News Extra
By Pita Ochai
Monday, September 22, 2008
A Tribe in Love With White Women
The Maasai culture of Kenya is under threat caused by the activities of the people who should be preserving the culture. In their culture, it is forbidden for a man to touch a woman’s head, as it is believed to be demeaning in the patriarchal culture.
Lempuris Lalasho, a Maasai warrior, had to go against his culture in his quest to marry a white woman. He went to Mombasa, Kenya tourist haven to find a white woman to marry, but ended up working as a hairdresser, a profession that is a taboo under the Massai culture.
Lalasho, who is an illiterate and does not know his age, was inspired by the good fortune of a friend, Leishorwa Mesieki. "My friend Leishorwa is now rich. He married a mzungu (white) woman who took him to…. is it New Zealand or Switzerland? I don’t know. He came back to build a big house and bought so many cows. I envy him," he said.
Lalasho did not have such luck and was forced to use his skill at spinning hair, which he learnt during his initiation into Moranhood in a forest near Mount Kilimanjaro. Morans learnt to weave hair into thin, rasta-like dreadlocks during initiations which take place when boys are aged between 17 and 20. The warriors’ hair are often dyed red. Lalasho said that if his father should find out what he was doing, he would disown him. But he insisted on doing it to overcome economic hardships in the city.
The Maasai warriors are familiar sights on Kenya beaches. They are usually dressed in distinctive red robes and wear beaded jewellery. They often act as security guards, hotel workers or herbalists. This ancient tribe is faced with the challenge of adjusting to modern life in the east African country whose Indian Ocean beaches lure thousands of tourists including women looking for male partners. Maasai young men flock to the coast hoping to make their fortunes and some with the dream of marrying white tourists.
Michael Tiampati, media officer, Maa Civil Society Forum, an organisation formed to protect Maasai’s traditions, confirmed that it is an abomination and demeaning for a moran or Maasai man to touch a woman’s head. "He has gone against the culture and has to pay a price to be accepted back into the society," he said.
Tiampati said foreign tourists love Maasai for their sincerity, good heartedness and they do not feel jealous. "Maasais are perceived to be erotic, that is why women pensioners from Europe come to look for them. The warriors take a lot of herbs, some known to have viagra-like contents," he said.
Lost Cat Returns 15 Years After
After nine years of disappearance, Dixie, a 15-year-old cat returned home and was re-united with the couple who owns it. Dixie disappeared in 1999 from home. Allan and Gilly Delany, the owners of the cat thought a car had killed it but was found less than a mile from their home in Birmingham by a concerned resident. The founder rang the animal charity to report a thin and disheveled cat that had been in the area for a couple of months.
Alan Pittaway, animal collection officer, who came to collect the cat, confirmed it was Dixie after checking its microchips and returned it to the Delany’s within half an hour. The owners were very happy to have their cat reunited with them. Pittaway said in her 29 years of working as an animal collection officer, she had never seen anyone so excited and happy as the Delany’s for having their cat back. "The couple were overjoyed to be reunited with their missing cat after so many years," she said.
Gilly Delany after having a warm embrace with Dixie said, Dixie’s personality, behaviour and little mannerisms have not changed at all.
Human Waste as Source of Energy
San Antonio has discovered a new source of energy to meet the city’s energy needs. The city, last week, unveiled a deal that would source energy from human waste. This would be achieved by harvesting methane gas from human waste on commercial scale and turning it into clean burning fuel.
Steve Clouse, chief operating officer of the city water system, explained that San Antonio residents produce about 140, 000 tons of biosolids a year, which could be reprocessed into natural gas. "You may call it something else but for area utilities, the main by-product of human waste methane gas would soon be converted into natural gas to burn in their power plants and fuel furnaces and sold on the open market."
"The city aims at generating about 1.5 million cubic feet of power per day as more than 90 percent of materials flushed down the toilets and sinks of San Antonio would be recycled. The liquid content would be used for irrigation, the solid part would be made compost and the gas will be recycled for power generation," he said.
Dog Makes a Phone Call
Buddy, a dog owned by a German, has shown that dogs can be man’s true friends. Buddy remembered its training and called 911 to save the owner’s life from danger. Joe Stalnaker, Buddy’s owner, had a seizure and Buddy called 911 to rescue him.
Stalnaker said he got Buddy at the age of 8 weeks from Michigan and trained it on how to operate the phone if he starts having seizure symptoms which developed during a military training. Buddy, now 18 months old, is able to press programmed buttons until a 911 operator is on the line.
Mark Clark, Scottsdale police sergeant, confirmed that Buddy was heard whimpering and barking after the dispatcher answered and repeatedly asked if the caller needed help. Police were sent to Stalnaker’s home and after about three minutes, Buddy was heard barking loudly when the officers arrived. "It is pretty incredible," he said. Clark said the dog had made two other 911 calls when Stalnaker was having seizures.
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