“Traveler there´s no path. The path is made by walking”
Without any doubt I can say that the 10 kilometers walk to Pamoja and the whole weekend was a unique and wonderful experience for me.
Before the walk I was very excited about all the activities that were coming and the day itself. It was a long and at times tiring trip, but every single kilometer was worth it and the landscapes let me speechless. During the journey, I deeply realized the context we were, far away from home in the African steppe guided by a Maasai man with all my classmates from different nationalities going to the Pamoja School, in a recondite site difficult to access, where many beautiful children were waiting for all of us.
While we were walking, we had the opportunity to see some settlements of the Maasai community, their way of living, the lack of certain resources we tend to consider basic and small children taking care of the goats in the extensive land. Due to what I saw I started thinking about the complete different childhood they’ve had compared to mine and the one of many other people. Also, most of them haven’t had the opportunity to access to a good education, sanitary water, among other basic services, which made me realize for the first time since I arrived, the enormous injustices in the country and in the world itself.
Nevertheless, in the last weeks some people have explained to me that certain tribes have decided to preserve in its essence their ancestral traditions and therefore, their way of living like the Hadza and the Maasai tribe. These communities respect their surrounding landscapes by using consciously what the soil gives them and at the same time by being grateful for what they have, consuming only what they need, keeping the ecosystem around them almost intact and not producing the huge amount of trash as most of usually do.
When we arrived to the school and all the children were waiting for us with their joy, love and excitement that deeply touched my heart. Then, each of them joined each one of us, taking our hands and giving us a tour around the school. It truly was meaningful experience to me I’ll never forget. They were very curious about us, that’s why some girls asked me where I was from, my name, they touched my hair, and gave me the most beautiful smiles. A girl called Helen showed me the classrooms, told me some things that she had learned at school, the subjects she had and some interesting facts about her everyday life. She was a very hardworking girl. I remember her favorite subject was physics. I could feel her kindness, joy and gratitude while showing me everything because we were there.
Maybe we didn’t sleep with the most comfortable mattress and we didn’t have running water during the weekend, but her hospitality and gratefulness was so big that it meant way more for me despite of all the facilities we didn’t have, which made me think how materialistic we can be as consumers and also, it reminded me we that we do not thank enough for what we have and for the opportunities that are given to us. Enjoying a wonderful time sharing memories with beautiful people and creating new experiences together should always be what really matters.
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