Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Reuters NewMedia - December 10, 2004
Helen Nyambura

As the dirty miners return to their villages, they are watched by a much cleaner group of men, many sitting behind desks adorned by table lamps and small weighing scales.

These are the Maasai, the link between exporters and peasant miners, and the wealthiest tribe in the Tanzanite industry.

Renowned as fierce warriors who launch daring cattle raids or spear lions to death just to prove their manhood, the Maasai in Mererani have traded in their nomadic way of life for the allure of the glistening blue gems dug from the rich soils around snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak.

While Africans from other tribes scrape a living deep in the mines, the Maasai say they are too dignified for such toil.

"A right-thinking Maasai will not degrade himself by doing any manual labor," said one man who added that any physical work is reserved for the women in Maasai households.

DIRTY BUSINESS

For the other ethnic groups, life underground is harsh.

Twenty-two-year-old John Msafiri has been working in the mines for six years, with no luck.

He eats only one plate of corn meal and beans a day, sleeps on the floor of a makeshift house near the mine, and the idea of a hot shower is a distant dream.

"I am just hoping we strike something soon so I can get some money and go back home," he said, swatting away the flies that buzzed at sores on the corners of his mouth. "This is not a life."

His chances are not good. He cannot work deep inside the mine because he has no money for batteries for his flashlight. Other miners use bicycle inner tubes to strap lamps to their heads, and Msafiri's job is to carry out the soil they pass to him.

Many mine owners cannot afford to pay workers like Msafiri a monthly wage, so they work in return for a daily meal and a place to rest their head.

Once someone hits a good Tanzanite vein, everyone shares the rewards -- even the Maasai who choose to stay on the surface.

BANKING SYSTEM

The Maasai benefit because their comparative wealth makes them the ideal middlemen in Tanzania's gemstone trade. They are thriving in Mererani because they can quickly raise large sums of money to buy the stones as they are brought up from below.

Just as they did centuries ago, the Maasai still count their wealth in terms of the number of cattle a man owns.

Ernest ole Ndakusa has 16 cows and 35 goats, but he is a pauper compared to Mererani's richest gem dealer, who owns about 2,000 head of cattle and 3,000 goats.

The Maasai invest in livestock when business is good, but when they need funds quickly they use their herds as collateral to raise money from their fellow tribesmen.

Ole Ndakusa has no bank account for his millions of shillings. Any surplus is invested in a good quality bull, he says, and he keeps a kitty of a couple million for buying gems.

"Miners will always bring stones to a Maasai they have heard always has ready cash. They don't want stories of you going to a bank," he said. "When I've saved up and have about 5 million shillings ($4,713), then I will think of opening an account."

ARRIVISTE LIFESTYLE

It is obvious when a Mererani mine has yielded some of the precious blue stones -- the town goes on a spending spree.

Mine owners have been known to fly groups of friends to the commercial capital Dar es Salaam for beauty pageants, or invite renowned Tanzanian musicians to play in the town's dusty bars.

Many miners splash out on second-hand motorbikes to commute to the mines and escape the overloaded pick-up trucks.

Some bigger players invest in more flashy toys, and some of the large houses in town have Mercedes convertibles with leather interiors parked behind their remote-controlled security gates.

The change in lifestyle is taking its toll on the Maasai. Mererani's graveyards are expanding because of deaths from AIDS and the Maasai have not been spared the deadly disease.

"HIV will finish the Maasai," said Mark Saul, a gem trader in neighboring Arusha town. "Too much money, too fast."

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