Meet Dara from the Karo tribe. Dara, like all Karo people, enjoys decorating herself with paint and flowers found in the nearby slopes leading down to the Omo River. Dara has pierced a hole on her lower lip in which she places a metal nail, or in this case a flower for adornment. Dara has no clothes other than a long skirt made of cowhide. She lives in a small hamlet known as Konso, found on a plateau overlooking the stunning Omo River. Every afternoon before darkness Dara descends the steep slopes down to the river, and after washing herself she returns with heavy containers filled with water used for cooking and drinking.
Meet Lago from the Arbore tribe. Lago is a married woman who lives with her husband, her husband's two other wives and their four children in a small village deep in the Omo Valley. Lago has to accept her husband's right to beat her sometimes when he feels she deserves it. One of the guidelines for such behavior is that her husband must beat all his wives equally. Failing that, he risks being beaten himself by other male members of the community. Lago was circumcised as part of her wedding celebrations and her hair was then allowed to grow. Her hair now indicates her status as a married woman. Lago owns a small herd of goats from where she gets the milk to feed her children. Her many necklaces form part of her few possessions and she rarely takes them off, even for sleeping. The most treasured part of the decoration is the metal strap (old wrist watch) which she proudly wears as a center piece.
Meet Magantu and her baby girl Bartui from the Mursi tribe. Magantu chose not to pierce her lips for a lip plate like most Mursi women. She does however use the ear plates and makes creative use of the surrounding nature to adorn herself. Magantu lives in a tiny hamlet consisting of a handful of straw and mud huts. There are other such hamlets nearby, but no villages or towns for hundreds of kilometers. The Ethiopian government has recently opened a very basic and somewhat unhygienic clinic close to Magantu's home. It has a handful of government civil servants who offer medical assistance. The problem is that most of the medicine on offer has a cost, unless it's directly supplied by an NGO (non-governmental organizations). Magantu, like most other people in her area, owns a couple of cows. The milk from them is used for drinking and to mix with maize into a porridge. Blood from the cow is also drunk for extra strength. Magantu, unlike other Mursi living nearer to towns or water supplies, has no way of earning money. Even selling a cow is impossible since the nearest market is hundreds of kilometers away, and there is no means of transport. Therefore, Magantu simply can't afford the medicine on offer in the clinic.
