Iraqw Villiage

One of our last activities in the Ngorongoro region was to visit the Villiage and home of an Iraqw family. This is a tribe that has land near the Ngorongoro crater and they are primarily farmers. Where the Massai tribe primarily wear Red plaid clothing, the Iraqw wear green and yellow plaids.

This space serves as a living room and this is also where the kitchen resides. Smoke from the fire stays in the space and acts as a deterrent for flies and mosquitoes. This family has a son attending a state university who happened to be visiting home when we were here.

This is him enjoying my sister getting dressed in the typical fashion of the area.

This Villiage has also started mining clay for making mud bricks. There was a decision made by the elders to help make up for the deficit in education dollars from the government. The community gets $250 for each trunk load that they sell.

I was able to try my hand at using the molds to make brick with wet clay. This is pretty hard work under a very hot sun. Later the bricks are fired in these kilns. Each family is responsible for making 3,000 bricks for each member of the family per year.