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In Masai community we have a culture of meeting each month.
And that meeting of each month, it doesn't mean that we have problems.
Sometimes we meet for good, just saying hello and we talk of development:
'What did you have? I bought a land, I bought a car, I bought a house...'
And we drink soda, and then we just end there.
And that also gives us a strength...
to have a close relationship with ourselves and knowing each other.
And we be happy.
Two brothers, on the run from the West.
United on a quest to find reverse development aid.
Because Africa: Isn't that where people are happy?
I'm Lekope Langiwesi.
And I had a bachelor studies in law which I did in Uganda.
After the degree I had a law school to become an advocate.
And I am currently working in Dar Es Salaam.
But I also have another part of life...
because I am a Masai.
And I am also in a Masai tribe.
And one of the Masai traditions...
is working in a team, in a group, and making decisions in a group.
So it doesn't matter whether I have a bachelor degree, I just put it aside...
and we both share the knowledge and make a decision together.
We believe in Masai community, wiseness does not settle in one brain:
"Miishaa eng'eno elukunya nabo."
And we come with a very unique decision.
-It's now done.
We are at a meeting of two families...
of which the daughter and the son want to get married.
However, the son has to pay a fine for his bad behaviour:
He failed to greet an elder...
and he once picked up the girl without informing the family.
So he had to pay a fine of the equivalent of ten euros, and two cows.
They are now together to discuss this...
and their conclusion is currently changing.
We always have disputes in big meetings like this one.
But at the end we always have a settlement for it.
So I think, basing the point from both sides...
all of us want to show love to the son who wants to marry our daughter.
We also want to punish to make him good, we say: 'Don't give him another chance'.
So it's a kind of care too.
So I think, let us agree: no fine for today...
no punishment, only a warning.
You can come with any problem in a meeting...
marriage problems, alcohol problems, fighting...
if you have a fight with your brother or your sister, also go there.
And land problems too, cow problems...
if cows look alike, you say: 'This is my cow, this is not your cow'...
we also bring in a meeting.
And also, I went to Europe and I stayed for two months...
and I heard the story of stress...
and a lot of trouble vested in the people in Europe.
Then a lot of them speak of: 'I went to a therapist, I went to a therapist.'
But the therapist in Europe, always people go to the stranger-therapist...
who doesn't know you, your background, your behaviour...
what makes you unhappy, what makes you angry, so he's a stranger.
What he does, the whole time of solving your problem, he's learning you.
Instead of solving your problem, he's just trying to learn you.
But in Masai-meetings, they know you very well.
So they even remember better than yourself, all your worry.
And they are very able, in each step, telling you with examples...
and if someone gets tired, another one, fresh mind, comes up.
And the meeting comes with a very unique way of...
investing happiness...
investing how we twist your brain from the trouble.
So at the end you always find yourself laughing, I mean: happy.
They now agreed to pay a fine of two cows.
And we're now going for the number of dowry, it's the last one.
And everybody is happy. -Yes.
a Bas and Jaap production
thanks to Lekope and his family
support and follow us on nieuwspost.nl
The guy opposite me just snorted a whole clump into his nose.
He must be really happy then. -Yes, he's probably really happy.