Asante Sana, Tanzania

A beautiful coffee-table book chronicling Donna and Martin's Safari to Tanzania, it includes Donna's journal recordings, accountings, and various tidbits along the way! The book is filled with Martin Seim's beautiful photography—Donna's inspiration for deciding to publish it.

Excerpted journal entries from the jacket flap: We were told that the women collect the firewood, carry the water from the well, mind the small animals, have babies, wash the clothes, and cook the meals. Men and older boys, until they become warriors at the age of seventeen, mind the cattle. The saying “a woman’s work is never done” is a truism for the Maasai. After a wife has been married for several years and has had a number of children, she will say to her husband, “Husband it is time for a new wife!” The new and younger wife will share in the burden of the work and also the husband!

Johnson, our Maasai guide, informed us that the Maasai men take as many wives as they can afford. A man’s bank account or wealth quotient is the number of cattle he owns. The more cows he owns, the more wives. All marriages are arranged between the father of the bride and the groom’s father. Once the number of cows is agreed upon, the groom or the groom’s family pays a dowry of cattle to the father of the bride. The number of cattle depends on the family; some brides are more expensive than others!

Asante sana, Tanzania! Asante sana, Thomson Safaris!

About the Author

Asante Sana is Donna Seim's first non-fiction book. She has also written the award-winning book, Charley, her second young adult novel. Her first novel, Hurricane Mia, was praised as “a 5 star young reader’s book that should be in every library, every classroom, and every home,” by Readers Favorite Book Reviews. Donna is also the author of two award-winning picture books, Where is Simon, Sandy? and Satchi and Little Star. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Social Work from Ohio State University and a Master’s in Special Education from Lesley University. Donna lives in Newbury, Massachusetts with her husband Martin, the photographer for Asante Sana, Tanzania.

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