A young Maasai teenager is coming to stay the summer and upcoming school year in America. She is going to stay at the Mulligan family's home. They are her sponsors. It is a part of their local high school's "Cultural Exchange Program", where students from different countries can attend school in America, and vice versa.
Tanzania, May 2003~
[Translated from the language of Maasai]
I can't wait!
In just a few months, I will be making my journey to America, where I will be attending school at an American high school.
I will be staying with an American family, who are acting as my sponsors, as part of their "Cultural Exchange" Program, where kids from different countries will be going to America to stay with families and attend an American school for their senior year, to experience life in another country. In the meantime, American kids will also have a chance to go to school in different countries, such as my country, Tanzania.
My name is Kibiki Afiya Ntanta, and I am 17 years old. I will be in Grade 13 (our equivelent of senior grade year here; there, they call it 12th grade, or Senior). I am a Maasai, and I am tall, thin, and graceful of movement. I have short, nappy black hair I keep cut close to my head, and I have deep brown eyes and very dark brown skin; and I am pretty, according to my mama and baba [mother and father]. I am the oldest of six children: I have two brothers (Salehe--11-- and Mosi--15--) and three sisters (Adia--1--, Bahati--3--, and Chaisiku--5--; we call her "Siku" for short). I am very excited because I am the first in my family to get this chance, to get higher learning, and I think I need this because I want to become teacher in my village here in Tanzania and teach Maasai children English. (I taught myself English by a book and by listening to tapes I got from a friend.)
Here in Tanzania, I help mama and baba with the little ones, and I also cook, clean, and repair our house if it needs it, such as when the water comes from the sky and drips into our room. To fix such leaks, I take dung from our cattle, and I patch up the leak, and soon, our house is dry and there are no more drips to make us wet. I also help with the cattle if need be, but I mostly cook, clean, fix the house, or take care of the little ones. But in a few months, I will be staying with a family in Tennessee whose last name is Mulligan, and there are 9 kids in that family. It will be kind of like having more brothers and sisters, but they will be American, and they can teach me to speak English better and help me with American ways.
I already got my shots to go to America, and I got my picture taken for a passport; this will let me come into America, and this will let people there know that it is okay for me to be in their country; and I will be able to go to American school and learn about America and her ways. I am very scared and nervous in the tummy because I am afraid people will laugh at me. I don't like the way I talk English, and I think they will think that I am stupid. I am also scared because America isn't at all like Africa, and I shall miss my cattle and seeing the wildlife terribly. I will also miss the Maasai way of life, and I will find life there dreadfully boring. What if they will need their house fixed? Would they be mad if I try to fix it? And do they have cattle, so I can use the dung to fix the house; or will they find that nasty?
I have written letters to my American family, and they send me letters and pictures back; and they are a nice looking family. But they look funny with their pale skin and funny brown hair (and some have straw or fire colored hair, too!). Some of the kids look funny because their skin is the color of straw or tree bark, and that looks strange, too. Are they Mexican or from Norway, perhaps? They look like they may be from there....But what I don't understand is why they are not all the same color. I find that to be very strange and unusual indeed....
I am looking very forward to meeting my American family, and I hope that they will like me.
Have to run...Siku is covered with ants, and she is crying. I have to make sure she is okay; the ants here bite, and they can make people sick.
Kwaheri..er, I mean, goodbye! I will write more later, before I go to America. Until then, take care, and be well!
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