this is the wedding video of Gemma

Berford a 25-year-old Oxford graduate

who became Gemma Anleila when Gemma

Berford a brilliant Oxford graduate went

to Tanzania for a charity project she

never considered falling in love and

marrying a Masai warrior but sometimes

love can be found in the most unexpected

places despite their vastly different

backgrounds Gemma married the African

man but their union had many challenges

what became of their marriage is Gemma

and the African Warriors still together

and what does her life look like 21

years later let’s find out an unlikely

love story gemma met Lesar Ole Nungila

while volunteering in the village of

Elui lesar was a Messiah warrior and the

son of a Masai herdsman he lived in Elui

a remote mountain village near Arouchia

in northern Tanzania he grew up with 16

brothers and sisters not to mention a

father mother two stepmothers and

innumerable aunts uncles cousins second

cousins and neighbors he went to primary

school when he was 11 but could not

finish his formal education because of a

severe drought which meant he had to

lead his cattle to more distant pastures

in search of water he was a strong

warrior who often defended his livestock

against lions leopards and buffalo armed

only with a spear and a knife while

hurting on the open plains Gemma first

met Lesar when she visited an arts and

crafts fair in Arouchia Tanzania in

March 1999 while taking a two-week break

from her fourth year of study at Oxford

they were introduced when Lesar

performed with a Masai dance troop at

the craft festival he wore traditional

robes and beads and they said just hello

because he couldn’t speak English gemma

also did not know how to speak Swahili

or understand the language she was

immediately attracted to him and thought

he was nice but thought no more about it

before Gemma flew home however she

bumped into him and his friends again

and they told her about the charity

organization called

Angion they were setting it up to help

preserve their traditional culture and

she agreed to do whatever she could to

help after her two weeks break ended

Gemma returned home to complete her

studies in Oxford however after Gemma

returned to school Lesar was elected

chairman of the AN serial charity

organization at home she told all her

friends about the people of Tanzania and

her experiences there she also told them

about the young warrior that she met

over there quite often she caught

herself thinking about Lesar and it

became little more than a fond

memory after graduating from Oxford

Gemma returned to Tanzania and became

involved with Angie

she used the opportunity to forge ahead

with her building and future program

with

Angrian gemma had started learning

Swahili and she taught Lesiear some

English so they could communicate better

than when they first met she often met

with Leicar in her spare time to discuss

their charity projects which included

building a small village school in Elui

they had known each other for over a

year at this point and they had lots of

common interests for example Gemma

majored in natural medicines for her

degree and Lesar’s tribe harvested and

used herbs for their treatment during

one of her visits he invited her to trek

and meet his family in their village the

distance from the city to their village

was very far and it took almost a day to

reach by truck and on foot but his

family was very welcoming she and Lesar

were strongly attracted to each other

but were very aware of their different

backgrounds and were cautious about

starting a relationship so when Gemma

traveled back to Britain she decided to

get into a relationship with 29-year-old

Alex Bell a fellow graduate from Oxford

so that she could forget about

Lesar gemma had met Alex at work and had

been friends for a long time they were

very comfortable in each other’s company

so it was easy to grow their friendship

into romance the relationship didn’t

last though as it was not founded on

love it ended a few months later when

Gemma experienced a life-changing ordeal

why did it end after she graduated from

Oxford University Gemma got a job with a

medical research company in Oxford and

was sent back to Arouchia in the year

2000 to help set up a medical conference

it was on this trip to Tanzania in

December 2000 that Gemma had a

terrifying ordeal at 35,000 ft when the

plane she was on got hijacked the plane

nose dived and the cabin rocked

violently from side to side gemma’s

stomach was in her mouth the passenger

next to her was praying and others were

screaming gemma tried to convince

herself the plane had simply hit a patch

of turbulence but the reality was far

worse the British Airways flight from

Gatwick to Nairobi had been hijacked a

man had broken into the cockpit and

thrown himself at the controls

threatening the lives of the pilot and

the 396 passengers including Brian Ferry

and Jamaima Khan now the engines were

shrieking and alarms were ringing gemma

thought she was going to die after a

struggle the man was eventually

overpowered by passengers and crew and

tied to a chair until landing still the

ordeal had life-changing consequences

for a 22-year-old Gemma she had never

been so terrified which made her think

about her life she pictured the people

she wanted to say goodbye to and what

she would have said to them but the man

on Gemma’s mind wasn’t Alex Bell her

boyfriend and fellow Oxford graduate

with whom Gemma had discussed marriage

it was the 23-year-old Messiah warrior

called Lesar Oling Gila who grew up in a

mud hut hunting his food and before they

met spoke barely a word of English at

that point she realized that her

feelings for Lesar ran far deeper until

then she thought she was in love with

Alex who she had been dating for 4

months but when the plane landed the

first person she wanted to talk to apart

from her mom and dad was Lesar knowing

the huge impact falling in love with a

Messiah tribesman would have on her life

Gemma decided to keep quiet about her

feelings she kept telling herself not to

fall in love with a man who lives on the

other side of the world however she

inevitably started to notice Lacar’s

muscles and lovely smile and the

chemistry was obvious when his hand

touched hers but still she didn’t say

anything about how she felt and just

flew home when she finished her

conference work fate intervened again

when in April 2001 Gemma was asked to

()

fly back to Tanzania for a further

six-month project lesar agreed to act as

Gemma’s translator and just days into

the trip a taxi driver asked him “So

when are you going to marry this lady?”

