I am an African girl and watching this show reminds me of my life growing up and how little we had yet how rich our life was in terms of community, love, security etc. We had no clue we were poor until someone else told us we were. I was always happy even when living in a hut and walking with no shoes. I did not have a clue what loneliness or lack was.I feel like you are telling my story and I highly appreciate your respect for their traditions and I think their story is very tastefully told. This is the best show I have watched in a very long time. Watching the guy's pale bottoms is really funny. Thank you Mark and Olley for taking us to Mek Land.

Thank you Niyoki for your post. Here I've been worried about hunger. I also was impressed with the respect and humility they showed everyone under such severe conditions.

Niyoki,
I am really interested in your point of view of the world you're living in now compared to the way you grew up. I'd love to see the MEK get creature comforts, yet at the same time out of respect for their traditions and culture I'd like to know that their tribe goes on living like they do. Where they are is a beautiful place with pristine air and sheltered from pollution. They are so fortunate in so many ways compared to how we live in America. Grateful doesn't even come close to how I feel about Mark and Olly and all the others involved for bringing this to life for us. I feel like I've been bestowed a priceless gift. They've opened up a whole new world for me to see and made me appreciate comforts that I have and envy the MEK for their simplicity.

Marixi,

As a person who has experienced both worlds, I would say that neither world is better or worse than the other. Modern comforts and conveniences certainly make life easier for those of us who are exposed to them but mean nothing to those who have no clue what they are.They are not unhappy because they don't have them. Theres something precious and priceless about simplicity. Every little thing causes a lot of excitement and joy when you have very little. Overindulgence causes a sense of dissatisfation and boredom. I remember how little it took to make us happy and excited. For instance getting pair of shoes, which only happened once a year,left me beaming for months and months. I have observed that with all the material the first world has to offer, something has to be really big and extreme to dig out of our hearts such deep good feelings. The only thing I would change in the MEK world, if I had the power, is health education/medicine to increase their life span. Everything else I would leave as is because soon, the rest of us will be trying to get back to a simpler life, get rid of air pollutants, plant and preserve forests, put more value in who and whose we are than what we have etc if this planet is going to survive.