Voices from Africa: Patrick Papatiti, a Maasai Warrior

Voices from Africa

In this article, a young Maasai warrior tells of his culture's struggle to maintain tradition in the face of changing land policies, and how he is working with one of AWF's partners, BEADS for Education, to make a change for his people's future.

My name is Patrick Papatiti and I am a 31-year-old Maasai from Amboseli National Park, located at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. For generations and generations, the Maasai people have peacefully shared this amazing land with the elephants, lions, antelopes and all the wildlife. But suddenly, the park, the wildlife and even the Maasai lifestyle are at extreme risk.

The Maasai tradition is to own the land communally with no barriers to stop the grazing of our cattle on the plains or to interrupt the movement of the wild animals -- their grazing and migrations. The Maasai are pastoral which means we are mostly sustained from our livestock. We do not hunt the wild animals for food nor do we farm the land (which would require fences to keep the wild animals out).

In 2008, new government regulations for the land in our region will require that the communal land be divided and titled to the individual Maasai. The poorer Maasai will most likely want to sell their land to support their families. Other people will buy larger plots -- the possibilities are endless but mostly what I envision is many fences. When I visit the other areas of Kenya where this government regulation has already taken place -- fences is what I see. And fences will not work in Amboseli.

One day in 2001 I met a woman named Debby Rooney. Debby is the founder of BEADS for Education whose primary mission is to sponsor girl's education from elementary school through college. There are now 295 girls in this program and one Maasai warrior -- me! I was not able to continue school as I was among the people that did not have the money for school fees. So when I was 27 years old, BEADS sponsored me and I entered 9th grade. In November of 2007, I will graduate from high school and like all BEADS sponsored students, I will volunteer one year of service to my community before continuing on to the university.

During my internship year, my goals are to educate the Maasai community abut the impact that selling or fencing our land will have. I also wish to provide alternative programs to sustain our land, our lifestyle and Amboseli National Park through income generating cooperatives. (One project in existence is the Amboseli Women's Beading project and their products are available only in the park or on the BEADS website.) Lastly, my dream is to maintain the integrity of the park's ecosystem, the wildlife, and the future of the Maasai people.

It is ironic that my volunteer year and institution of a government program affecting the future of the park and the land and the Maasai lifestyle are interfacing during the same year. I am fortunate to have both the support of BEADS and my influence in the Maasai community to back me up in this endeavor. I am the leader of the warriors of my age set - the Alaigwanani (o-la-gwan-na-nee). There are 8000 men in my age set and for the rest of my life, I will be their leader.

We will begin our educational program during the BEADS for Education third annual 100km Walkathon in Kenya this January. Sixteen American sponsors and 50 Kenyans will walk to raise awareness and funds for our predicament.

When I see with the eyes of my heart, I truly believe this simple act of titling the land to the individual Maasai will begin a sequence of events that will bring an end to the Amboseli Park, destroy our traditional Maasai lifestyle/culture and result in a never-ending chain of poverty to the people of my region. I will do whatever I can to prevent this from happening and ask you for your support.

Patrick Papatiti

November, 2007

You can learn more about BEADS for Education and the Walkathon at www.beadsforeducation.org.