
  • Not a rare sight by Joyce Nduguaya.<br />
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Girraffe are some of the most common or dominant species amongst our homesteads. They are very peaceful and graze around us near acacia trees.
    Not a rare sight
  • Even more significant, is the extensive human settlements made of Maasai communities who share this beautiful landscape with wildlife.<br />
However unlike most of the natives that live here, Enduata Kitirua (meaning the Vision for Kitirua) families live here merely by circumstance. This is after being evicted from their previous dwelling that was feared to be a corridor for wildlife.
    Children playing
  • Least to say, the reception from native neighbours was far from welcoming. Added to the fact that the women are tasked with most of the care and domestic responsibilities in their households, the Enduata-Kitirua women live a rather quiet and isolated life, finding solace mostly amongst themselves and their allied experiences.
    When we walk together, we go further
  • The day starts bright and early for the women. <br />
Ngonina in this picture is seen milking a cow to prepare breakfast for her husband before she sets out for the day.<br />
In a heavily traditional Maasai home, cow milk is reserved for the man of the house, while the children and wives use goat milk to make their tea.
    Cows liquid gold
  • Sanaiyan, poses for a picture as she cleans the compound. <br />
In most homes there are two or more wives and domestics duties are shared amongst the girls and women of that Boma (homestead).<br />
While the girls and younger women are tasked with the more heavier tasks, the gugus who are the elderly women, are tasked with taking care of their grandchildren and cooking.
    Cleaning the compound
  • A young girl tends to sheep grazing.
    Young shepherd
  • Under a rather scorching sun, a group of women walks into the wild where they source firewood and grass to thatch the house.<br />
Often times and in most cultures, the machete, known as a panga, is often associated to crime and violence. <br />
In Esiteti, however, its a vital tool to the community accomplish most of their daily chores.
    The women and pangas
  • Firewood is the main source of fuel for cooking at Esiteti.<br />
Fetching firewood is a painstaking effort that requires delicate skill and approach to fetch only what is fallen and to collect a specific type of wood that burns longer, hence conserving the consumption of heat and the wood that is used.
    Fallen wood
  • Meteine and her friends carry the wood they fetched on their backs, back home.<br />
For the women at Esiteti, its important that they only fetch what is fallen. This is so as not to avoid deforestation that could trigger drought or any further change to the climate.
    Women carrying firewood
  • Mrasha walks a couple of donkeys on her way to the Kenya-Tanzania border where she sources most of the house hold supplies. This could range from rice, sugar to cereals and sometimes natural salt that they mix with sand in their homes to sell for livestock. The walk is also much more affordable than the transport they would use to get to the closest market center.
    Distant land
  • Women carrying heaps of fresh grass on their backs. The women use the grass to thatch their house roofs, to help weather extreme seasons of sun and rainfall.<br />
The grass also helps to keep their houses cool when there is extreme sunlight.
    Heaps of grass
  • Mrasha and Narasha thatching their home.
    Thatching
  • Sanaiyan, poses for a picture while taking counter of the sheep at sundown. <br />
After all the livestock has returned from grazing, the women in a homestead take counter of all of them to ensure that none was lost or attacked by wildlife, while they were out grazing.<br />
When one of the livestock is missing, the warriors often set out for a hunt to find it. <br />
Their mothers discourage the young warriors from retaliating when one of the livestock has been mauled.
    Counting sheep
  • Narasha, creating a hedge around her home using dry acacia branches which is meant to ward off wildlife.<br />
Livestock is the main source of livelihood for the Maasai. Thus this is a practice that is carried out without fail and one that has to be passed down to younger children and new brides that may join the family.
    Sundown routine