Maasai people

Yeah, you would think so.

I did make a video with this one Maasai tribe where they have a tradition where you're not a man until you go out and kill a lion with your bare hands, supposedly.

With your bare hands? I think that was

it.

It

wasn't wasting any time.

The Maasai tribe of Kenya and Tanzania is famous for the traditional rite of passage where young men had to kill a lion to become recognized as a warrior.

However, the idea that they did this with their bare hands is a myth.

Descending from the minaret, I walked toward Nayarer Square.

It is a public garden and plaza honoring Julius Nayarer, ringed by a hawker's market selling souvenirs, wood carvings, and Maasai beadwork.

It is quiet this early in the morning.

Most of the traders are still setting up their mats.

And then I got there and they were all tiny and then come to realise it's just my tribe.

Really? Yeah, Maasai.

So then while I was walking around, everyone already knew they didn't need to ask me because it's a very identifiable trait of my tribe.

Yeah.

that look perfect on the outside but feel empty on the inside.

She's also the co-founder of EmpowHer, which is a grassroots initiative supporting Maasai women and girls with health education, entrepreneurship, opportunities, and culturally sensitive efforts to end female genital mutilation.

Welcome, Sylvia.

How are you doing today? Hello,

Community, all of these materialistic things, material things, we can't take them with us when we go.

But we put so much energy and emphasis on all of these things in our lives here in the Western world.

And I think it would suit everyone to... see how others live, see how the Maasai live to bring us back to reality and ground us.

And that

It's time for Afropedia.

And today's story takes us to East Africa, where historical accounts describe Maasai surgical specialists performing procedures that required a surprisingly detailed understanding of the human body.

Stay with us.

Afropedia.

Imagine a surgeon working without a modern operating theater, without an ultrasound machine, without an MRI scanner, and without the equipment we now associate with surgery.

Now imagine that surgeon treating a serious injury in the East African savannah.

Historical accounts of the Maasai describe a specialized class of traditional surgeons who dealt with wounds, fractures, severe injuries, and in some cases abdominal injuries.

Accounts recorded by early observers describe surgeons bringing together damaged tissue, treating broken bones, and using locally available materials to close wounds.

Detective Sergeant Jake O'Reilly said, "...we understand that the impact of burglaries can be long-lasting for victims, not just financially, but emotionally too." Sussex Police will continue to investigate any report of burglary, pursuing all reasonable lines of inquiry to hold offenders accountable for their crimes, bring justice to victims and work to ensure members of our community feel safe.

A Sussex Zoo is highlighting the challenges facing Maasai communities in Kenya after helping a young girl with dreams of becoming an aeronautical engineer continue her education.

Since 2025, Drusillas Park has funded the secondary education of a Maasai girl whose ambition is to become an aeronautical engineer.

For children growing up in the Ambasoli region of southern Kenya, however, continuing their education can be far from guaranteed.

Families living in poverty can struggle to meet school fees and other essential costs, particularly during periods of drought, livestock loss and water shortage.

Through its partnership with community conservation organisation Shades of Amboseli, Drusilla's is helping to provide opportunities for children while also supporting projects that strengthen the resilience of the wider community.

The partnership forms part of Drusilla's long history of supporting conservation and education in Kenya.

Since 1996, the park has raised more than £84,000 for projects in the region, and in 2025, formally joined forces with Shades of Ambuseli, working closely with its founder and Maasai elder, Kenneth Ole Sayi, and President Paul Lovett-Smith, who lives locally in East Sussex.

People wanted beaded pieces.

And I found these Maasai women through my sister who works in development.

And in northern Kenya, and they're basically just women who are homemakers, you know, they just live in a steel hut.

And they look after the livestock, after the children.

But also what we've done is we've just focused a lot more on building engagement and community.

So for instance, this month, at the end of this month, we're launching a new initiative called the Red Thread.

Because I think I told you when we started producing in Kenya with these Maasai women in 2020 during COVID and I couldn't go out and visit them.

I always visit my workshops a lot because to make sure that the qualities there and that the work, the conditions are good and all that.

And that was the technology of the time.

You know, when people started running around with these, I remember one time I was in Africa and I was taking a picture of a Maasai warrior.

I was like, no, no, no, no, no, no.

No pictures.