They were both slightly embarrassed by

the question but Gemma decided it was

time to tell Leicar how she felt back at

her hotel she told him she had something

really important to say and he sat

patiently until she eventually blurted

out “I think I’m falling in love with

you.” Lesar smiled and replied slowly

“We’ve been in love for a long time.” He

admitted he had always loved her but

didn’t think he had any chance then he

kissed her which was a wonderful

experience as Gemma later admitted when

a Messiah man tells a woman he loves her

it’s unsaid that it means he wants to

marry her so Lesar never actually

proposed but it was assumed they would

marry because they were in love in Masai

society casual partnerships are only

accepted between teenagers so the pair

decided to get married the following

morning Gemma wasted no time in emailing

Alex telling him she had met someone

else she would be getting married to do

you know Alex was more offended at

having been dumped by email than he was

at losing her he didn’t even love her

that much next Gemma phoned her parents

after she told her dad the news her mom

refused to come on the phone and talk to

her because she was so

upset anxious to put her mother’s mind

at rest gemma sent her a long email

explaining how happy she was with Lesar

and that he was the love of her life her

mom eventually came around and wrote

back saying she was worried about her

getting hurt meanwhile Lesar broke the

news to his family who were equally

shocked it was an unlikely match and

both families felt nervous about the

love affair in June 2001 Gemma’s parents

joined her in Arouchia to meet Lesar and

his family and in September Lesar made

his first trip to England it’s not every

day that a Masai warrior visits England

to say that Lesiear causes a stir when

he strolls around Berscelon Hampshire in

full traditional dress is an

understatement thanks to his improved

English Peter and Sue Gemma’s parents

got to know him better and approved the

relationship in January 2003 Gemma

married Lesar Oling Gila the African

warrior in a traditional Masai ceremony

at the age of 25 the wedding took place

in Elui and was attended by Gemma’s

family and 500 Messiah gemma’s parents

Sue and Peter Berford of Southampton had

traveled with Pam and Paul their two

sons to Tanzania for the wedding gemma

wore a wedding dress made of beaded oxin

and received goats and cattle as gifts

adapting to life in a tribal village was

a huge challenge but Gemma was

determined to weather it as she had

chosen that life there was no

electricity in the home the roads were

bad especially when they had a drought

and they had to walk almost a kilometer

to get water despite this hardship Gemma

seemed happy with her new life lesar

later built a new mud hut for his family

which cost about £2,000 to build and was

a mansion by village standards gemma

installed an electric hob and solar

panels in the home to make life more

comfortable though they still had to

walk a distance to get water from the

village’s water pump the couple also had

a flat in a nearby town that Gemma used

as her workspace as a research

consultant gemma and Lesar welcomed

their first daughter Lucia in April 2004

the year after their marriage their

second daughter Susanna was born in

September

2005 their relationship was a culture

shock to everyone there was some

resistance to Gemma in the village

initially however it was no longer an

issue once they married and had kids the

idea was then a reality and the people

accepted her accomplishments and

challenges their shared interest in

social causes strengthened the marriage

between Gemma and Lesar together they

co-founded initiatives to support

women’s rights and end harmful gender

practices one of their most prominent

accomplishments was building a community

school in Elawaii Village the school

uses a curriculum that fuses traditional

Masai and formal knowledge with a unique

co-curricular program to preserve

indigenous knowledge about medicinal

plants through the non-governmental

organization Angerion the couple

developed programs that empowered young

people to document and research the

indigenous knowledge of their societies

the program sustained biological and

cultural diversity and bridged the

generation gap often arising from formal

