The story of '14 cows for America' told in Gainesville

GAINESVILLE - The African Maasai warrior who wanted to send cows from his village in Kenya to the United States in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack and the Atlanta children's author who wrote about his tribe's gift lectured at the Northeast Georgia History Center Tuesday night.

Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah saw firsthand the attack on New York City that destroyed the World Trade Center.

When he returned to Kenya and told his tribesmen, they decided to help America by sending them 14 cows, among the most sacred and precious possessions in their culture.

American officials, however, reportedly decided the cost of shipping the cows went beyond their monetary worth of $2,500, and health regulations prohibited their import.

The Kenyan herdsmen in Kenya made another decision. They would take care of the cows and tagged their ears to identify them as the American cows.

Naiyomah said the herd has grown from 14 to about 29. Their worth in dollars was not an issue for the Maasai.

"It is compassion at all costs," he said. "Compassion is a language understood by humans, by animals, by any living thing. Compassion heals, and so when we were wounded as a nation here in America, what really healed was compassion."

Naiyomah said he plans to arrange visits to his village in Kenya by children of 9-11 victims so they can see the cows and help herd and graze them.

Carmen Deedy's forthcoming book, "14 Cows for America", tells the story of how the remote Massai were moved to help America.

She compared their act to Aesop's fable about the mouse that helped the lion by pulling a thorn from his paw.

"Big needs little," Deedy said. "The story is one of compassion, but also of knowing that something mighty can be wounded, and something small can offer comfort."

http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/4/209048