Part b: Culture of Africa

Every country has its own culture. Culture in Africa is rich and diverse as it is constantly changing from country to country. This is why I feel that Africa is so mesmerizing and attractive as compared to other countries. Most of the culture in Africa centers on the ethnic groups and their family.

There are many tribes, ethnic groups and communities in Africa and each of them follows its own culture and tradition. Thus, I am going to illustrate more about the tribe that I chosen- Massai tribe.

Masai culture has been over thousands of years. A large part of Masai culture is the role of the warrior, which is a period of life when all the men go through between boyhood and finally become men. In Masai, a warrior is responsible to protect the herds of cattle and the whole village. There are many steps to become a warrior. When the boys reach 12 years old, they will go through painful rituals of circumcision to become Masai warriors. They will leave the village for several months for training. After that, the mothers of the young warriors will shave their sons’ heads to mark their graduation to Masai warriors. (Kenya- Advisor) http://www.kenya-advisor.com/masai-warrior.html (The ceremony will be explained under Types of Leisure Programmes)

Secondly is their religion. The Masai call their god Enkai, who believed to appear in many forms and objects, among which are the moon, mountains and colours. They also believed that Enkai is both man and woman, which is uncommon to many other religions. A religious leader of the Masai is called a Laibon. They are believed to descend from Enkai and therefore have religious authority where they are believed to have the power to heal.

The center of all Masai culture is cattle. This is because the majority of Masai diet is made from what they get from their cows. They eat the cattle’s meat, drink their milk and even the blood collected from the liver. The entire Masai way of life revolves around the herds of cattle. In fact, they believed that their god specifically created cattle for them. (Kenya-Advisor) http://www.kenya-advisor.com/masai-culture.html