education gemma and Lesar also dedicated

themselves to various charity endeavors

including campaigns to combat female

genital mutilation female genital

mutilation in Masai communities is a

cultural practice involving the removal

of young girls genitals as a right of

passage from girlhood to adulthood the

age at which it is carried out depends

on the community but the practice is

most commonly performed under age 15 it

is estimated that at least 200 million

girls and women alive today have

undergone female genital cutting mainly

in Africa with an estimated 7.9 million

Tanzanian women between 15 and 49 years

being recorded according to the United

Nations Population Fund female genital

mutilation violates human rights

principles and standards including the

principles of equality and

non-discrimination based on gender the

right to freedom from torture or cruel

inhuman or degrading punishment the

right to the highest attainable standard

of health the rights of the child the

right to physical and mental integrity

and even the right to life

anthropological and sociological

research links the practice to beliefs

about fertility appropriate sexual

behavior hygiene and beauty in some

communities the practice is a right of

passage into womanhood and thus linked

to marriage ability and childbearing

while in others it links to religious

requirements or ethnic identity the

Masai community believes that a curse

will follow girls who do not undergo it

female genital mutilation is a harmful

practice as some girls die from

excessive bleeding and many suffer

serious long-term complications for the

rest of their lives gemma introduced

different initiatives to end the

barbaric act for example she provided

education to the community about the

dangerous effects of female genital

mutilation on their girls she introduced

alternative rights of passage where a

girl undergoes all traditional rights of

passage education but without the cut

she also trained rural women to use the

power of song to eradicate the ancient

tradition of female genital

mutilation in addition to their

philanthropy work she and Lesar also

started a safari company called Oureti

which specializes in giving tourists an

insight into the Masai they engaged in

tours that allowed people to explore

Africa up close including staying at

Masai villages and learning traditional

crafts the couple appeared happy moments

together leading many to believe in the

possibility of a fairy tale ending to

their story however in 2010 their

marriage ended the exact cause of their

separation remains unknown

speculation suggests that Lesar may have

desired to take a second wife a common

polygamous practice among Masai men

which Gemma was unwilling to accept

since the wealth of a Masai man is

measured by the number of children he

has Lesar moved on and had more children

with other wives gemma was so angry

about his decision and decided to leave

him after their separation Gemma

returned to the United Kingdom with her

two daughters and they still keep in

touch with Tanzania their homeland but

there hasn’t been much news about Leicar

since then her life today it has been 21

years since Gemma made the life-changing

decision to get married to Lesar she is

now 47 years old and still actively

involved in advocacy and empowerment

through education and sustainable

practices professionally Gemma Berford

is now a co-director and former research

associate of the global initiative for

traditional systems of health and

co-editor of the world health

organization global atlas on traditional

complimentary and alternative medicine

she is a healer and transformational

facilitator an internationally acclaimed

author writing on well-being and

sustainability she now lives in the

United Kingdom using what she learned in

Africa and in the sacred landscapes of

southern England to help people

rediscover their inner peace purpose

passion and power through her 19 songs

of

reunion her daughter Lucia is now 21

years old she is already a successful

young woman and a

photographer just like her mom she

enjoys volunteering and helping others

she is even the director of Elevate

Young Minds a youth organization that

works on finding solutions to local and

global problems susanna her younger

sister is 20 years old but there aren’t

