Elgeyo Marakwet's unique bathing culture

Two Marakwet men taking a shower at River Embobut. There is a cultural belief among the Marakwet community which bars women from bathing upstream. Those who defy the belief are liable to curses from elders. Photos by Fred Kibor

Normally a trip to a river to bath involves taking alongside bathing materials such as a soap and basin. But in the Elgeyo Marakwet region the script is different as it involves strict cultural undertones which must be adhered to.

Marakwet culture dictates that gender orientation and rank in society plays a key role in deciding the area where one should take a bath in the river failure to which it will attract a disastrous curse.

At any given instance, men are supposed to bathe upstream while women are culturally bound to clean their bodies downstream or carry the water and have a bath at home.

This tradition, according to Marakwet elders, has been practiced for centuries and passed from one generation to the next and both genders are expected to adhere to it.

Mzee David Kipkorir, 87, popularly known as Meza Wembe says punishment for a women found bathing upstream is very severe because they are cursed and will sometimes go mad.

“Women themselves have been socialised since childhood to follow the order of bathing because of fear of being cursed,” reveals the octogenarian, a resident of Tot village.

Mzee Kipkorir, who is still a zealous follower of his culture adds: “Women are considered impure due to their biological factors like menstruation thus they contaminate anything they come in contact with”.

He says it is their culture’s belief that if a woman bathes upstream, any man bathing downstream will begin behaving like a child because the woman’s ‘dirt’ will have entered him.

When we made a trip to Embobut River in Marakwet East sub-county to determine whether or not this culture is still observed today, we came across women bathing downstream as men took the upper side. This was replicated on every river we crossed.

We met with Maurine Chepkem who told us the culture dictate is still firmly entrenched.

“It is because of the impurity from our bodies that culture demands we take the lower side to avoid contaminating the waters,” she said.

Chepkem affirmed that they would be cursed if found bathing upstream and this has been ingrained in them since childhood and it is a belief they also pass on to their children.

Another resident, Joseph Manena from Kasakat village, told us another aspect of the cultural dictate is that it follows age set order.

“While all men bathe upstream, the younger men are not allowed to see the nakedness of their seniors and are therefore expected to bathe metres away,” he said.

However, with the changing times, there are those residents who have shunned this practise and opt to take a shower at home in their own private bathrooms.

“Christianity, education and clearance of bushes along rivers are steadily fading away the much revered tradition and many locals now prefer to bathe at their homes,”Richard Ruto, a teacher at a local primary school, says.

He says the older generation is, however, still very attached to the tradition and are yet to fully let go of the practise.