Maasai warrior hairdressers break taboos

By Guled Mohamed

MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - Maasai warrior Lempuris Lalasho went to Kenya's tourist haven Mombasa to find a white woman to marry, but he ended up working as a hairdresser, a profession that is taboo in his culture.

His story opens a window on the strains faced by this ancient tribe as it adjusts to modern life in east Africa's largest economy, whose Indian Ocean beaches lure thousands of tourists, including women seeking sex.

Maasai warriors, or moran, are a familiar sight on Kenya's beaches and in its renowned safari parks -- dressed in distinctive red robes and wearing beaded jewelry, they often act as guides or work in security.

But sometimes, the eager young men who flock to the coast hoping to make their fortunes -- some with dreams of marrying a white tourist -- have to go against their traditions.

Lalasho's status as a moran means he is charged with protecting and providing for his people, and it makes his transgression all the more serious.

Maasai warriors are not allowed to touch a woman's head: it is regarded as demeaning in the patriarchal culture. Moran who become hairdressers risk a curse from the elders, or could even be expelled from the community.

"If my father finds out what I am doing he will be very mad at me or even chase me from home," said Lalasho, who comes from Loitoktok, near Mount Kilimanjaro on the border with Tanzania.

"But I have to eat, that's why I broke my taboo since city life is very expensive," he said.

An estimated 500,000 to one million Maasai live in scattered and remote villages across northern Tanzania and southern Kenya, eking out a semi-nomadic existence with herds of precious cows.

As drought and hunger bite harder in their rural homes due to climate change and increased competition for resources, hundreds of Maasai men are heading to towns and cities.

SPINNING HAIR

In tourist resorts like Mombasa, these men end up as hotel workers, night guards, herbalists and hairdressers.

Lalasho, who is illiterate and does not know his age, was inspired by the good fortune of a friend, Leishorwa Mesieki.

"My friend Leishorwa is now rich. He married a mzungu (white) woman who took him to ... is it New Zealand or Switzerland? I don't know. He came back to build a big house and bought so many cows. I envy him," he added, shaking his head.

Lalasho did not have such luck and he was forced to use his skills at spinning hair, which he learnt during his initiation into moranhood in a thicket near Mount Kilimanjaro.