Ndinini (Danini) Kimesera Sikar

Eventually, I left the village for the city, and now I live with my chosen husband, three children, a house, a car, a laptop, shoes and even trousers with zippers.

You see, modern families seem to value personal autonomy, while traditional families, they put more emphasis on resource sharing and collective decision-making.

So how can we blend these two worlds?

This is our challenge, mine and yours too.

See, 25 years ago, I started an organization, the Maasai Women Development Organization, to give women access to education and health care.

Here's one way we bring the old into the new.

The first time I gave birth, I was with my mother, other mothers, sisters, cousins and midwives, about 15 people.

So much knowledge in the room.

though my husband had to wait outside.

In the city, for the second child, the hostel said two people only, and their policies were very strict, and they ignored traditional knowledge.

At MUEDO, we do a little bit of both.

So we have clean, prepared base centers,

schools that consider our culture and train midwives, and we also include our husbands.

So the question for everyone here is, how can we integrate the best part of our childhood into the world as it changes?

You see, I don't walk 10 kilometers a day anymore, and I'm not on the land with the animals from 5 a.m.

to sundown anymore.

I'm not hugged and held by dozens of people a day anymore.

In my modern family, we decided there will be more education,

There will be no genital cutting, more playing, no forced marriages, but there will be more contributing, more storytelling, and there will be more listening.

And all that can be done in a multi-generational setting while keeping the elders in the position of prominence.