duckrabbit faces the cane

There is good news and there is bad news.

The good news is that duck is having an amazing adventure in Kenya.

I’ve been attending a four day Masai ceremony in which warriors make the transition to elders. Myself and Yasuyoshi have been the only foreigners invited. It is a great honor.

Actually its not that different from the Eurovision Song Contest. Lots of people, getting dressed up, slapping on make-up, singing songs, dancing and getting really, really pissed.

The fact that this party happens only once every eight years might exlain why the thousands of people attending are determined to have such a great time. The real difference is that at Eurovision song parties they don’t kill fifty cows and then barbecue them. Shame because the food has been bloody delicious. Who said man cannot live on cow alone?

You may be wondering who I had to kill to get entry to the party? Yasuyoshi first photographed this clan during the post election violence in 2008. His photo of the tribes fighting on a hill won a first in the World Press Awards. Since then he has been visiting the community on a regular basis, earning their trust. That explains his presence here. Mine was brought with two crates of beer. Honest.

OK so that was the good news.

Now the bad.

I knew that there had to be a downside. Tonight on the way back to our hotel I asked one of the elders what would take place tomorrow, the last day of the ceremony. It turns out there will be a big kick ass fight with canes in which everything gets trashed. How rock and roll is that? Unfortunately though I am expected to take part, which might explain why everyone I’ve spoken to has been so vague about the activities up until now.

I can’t complain, and to be totally honest, I’m actually looking forward to it.

Now the serious part. This Masai clan have never written their customs down and now their culture is under threat. Many people have told me that they fear this is the last time this ceremony will take place on such a large scale. They tell me how important Yasuyoshi’s work is to them because he is documenting a record of their culture that has never been captured in such a way before. For future generations that will be priceless if the clan are to retain a sense of who they are and where they come from.

God bless Yasuyoshi, he is a hero. Mine and theirs.