PORTRAITS OF THE MAASAI

I was incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to visit an authentic living Maasai tribe while volunteering in Tanzania in 2018. One of the village women had given her severely disabled child up for adoption to a local orphanage as she could not provide the necessary care for her, and we took her daughter back to the village for a visit. This remote village was a 1.5-hour drive through the wilderness in an area where cars were rarely seen. The Maasai people still live like their ancestors in traditional mud huts without electricity, walking 30 minutes a day to their nearest water source and making an income from the farming of cattle. They sell their milk to local villages and towns, sometimes biking or walking 50km in a day to do so. It is said that the more cattle and children you have the richer you are. The only sign on the modern world you will see in this village is a cellphone which in order to have contact with the outside world. These images provide an insight into the traditional life of the Maasai.