There are three basic principles which motivate Kikuyu social practices: to make a name for oneself, to reach a certain level of material comfort, and to deserve social respect. In order to realise these objectives, a Kikuyu views his/her existence as a path on which he/she is compelled to move ahead - or to migrate -, both physically and socially. Hence the concept of "migratory scheme" to describe the compulsive drive towards self-achievement, which implies a continuous quest for material, social, and symbolic rewards. In former times, to attain the status of mûramati - the self-achieved man - one required the cooperation of the entire domestic group, whereas today the millenarian hope depends essentially on one individual's faith