many details about her life it was a

crazy love between two people from

different worlds gemma gave up her

western life in Oxford for a Masai

warrior and Lesar agreed to marry a

foreigner and violate the customs of his

tribe they could have been happy but

perhaps the gap between their worlds was

too wide let’s delve briefly into where

it all

began gemma Berford the Tanzania lover

()

gemma was born in 1978 in Old Bersan a

quiet village in Hampshire in the south

of England

gemma was the only child of a

middle-class English couple her mother

Sue worked in a library and her father

Peter was an accountant when Gemma was

still very young she exhibited

remarkable aptitude for learning did you

know that she taught herself to read

when she was just 18 months old yes you

heard that right well this was perceived

as unusual then and her parents had to

take her to seek the opinion of

educational

psychologists after a thorough

examination Gemma was diagnosed as a

highly gifted child with a high IQ

during her childhood she wrote several

poems and novels was very good at

playing the violin and volunteered for

charity organizations

she showcased her academic excellence

when she sat for and gained 13 GCSE A

grades and four A levels because of this

exceptional accomplishment she was

admitted to the prestigious Oxford

University at 17 there she pursued a

degree in biochemistry and was

determined to make the best out of it

she graduated with a master’s degree at

the age of 21 during her time in Oxford

she did not limit herself to classroom

education but got involved in social

causes and humanitarian services gemma

was determined to make a difference in

the world even though her academic

pursuits were demanding she still found

time to engage deeply with various

charitable activities you would always

find her in fundraising outreaches and

she was always ready to volunteer for

causes that she knew would bring a

change to humanity her involvement in

these humanitarian activities laid the

foundation that would define her future

path in 1999 Gemma was in the final year

of her biochemistry degree and took a

break from her studies she traveled to

Tanzania to assist a charity preserving

traditional African cultures her stay in

Tanzania was a wholesome experience for

her she was introduced to the Masai

community and fell in love with the

people the Masai community is known for

its rich cultural heritage and unique

traditions they put so much effort into

preserving their tradition and culture

so it doesn’t go extinct in the face of

modernization and this was what made

Gemma love them and decide to settle

there upon her arrival in Tanzania Gemma

joined a charity organization called

Angerion which means house of peace in

the Masai language angserion is a

registered Tanzanian cultural

association set up to promote preserve

and document the traditional cultures of

East Africa build self-esteem among

youth and uphold the rights of

indigenous peoples the organization

offers two main volunteer programs the

teach and learn program and the building

for the future program gemma chose the

building for the future program and was

tasked to help build a school in the

remote village of Elui a project to

integrate indigenous knowledge into

formal

education despite lacking financial

resources Gemma committed wholeheartedly

to the cause and was determined to see

its reality that was the start of her

relationship with the community and its

people as her work in Eli progressed

Gemma learned more about the people and

their way of life she participated in

daily activities attended ceremonies and

cultural events and gradually earned the

community’s trust and respect because of

her charming and endearing nature she

was able to make friends with many

villagers during this period Gemma met

Lesar Ole Ningila a proud Masai warrior

who later became her husband like Gemma

the Masai warrior is deeply interested

in community development and culture

preservation this brought them close and

soon it evolved into a life-changing

partnership however this didn’t last

forever what do you think was the real

reason for their divorce can you marry

someone from an entirely different race

drop your answers in the comments if

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