Water is difficult to come by, so these Maasai men came to London to run a marathon. Not to win it but to raise awareness of their plight.
It is the first time the men have left their remote African village of Eluia in Tanzania. The group is far from anxious about completing the 42 kilometer event. One of the men, Isaya, says it’s a ‘walk in the park’.
“Twenty-six miles (42 km) not far. Back at home we sometimes run for five or six days, day and night.”
He and his fellow warriors, all between 20 and 25 years old, expect to reach the finish line of Sunday’s race within 4½ hours.
The Tanzanians have been granted special permission to run without a numbered shirt.
They will be sporting traditional clothing, including sticks, shields, jewellery and sandals made from car tyres. They also plan to carry shields and spears.
The Maasai warriors hope to raise enough money to find and access a fresh water source for their community, which is around $AUD128, 000.
Up to a million Maasai inhabit scattered and remote villages across northern Tanzania and southern Kenya, living a semi-nomadic existence.
But years of drought in the region around Eluai, where these six warriors live with their elders and children, is killing their cattle and threatening their way of life with disease and famine.
Two thirds of the children born in Eluai die before they reach the age of five.
