These are Gubi and Balo, two girls from the Karo tribe.The Karo, are a small tribe with an estimated population between 1,000 and 3,000. They are closely related to the Kwegu tribe. They live along the east banks of the Omo River in southern Ethiopia.The main subsistence crops of the Karo are sorghum, maize and beans, supplemented by bee-keeping and more recently fishing. Mainly river bank cultivation is the most important source of grain production, they also plant fields using rain and flood retreat water. Omo valley, south Ethiopia, 2013.
At a young age, to beautify themselves for marriage, most Surma women have their bottom teeth removed and their bottom lips pierced, then stretched, so as to allow insertion of a clay lip plate. Some women have stretched their lips so as to allow plates up to sixteen inches in diameter. Increasing with exposure to other cultures, however, a growing number of girls now refrain from this practice. Their children are sometimes painted with white clay paint, which may be dotted on the face or body. Southern Ethiopia, 2017
