walk talk fire food

Salaton and husband Duco



youngest son K. making fire with Salaton

Yesterday chief Salaton from Kenya came to visit us. We went for a walk, talked a lot, lit a fire together and shared a meal; nothing out of the ordinary, but of course it was quite extraordinary for me and my family to meet this man from another continent and share a moment in time in our backyard. He also came into my studio and touched lots of my paintings and pieces and liked what he saw, which was nice for me.
As I said, it was special.


The website for his community is www.majimoto.org
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Comments

Niece Anne said…
Special indeed... The photos are beautiful!
Susan said…
Good morning! It would be extraordinary, and very exciting to have such a guest at my house. I've been reading your blog and enjoy it very much.
Unknown said…
Didn't he get cold?
Saskia said…
Anne and Susan: a truly amazing person, I have been to two more of his talks, he seems so genuine (he cannot hide anything because as he explained himself: he cannot read and write and therefore his Dutch hosts have to take care of all the administrative rigmarole and therefore know there is no hidden agenda) a far cry from some of the politicians in the (Western) world and he is a strong and peaceful advocate for keeping his/the Maasai culture alive, whilst at the same time avoiding 'harmful practice' such as female circumcision and he is very much pro-education; a fact I find highly amusing is that he wants to be older, the older you are in Kenya, the more authority you have and the more people listen to you! I have decided to embrace middle age...
P.P. yes, he was cold before the walk and once we got the fire going he was reminded of home....
well...these photographs were
such a surprise!!!
and as you say so little of the
circumstance of his visit, i am
going to just imagine that he
simply appeared.
I have, since i was a child, been
attracted to this part of Africa
and this particular culture. i
would be so honored to receive
a guest from his people. i looked
quickly at his website and need to
go back and spend more time looking.
and yes. i think a fire outside
is one of the most in common things
we have. so beautiful.
thank you for sharing this....
Saskia said…
well Grace, it was almost as you say: he simply appeared into our lives; he's here as a guest of a Dutch family who went on holiday last year and met him there, their trip to Kenya was organised by a friend of mine and when she heard he was coming to Holland on a fundraising trip, she immediately wanted him to meet us and vice versa, because we share a love of the outdoors and we have a firepit...ha and now we have all gotten together on several occasions and hopefully one day I will be able to return the visit.

tungsten

tungsten

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