Category Archives: Ethiopia When I was young, I had a book with pictures of children around the world in their traditional National Costumes. I found the concept difficult to understand, given that where I lived, people dressed differently from each other, and fashion trends changed with every season. I find it even more remarkable, these countless years later, […]  The Hamar captivated me. A tall, good-looking people who are mostly relaxed and unselfconscious in front of a camera, the Hamar are a delight to visit and photograph. They are possibly the most distinctive of the many ethnic groups living in the far reaches of Ethiopia’s Omo Valley, near the border with South Sudan. There […]  It is hot, and arid, and a long way from anywhere. The harsh environment is at least part of the reason why the 16+ ethnic groups who live in the far reaches of Ethiopia’s Omo Valley, near the border with South Sudan, have been left alone to maintain their traditional lifestyles and cultural practices. One […]  You could call them Ethiopia’s 0.1%. That is the approximate proportion that the Hamar (or Hamer) people, an agro-pastoralist tribe in the Omo Valley, make up of Ethiopia’s total. Most of these Hamer-speaking people still live a traditional, semi-nomadic lifestyle on their fertile tribal lands in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (SNNPR) of the country. Care […]  ‘Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.’ This sense of dislocation – in a positive way – often arises when travelling off the beaten track. In Southern Ethiopia, I was so far off the popular routes that most of the ‘highways’ I was on weren’t paved! Around the city of Arba Minch – […] |
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