Rural-urban migration and the spreads of HIV/AID among the Maasai male migrants in Dar es Salaam region

This dissertation had a general goal of investigating the impact of rural-urban migration in the spread of HIV and AIDS among the Maasai. Various techniques were used in collection of data. These included participant observation, interviews, Focused Group Discussions and documentary reviews. Respondents included Maasai male migrants in Dar es Salaam and Maasai women in Naitolia village in Monduli. The study found that the major factors which influence the migrants to engage in risk sex while in urban areas included; age of the migrants (the majority of the respondents were in the age group of 18-33 years), most of them were not living with their spouses, the nature of the work of the migrants, the working environment and the presence of Commercial Sex Workers in the urban areas and the culture. It was further found that the respondents had a very low understanding on HIV/AIDS and gthus, they were not taking enough initiatives to protect themselves from HIV infections. The culture of the Maasai was found to be against “condoms” use and it was in favour of polygamy and sharing of sexual partners. The culture further promotes pre-marital sex. These further escalated the risk of HIV infection among the Maasai. It was further found that migrants who visited rural areas spread false information about HIV and its spreading mechanism, use the wealth acquired in urban areas to acquire more sexual partners and spread false information about the availability of jobs in towns. In addition, the visiting migrants were neutralizing the Maasai women. The study concluded that the Maasai culture is one of the main factors which is accelerating the rate of spread of HIV among the Maasai communities. The study recommends that there should be more educational and HIV awareness raising programs, specifically targeting the Maasai (both in rural and urban). The programmes should be cultural friendly and should use the potential of elders and traditional leaders.