Noloholo, Day 27: The death of a lioness, Scholarly skits, That which surrounds me
This morning, a lioness killed two cattle at pasture in Emboret. The Maasai warriors went after her, and in the end, she did not survive. Elvis, our Community Program Officer, comes back with one of the game scouts and shows us photographs of her. The warrior who held the first spear to stab her had taken her right front paw, the warrior of the second spear took her tail. That is tradition, and in this place traditions run deep. For this, even a Living Wall cannot help. Living Walls are the greatest win for APW - they are native Commiphora woven through chain link that finally has been able to keep cattle safe from nocturnal predators such as lion, leopard and hyena. The Commiphora, when planted, comes to life and eventually becomes a green, truly alive, wall. Not only that, but the old corrals were native thorn brush, cut by women and dragged back - a tedious, time-consuming task. Before Living Walls, some 40 lions a year were falling to retaliatory killings like this morning’s. Now, none.. not at night anyway. Livestock in a pasture are a different story - sometimes young children are sent to herd them, or the herd is too big and cannot be watched in heavy brush. The predators grow bold when they think they can kill and escape. And so, the lioness lies dead in the bush. There is no forgiveness.
In the afternoon, I watch the Noloholo Scholars put on their second round of English-language skits. These are full of moral lessons - take care of your elders, always tell the truth, listen to your teachers, study hard. At the end, the teacher we’ve hired for the week who is from Arusha stands up and tells them: You are very lucky to have this education. Look at all the people out there, with no education, having to beg on the streets with nothing to do. That is not you. You have to spend all your time studying, you have to always be learning, not only when you are in school. This is a gift, you are given this opportunity, so use it for all it is worth. It was so stirring that it made me want to go back to school and study harder. To do it all over again.
There was a compelling short essay I read today, written by Peter Burian, dean of humanities at Duke. It is an essay in defense of the humanities, to say that of all the disciplines, this is the one that teaches us to look at the world around us and then to find our place it in, to understand who we are in relation to what we experience. While I believe that indeed, as people we are always seeking to find who we are in relation to our experiences, that literature will purposely drag us down to the extremities of emotion. I believe we learn the most about ourselves when faced with such emotions - the blackest anger, the most poignant sorrow, the most euphoric happiness. A book is not life, of course, but I know I have found out much from myself by contemplating another’s writing.
The question is, I think: What do I surround myself with? The people, stories and experiences I face will shape me - at work, at home, on the television, in the news. I know I will be shaped by something. I believe that the ability to choose beyond instinct is what makes us human. What have I chosen today? What have I chosen for my life? And, for the future?
In the afternoon, I watch the Noloholo Scholars put on their second round of English-language skits. These are full of moral lessons - take care of your elders, always tell the truth, listen to your teachers, study hard. At the end, the teacher we’ve hired for the week who is from Arusha stands up and tells them: You are very lucky to have this education. Look at all the people out there, with no education, having to beg on the streets with nothing to do. That is not you. You have to spend all your time studying, you have to always be learning, not only when you are in school. This is a gift, you are given this opportunity, so use it for all it is worth. It was so stirring that it made me want to go back to school and study harder. To do it all over again.
There was a compelling short essay I read today, written by Peter Burian, dean of humanities at Duke. It is an essay in defense of the humanities, to say that of all the disciplines, this is the one that teaches us to look at the world around us and then to find our place it in, to understand who we are in relation to what we experience. While I believe that indeed, as people we are always seeking to find who we are in relation to our experiences, that literature will purposely drag us down to the extremities of emotion. I believe we learn the most about ourselves when faced with such emotions - the blackest anger, the most poignant sorrow, the most euphoric happiness. A book is not life, of course, but I know I have found out much from myself by contemplating another’s writing.
The question is, I think: What do I surround myself with? The people, stories and experiences I face will shape me - at work, at home, on the television, in the news. I know I will be shaped by something. I believe that the ability to choose beyond instinct is what makes us human. What have I chosen today? What have I chosen for my life? And, for the future?