It’s not often you read a book that gets you thinking 
about your own life’s choices. MY MAASAI LIFE by Robin Wiszowaty is that kind of book. Disillusioned, lost, and rebellious in her middle-class American home, Robin takes off for a year in Kenya to find herself. And find herself she does, even going so far as to adopt another family as her own. She finds contentment in a land ravaged by AIDS, drought, typhoid and malaria. From a home with all the comforts to a land where survival is an everyday challenge, she finds comfort. How is that possible?
When she returned to America, she was lost once again, even though she has a loving family. All the consumerism bothered her. She remained confused and she was like a boat afloat with no destination. After a year of aimless living, she found her footing again when she discovered Free The Children, an organization operating out of Toronto. With the help of youth volunteers, this charitable group provides school rooms to youth and clean water, health care and sanitation for villages.
Her journey challenges our own. At first, I asked myself how is it possible to leave all that familiarity behind and embrace a land and a culture so foreign to our own? I understand the allure of something different. I’ve often thought of how wonderful it would be to live in a different place for a year. My inclination was to go to London or Paris to check out the culture, but I had nothing in mind like the noble goals of the young Robin. But as as I read on, the answer came. She’d found her purpose. How many of us can say that?
While in Kenya, Robin befriends Samuel, a young Kenyan, who was beaten by his own father, didn’t start school until 18, and then, when he finally thinks he’s on the path to improving his family’s well-being, he is met again by disaster. As a former family therapist, I wondered about his resiliency. No matter what life threw him, he still acted with integrity, respect, and love. The lessons he’s thrown us, just by the way he’s responded to one crisis after another, are outstanding. Instead of feeling victimized—and who would blame him if he did—he picked himself up again and again. He didn’t give up.
I have to thank my granddaughter for bringing this book to my attention. She read the book in preparation for a three week school trip to Kenya. She went as a volunteer for the Me To We program, an off-shoot of Free The Children, set up to encourage young people to become actively involved in shaping a better world.
While there, she did her bit along with other high school students, digging for a new school in the hot African sun. She also had the wonderful experience of learning some Swahili, trudging a good distance for clean water, and hearing Robin Wiszowaty speak. The latter was one of my granddaughter’s highlights.
My Maasai Life is a phenomenal and inspirational story. I’d love to hear from you about this post and the questions it raises. How many of us are brave enough to take the opportunity to find our way, to find our purpose? And how many will take the time to know it when we see it?
Sounds like an amazing story and she, and the people she writes about, seem so very courageous. Now I have to get the book.
It is amazing and a good read. I love traveling, and this book took me to a whole other world. It not only gave me a good picture of the land but of the people, their culture, and their undying faith that things will get better. Very uplifting despite the extremely challenging circumstances.