By Guled Mohamed
MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - Maasai warrior Lempuris Lalashowent to Kenya's tourist haven Mombasa to find a white woman tomarry, but he ended up working as a hairdresser, a professionthat is taboo in his culture.
His story opens a window on the strains faced by thisancient tribe as it adjusts to modern life in east Africa'slargest economy, whose Indian Ocean beaches lure thousands oftourists, including women seeking sex.
Maasai warriors, or moran, are a familiar sight on Kenya'sbeaches and in its renowned safari parks -- dressed indistinctive red robes and wearing beaded jewellery, they oftenact as guides or work in security.
But sometimes, the eager young men who flock to the coasthoping to make their fortunes -- some with dreams of marrying awhite tourist -- have to go against their traditions.
Lalasho's status as a moran means he is charged withprotecting and providing for his people, and it makes histransgression all the more serious.
Maasai warriors are not allowed to touch a woman's head: itis regarded as demeaning in the patriarchal culture. Moran whobecome hairdressers risk a curse from the elders, or could evenbe expelled from the community.
"If my father finds out what I am doing he will be very madat me or even chase me from home," said Lalasho, who comes fromLoitoktok, near Mount Kilimanjaro on the border with Tanzania.
"But I have to eat, that's why I broke my taboo since citylife is very expensive," he said.
An estimated 500,000 to one million Maasai live inscattered and remote villages across northern Tanzania andsouthern Kenya, eking out a semi-nomadic existence with herdsof precious cows.
As drought and hunger bite harder in their rural homes dueto 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 hotelworkers, night guards, herbalists and hairdressers.
Lalasho, who is illiterate and does not know his age, wasinspired 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 orSwitzerland? I don't know. He came back to build a big houseand bought so many cows. I envy him," he added, shaking hishead.
Lalasho did not have such luck and he was forced to use hisskills at spinning hair, which he learnt during his initiationinto moranhood in a thicket near Mount Kilimanjaro.
Morans learn to weave hair into thin, rasta-like dreadlocksduring the initiation, which takes place when boys are agedbetween 17 and 20. The warriors' hair is often dyed red aswell, and the red style is popular among women in cities.
For Maasai elder Michael Ole Tiampati, the fate of men likeLalasho threatens the wider Maasai culture.
"It's an abomination and demeaning for a moran or Maasaiman to touch a woman's head," said Tiampati, media officer forthe Maa Civil Society Forum, which protects Maasai traditions.
"They have gone against the cultural fibre ... They have topay a price to be accepted back into the society," he said.
CULTURE UNDER THREAT
Kenya's Maasai are based in the picturesque Great RiftValley region, home to the famous Maasai Mara game park. Butthe tribe who gave the park its name earn little from tourism,which is among Kenya's top three foreign currency earners.
This lack of revenue pushes young Maasai into otheractivities, but their increasing renown in tourist resorts isalso bringing competition.
Men from tribes like the Kikuyu or Samburu are disguisingthemselves as Maasai on the beaches of Mombasa and elsewhere.
"Foreign tourists love Maasai for their sincerity. We aregood-hearted people who do not feel jealous," Lalasho said.
Tiampati is more explicit.
"(Maasai) warriors are perceived to be erotic, that is whywomen pensioners from Europe come to look for them. Thewarriors take a lot of herbs -- some known to have Viagra-likecontents like the bark of black acacia tree -- to re-invigoratetheir loins."
The copy-cat trend has angered some Maasai.
"It's the beginning of an end of Maasai culture," said tourguide Isac Oramat in Nairobi.
"Soon our tradition will just exist in books ... I warntourists to be aware of these fake Maasais."
But for the morans in Mombasa, survival for now takesprecedence over preserving their traditional ways.
"I have not gone to school. This is the only thing I cando," said hairdresser Ole Sambweti Ndoika, 35.
"The women here love our style. We get good money ... Ihope to save enough to marry my second wife ... by end of theyear," said the father-of-four from Narok in the Rift Valley.
Longishu Nyangusi, 25, also works as a hairdresser and likeLalasho came to Mombasa to find a white tourist wife. He sayshis lack of English has held him back.
"I could have hooked a white woman by now. I regretrefusing to go to school. I was fooled by our fat cows andthought life is just fine," he said near his open-airsalon-cum-shop.
(Editing by Clar Ni Chonghaile)
