Maasai children wake up early on December 25 and enthusiastically encourage their parents to hurry up as they prepare tea and breakfast so they can open presents. They have been preparing for this holiday for months by giving each other gifts; jewelry, belts, bags, gourds, toys and body decorations for children. After the current opening, the clans gather to feast on roast beef, potatoes, and potent honey ale.
The Maasai are a pastoral group of people who live in the magnificent Great Rift Valley of Kenya and Tanzania. A tall, proud and elegant people decked out in colorful clothing and adornments, the Maasai still keep their traditions intact – herding cattle and living off the land as modernization changes the world around them. They are known for being a culture with close family and community ties and who love to celebrate all occasions in style; so they naturally adopted Christmas in their culture as another wonderful celebration and embraced it with delight.
In the months leading up to Christmas, the Maasai are busy giving gifts, planning events, cleaning the best of everything, washing houses, repairing gardens, taking out jewelry, and shopping for new kikoys, the European version of a shuka-fabric. Maasai, use. The air is full of emotion. Bees love acacias in bloom and produce the tastiest of all honey in the world. This honey is then used to produce honey beer, a common Christmas drink in Maasai celebrations.
The Maasai fill the season with various harambees, a Kenyan party reminiscent of an American wedding or baby shower where gifts and money are given. The harambee was originally introduced by Jomo Kenyatta, the first president of Kenya, as a way to raise money to build schools. Over time, the harambee has become a Kenyan tradition to raise money and gifts for weddings, hospital expenses, school fees and other occasions. The Maasai adopted the custom of the county and use it generously.
When you wake up on Christmas morning, think for a moment about the Maasai half a world away. Hugging the exhausted children, stroking the meat-filled bellies, lulled to sleep by the libation, and admiring their lovely gifts with the family around them.