City Work in a Time of AIDS: Maasai Labor Migration in Tanzania

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Periodical article

Title:	City Work in a Time of AIDS: Maasai Labor Migration in Tanzania
Authors:	May, Amy McCabe, J. Terrence
Year:	2004
Periodical:	Africa Today
Volume:	51
Issue:	2
Period:	Winter
Pages:	3-32
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Tanzania
Subjects:	Maasai labour migration AIDS Urbanization and Migration Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Labor and Employment Health and Nutrition
External link:	http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/africa_today/v051/51.2may.pdf
Abstract:	Around 1997, Maasai in Tanzania began seeking city jobs in noticeable numbers, due to intensifying poverty. Having limited knowledge of cities, elders were ill-equipped to advise their brothers, wives, and sons about migration, which has ostensibly diminished 'traditional' elder authority. Ethnographic research between 1999 and 2001 revealed confusion and lack of accurate knowledge about the mechanisms of HIV/AIDS. Perceptions of Maasai 'backwardness' perpetuate negative reactions, and there is little assistance or support in cities. Increasing impoverishment and migration from some areas, and misunderstandings about HIV/AIDS, are combined with customary Maasai polygyny and inability to rely on elders' guidance. This suite of circumstances puts Maasai labour migrants at particular risk for contracting HIV/AIDS. Health-education programmes are critically needed to avert a catastrophe in Maasai communities. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]