Murci woman and her children. Omo Valley, Southern Ethiopia, 2013.
A cruel tradition still has exists for some Hamar: unmarried women can have babies to test their fertility, but some of them are just abandoned in the bush. This tradition is on the decline but NGO's still save abandoned new born's. Hamar believe that a child born out of formal marriage has "mingi", something abnormal and unclean. For them, it is the expression of the devil, which may cause disasters such as epidemics or drought in the village. So, illegitimate children are abandoned. These kinds of beliefs can also be observed in other Ethiopan tribes: many parents prefer to sacrifice their own child rather than risk being affected by the evil eye. Omo Valley, Southern Ethiopia, 2013.
Women from the Arbore tribe under a tree. Omo Valley, Southern Ethiopia, 2013.
