The small Tanzanian settlement of Piyaya lies on the plains of Ngorongoro, close to Malambo village. Poverty envelopes the region and getting an education represents the best chance of breaking free. With Oxfam’s support, the Maasai community here is working together to enable children to go to school, as Dan Stewart reports.
Piyaya has a small trading centre and a primary school. Life is played out among homesteads separated by vast distances in the surrounding countryside. For many children, walking to school used to involve an impossible journey of 20km each way.
But now boys’ and girls’ boarding houses – built with Oxfam’s support – stand out against Piyaya’s isolated rural backdrop. Many children have started to stay here during term time, receiving essential scho
oling they would otherwise have missed.
Simon Nairiamu is chairman of Piyaya. His commitment is central to the way this community is transforming itself. “Our principle is to start a job ourselves,” he says. “So we built the girls’ dormitory and then sought help from Oxfam for the boys’ dormitory. Now parents know that their children are safe here and getting an education.”
The impact is clear. Enrolment has soared and boarders now come from as far as 80km away.
But now is no time for complacency, warns Simon Nairiamu: “We cannot stand still. We need to expand in Piyaya. This is the only way to guarantee primary schooling for all our children.”
Naipaipai’s new school run
Naipaipai is around nine years old. She and her family spend much of the year in an area of grassland more than 20km from Piyaya. Her father, Mwasuni, and her brother, Melau, used to walk for six hours to get to and from school. Thanks to the new boarding houses, these gruelling journeys are now a thing of the past.
Historically, Maasai families have relied on their children to help with tending their herds. But families are showing remarkable determination to send their children to school. As Mwasuni explains: “I see the goodness of schooling. The world depends on education now. You cannot survive only knowing cattle
and your own lands.”
Before the boarding houses were built, Naipaipai’s brother Melau used to walk this 20km route twice daily, often accompanied by Mwasuni, who worried about his son’s safety: “We used to leave at three in the morning,” Mwasuni explains. “I had to go with Melau. In the dark I feared he would meet hyenas or even cheetahs.”
Maasai people speak Maa but to continue beyond primary education in Tanzania, children also need to speak the national language, Kiswahili. So Naipaiai is now learning Kiswahili and passing her new knowledge on. “I’m happiest when I’m at school,” she says. “We learn science. And I can teach Kiswahili at home. Everyone wants to learn.”
Threats to the traditional Maasai way of life
Rather than cultivating land, the Maasai follow their herds’ grazing patterns. This helps the land they live on remain rich in breathtaking wildlife. Yet government wildlife preservation programmes are now preventing some Maasai communities from building new schools.
Using the land communally leaves Maasai people vulnerable to land disputes. So Oxfam advises communities on their land rights.
But if the Maasai are to fight for their future in the long term, education is vital. Piyaya chairman, Simon Nairiamu, is certain of that.
“I have eight children and I’m making sure that they go to school,” he says. “I’d like it if one aimed for District Commissioner – we need our people in government! I want one to become a lawyer, to defend the rights of the Maasai.”
Oxfam’s work in Malambo is part of the Life project.