Vincent Konchellah’s formal education began under a fig tree.
Konchellah was 7 years old, that scorching summer day in Kenya, when he looked away from the 200 cows he was watching to see white men for the first time. He was so intrigued that he left his cows and approached the men, who turned out to be missionaries. He plopped down in the shade of a fig tree, joining other children in their lessons. An hour later, Konchellah held his first candy bar, but the neighboring cornfield was flattened and all 200 of his father’s cows were gone.
Konchellah, a graduate student in international studies at the University, spoke in the International Resource Center on Friday about the Maasai – his own tribe of the more than 60 in Kenya.
“It is possible to really tell you are driving through a different tribe just by looking at the way people live,” Konchellah said, explaining that different languages, dress and trades set the tribes apart.
Konchellah said that even as a wealthy man with 700 cows, his father would immediately notice when even one cow was gone. When Konchellah returned home that day, leading a meager herd of at best a couple dozen cows, his father was less than pleased.
In addition to the number of wives and children a man has, the number of cows also determine his wealth, he said.
Maasai people believe that “every cow is a Maasai cow. Cows were literally put on earth for the Maasai people,” Konchellah said.
Although he whipped him, his father ended up taking on Konchellah’s responsibilities so that he could attend school.
Konchellah is one of a generation of Maasai who have shifted from a life centered around raising cattle to attending school instead.
Konchellah spoke about how President Daniel Moi’s land act helped to change the Maasai way of life. He said the act gave each family a permanent piece of land, a policy that clashed with the Maasai’s cattle economy, which needed freedom to move constantly for cattle grazing.
“It’s not a good thing because it pushed people to unproductive paths and grabbed a lot of land,” Konchellah said, but it was a “blessing in disguise for those who wanted to go to school” because the tribe was forced to find other means of income, including business, farming and sending kids to school in hope of better opportunities.
The land act also set aside the Masai Mara Game Reserve, a large portion of Maasai land reserved for wild animals. But, Konchellah said, politicians exploit the reserve, keeping millions of tourism dollars for themselves, sharing none with the Maasai.
“We hope that people like me who get an education will help change it so that the revenue could benefit the Maasai people,” Konchellah said.
Konchellah is a part of the University’s International Cultural Service Program, a chosen group of international students who “enrich all of the community by telling things about their home country and their community,” said International Resource Center coordinator Sonja Rasmussen.