Dave Wright Writes

  Maasai Mission January, 1999 Dave Wright, DVM Olendorrop’s third wife, Naisiae shook a long gourd decorated with colorful beads. It was full of milk that had been fermenting for three days in the Tanzanian heat. Naisiae means “hard working” in the Maasai language . She had risen before sunrise to milk the three Zebu cows that, along with two calves, composed Olendorrop’s herd at this shamba in the foothills of Mt. Gelai. She squeezed milk from the two right teats into a gourd, leaving the left two teats for the cow’s calf to nurse at the same time. After collecting the half-liter of milk from each cow, she kept the calves in the corral and ushered the cows out to where her two sons were waiting by a gate made of sticks and brush. At eight and ten years of age, the boys were responsible for the herd. They led the cows into the bush where they watched while the cows scavenged for random sprigs of grass. Today was also the day the cows got to drink. It was the dry season, and th