Lessons from Lydia and her Girls

While staying with Solomon’s family, we had the privilege of being two of Lydia’s girls. Lydia is Solomon’s wife. We learned many lessons around their Massai household and we’d love to share some with you. 1. We thought fast food was greasy, but chapattis are right up there. Lydia taught us to make this Kenyan staple one evening. The ingredients are really similar to bannock. Flour, salt, sugar, and Water. Add a bit of oil “to make it soft”. Mix it up and knead it. Break it into pieces and roll them out to a flat tortilla shape. Don’t roll the middle too thin or it will be hard. Megan made this mistake. Oops. Throw them on the flat pan over the charcoal fire and fry them up. Don’t forget a generous scoop of lard for each side as you fry. 2. We don’t how to spell so we’ll write it phonetically. ka-ji Kristen =I am called Kristen Ay-ng-wa Canada = I come from Canada 3. Milking cows with small teats is slower but necessary for morning Chai. Another Kenyan staple. 4. Lydia asked Pauline a local teacher who stays with them and enjoys cooking a lot to show us how she makes dinner. That night the menu was rice, beans, and kale with tomatoes. It was delicious and we can likely replicate it. In their outdoor kitchen in the dark by a kerosene lamp, Pauline cooked over a wood fire and shared the instructions with us. 5. Dowries are important in a marriage agreement for the Massai. A woman is typically worth 3-5 cows, blankets/tea/other household goods and 30,000-100,000 shillings. Take note Megan’s future husband and Jay, you better pay up. We think we’d be worth 5 cows. It is hard work to take care of a family in Massai land. Solomon and Lydia do very well but work so hard and even host their friends’ children so they the kids can be closer to school. Lydia started a school, she owns and runs and stocks a shop in Najile town center, she’s the head of Sunday School for their region, she milks the cows every morning, as well as takes care of basic household duties without running water and electricity. A whole new world indeed. Solomon owns a larger shop in Ewaso, stocks it, the board chair of the GAR (Generations at Risk) program, he cares for and finds his cows every evening, and is a very involved father helping his girls with school work in the evenings. On top of all of this they were more than happy to have us in their home. They are amazing. AMAZING. They also want to host any friends we have traveling to Najile so if you have any plans let us know. We can hook you up.