Maasai Way of Life With Killing'ot Lembikas and Travis Houle

Killing’ot Lembikas grew up a Maasai boy in tropical savanna in Tanzania. Apart from primary education in early years, he went to school in Maasai land, in the first secondary school built in Maasai land in Ngorongoro District in Tanzania and succeeded to university level education in another part of Tanzania. At the time all he knew was about his cultural background in the natural environment in the dispersals of the Serengeti tropical savanna and wellbeing as a Maasai boy and a Shepard had a sense of dreams and survival in his life. Maasai proverbs in habitat and survival, at the windows of cow dung houses while experiencing the sound of nature and textbooks in classrooms in modern journey of his education, all had made him sure that he understood something behind the forces of social changes while also being a human entity in so many different ways which made him proud to be a Maasai boy. The role of his life was to attend his livestock as a brave Shepard boy, as a nomadic pastoralist, which, based on natural environmental conservation and interactions with nature for survival in a sense of accessing the natural resources and what nature gave him as Maasai, was dear. Passing the Maasai rituals from different stages of the rites has equipped Lembikas to know all the traditions, norms and values of the Maasai society. He was among the Moran (warrior) in society, and brought cattle to be grazed near the borders of Serengeti National Park during warrior hood. He participated in the delegation of killing a lion several times, as a tradition and rite passage of the Maasai warrior. His bachelor’s degree in History and English has been a cornerstone to his professionalism and skills. Teaching History of Africa, European societies and the United States is pretty significant to his skills of learning about economic activities, culture, heritages, social changes, progress and development of different models. English has also been a significant subject in learning language itself, literature and restoring the same literature of his culture in relation to other literatures of oral and written traditions. Other skills of wildlife, environment and conservation has made his journey of learning, teaching and helping others in dialogues, research and documentations.Trained in his undergraduate as a scientist, Travis Houle is now working to use listening, communicating, and teaching as a means to building bridges between each other and the natural world around us. The world is in the midst of a moral, ecological, and spiritual crisis. As change occurs across our planet, it is paramount that we better understand and listen to the voice of peoples, ecosystems, & our hearts, equipping these voices with the means to a brighter future. Most recently working as the Naturalist at Holden, he has worked to try and bridge diverse perspectives on environmental issues, connecting people with the natural world through educational sessions. His history with Killing’ot Lembikas is as a friend and student. Lembikas was a guide and teacher for Houle’s study group which visited northern Tanzania as a J-Term program from Luther College. After graduating college, Houle traveled to Lembikas’ village (boma) in the bush, less than 5 miles from the border of the Serengeti, for his wedding & to learn more about Maasai culture. Now, Houle is working to help connect Lembikas with teachers and schools within the United States, as Houle sees him as a potentially huge force for change in Tanzania. Houle plans to support Lembikas’ teaching at Holden, help to bridge differences between cultures, and help to add context to Lembikas’ situation. In order to work towards diversity, we need to concede our own place and support those who deserve to be lifted up.To learn more about Holden Village, visit: www.holdenvillage.org or to listen to more audio recordings visit: http://audio.holdenvillage.org