i just saw the cattle on the evening news. very, very, beautiful cattle. i say, send them to nyc. there is enough grass in central park.
My nephew is an ophthalmologist, and he worked for a year as a volunteer in an eye clinic in Tenwek, Kenya. I asked him once about this milk-and-blood diet business. He said the main part of the diet of a Masai is grain, about a handful a day. The milk-and-blood meal is reserved for ceremonial occasions. It’s hard to say if the cholesterol of that occasional treat affects their health. Not many of them live long enough to die of heart trouble. My nephew once showed some of them a picture of a cattle farm in the US. They said, “Those are our cattle! Where are they?” They do indeed believe that all the world’s cattle belong to them.
This is such a sweet story. I feel that only bad things will happen to the Masai now. Like Starbucks.
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Yogi Berra has landed…
From the Contra Costa Times version of the story:
yep, that was my first impression – proportionally it’s quite generous, and probably exceeds any other country.
Not only are the Masai tough, gentile, no-nonsense people, they have a tremendous sense of humor and dignity, and are genuinely generous.
God bless 'em!
That would be “gentle”… :o
Well, they’re probably Gentiles as well. ;j
This is a great story, followed by RT’s little guy that absolutely busted me up. Now I can go home smiling.
They use the dung from the cow as a builing material and a fuel for fires, too. One could argue that these 14 cows would really impoverish the villiage, and the last thing our country needs is more cows. But the gesture is beautiful.
I had a anthropology prof in college who claimed to have lived with the Masai for a few years (studying them I guess). He claimed that the Masai’s diet consisted only of meat and that they had a very low blood cholesterol level. He also claimed that they had no formal leadership structure and that they abhorred gift giving.
I have no idea how much of this was true, but he seemed to believe it.
Tony Blakely wants you to have your cows too:
Too late. We’ve already done our worst with Survivor: Africa.
Hm…you’re in Michigan…wouldn’t be surprised if we had the same prof. The anecdote sounds quite similar. Evidently there’s an enzyme in cattle blood that helps metabolize cholesterol. Professor Alan “…pastoral Masai who subsist solely on the meat, blood and milk of their cultivated livestock” Jacobs, right? 
you know what? those masais are sweethearts for donating cows! it’s just heartless not to accept them or trade for jewelry! i’d take a cow, but it wouldn’t keep well in my dorm room in the fall 
I’m all for letting them graze in Central Park! That’s so cool.