HIV prevalence among Maasai is thought to
be as high as 30 per cent, and cultural sexual practices are not helping,
writes Pricel Seleman
His
ambition is to become a lawyer. But for Lekishoni ole Kiloriti, of Kimokouwa
village in Monduli district, there is a good chance he may not live long enough
to fulfil his dream.
He is a Maasai, a well-known traditional tribe that adheres to its strong
culture in Tanzania and Kenya, east Africa. His tribe’s culture encourages
free unprotected sex at an early age of 14.
Clad in the yellow short-sleeved shirt and green shorts of his school uniform
with bare feet, Kiloriti, 13, looks as intelligent and as ambitious as any
other school pupil.
“I want to become a lawyer and drive a very big car in the capital city
of Dar es Salaam,” he said with enthusiasm.
But Kiloriti could soon be heavily indulging in free, unprotected sex and
risking becoming infected with HIV, which is now spreading at an alarming
rate among the Maasai.
A collaborative report last year by two national organisations, the Centre
for Health Policy and Research and Analysis for Development, revealed the
estimated prevalence rate was between 20 and 30 per cent in most Maasai districts
in Tanzania.
The
tribe’s cultural system comprises political and social structures with
rigidly male-dominated age-sets. The Masaai acknowledge the existence of the
HIV pandemic in the community but fail to encourage the use of condoms as
it is regarded as taboo to discuss sex with people of different age-sets.
Age-sets include Enkipaata, the pre-circumcised boys aged between 14 and 16;
Morrans, warriors who are circumcised and Orgesherr, the elders.
“We know about the HIV pandemic, but there is little we can do to curb
the spread,” Naisiriria Noah, the female village chairman of the women’s
HIV Committee, told Positive Nation in a telephone interview.
According to local press reports, HIV is spreading like bush fire among the
Maasai, and cultural events like Oloipi and Esoto - young single and mixed
sex daily afternoon and evening gatherings involving unprotected sex - are
among the main contributing factors.
The Maasai culture also encourages married men of the same age-set to share
their wives sexually without protection, regardless of knowing their HIV status.
What is more, use and promotion of condoms is taboo and a topic of humiliation
to discuss.
“People here shy away from collecting condoms and even make fun of whoever
tells them about their use,” Kishil ole Nabak, the Kimokouwa village’s
local government leader told a visiting group of international journalists.
When asked why his local village government could not impose restrictions
against cultural sexual behaviour, Nabak said he was afraid of losing his
leadership title.
“The people threaten to strip me of my leadership whenever I touch on
that issue,” he said.
Kimokouwa village lies in the Arusha region of Tanzania, about 15 kilometres
before the border with Kenya. The Maasai tribe are the village’s main
inhabitants.
HIV among the Maasai in the region was unknown until the mid 90s when the
tribe’s warriors abandoned their rural traditional pastoral lifestyle
and began migrating in huge numbers to urban areas for labour wages. They
were driven by intensifying poverty, droughts, and livestock herds depleted
by disease. Mining of Tanzanite, a unique pricy precious gemstone, in the
Mererani district near Kilimanjaro is among other contributing factors for
the high prevalence among the Maasai.
The
tribe who are known as warriors of Kilimanjaro mountains, make up between
two and three percent of the country’s estimated 32 million population.
Tanzania, like other sub-Saharan African countries, has been badly hit. Its
HIV prevalence is less than 10 percent among the sexually active group. The
Tanzania Commission for AIDS estimates there are more than two million people
living with HIV, most of whom are women. But less than eight per cent have
access to HIV antiretroviral treatment
Non-governmental organisations like World Vision have conducted a range of
Aids education campaigns, seminars and meetings at Kimokouwa and other Maasai-dominated
villages, yet condom use among the warriors of Kilimanjaro mountains still
remains a dream.
“There is urgent need for the Maasai community to come up with strict
and strategic ways of encouraging the use of condoms, especially among the
youths,” Nabak said.
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