Everyday life in Namibia: Himba woman in a supermarket September 3rd, 2016

Swedish photographer Bjorn Persson, while visiting a supermarket in the northern Namibian town of Opuvo, captured a Himba woman shopping for necessities. According to the author, Himba lead a very traditional lifestyle and dress the same, no matter where they are - in their village or in the city.

The Himba are a nomadic people living in northern Namibia in the Kunene region. Due to the harsh desert climate in which the Himba live and their isolation from the outside world, the tribe managed to maintain their traditional way of life.

For Himba, hairstyles, clothing and jewelry are of great importance to their traditional culture. Even newborn babies are adorned with a pearl necklace, and older children wear bracelets of copper decorated with shells.

Himba women wear goatskin skirts decorated with shells and jewelry made of copper. Both men and women cover their bodies with a mixture of ocher, fat and ash to protect their skin from the sun and insects. Quite often, the aromatic resin of the omuzumba bush is added to this paste. This mixture gives their skin a reddish hue, which symbolizes blood, which in turn symbolizes life.

The women braid each other's braids and also cover them with this mixture. By the hairstyle of a woman, you can determine her marital status. Men's hairstyles also reflect their marital status. For example, married men wear turbans.

Himba has practically no modern clothes, but if it does appear, then men get it. Of modern household items, Himba is mainly used plastic bottles and cellophane bags, for storage, and decoration.

These photos show an accessory unusual for himba - mobile phone, but most likely it does not work and is simply used as a decoration.

Himba live in a generic order based on bilateral inheritance. According to the concept of bilateral inheritance, each member of the tribe belongs to two clans: the paternal line (patriclan) and the maternal line (matriclan). The clans are headed by the oldest men. Sons live in the clan of their father and mother, and daughters, when they get married, go to live in the clan of their husband.

Himba are engaged in breeding cattle, goats and sheep. Women are responsible for milking the cows. Also, women take care of children (one woman can take care of the children of another). In addition, women often do more difficult work than men: they carry water to the village and build houses.

The Himba have retained their traditional beliefs, including sacred fire rituals. The Himba religion itself is monotheistic, with the supreme deity Mukuru. Also important role the spirits of ancestors play. Each Himba family builds an altar with the sacred ancestral fire in the hut, where the ancestors and Mukur are worshiped every 7-8 days. Another important element of the Himba belief is the existence of omichi or black sorcery, which the Himba believe is endowed with. evil people, capable of sending damage to others or even inspiring dark thoughts.

Photo: Bjorn Persson / Caters News Agency

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In the north of the country, near the border with Angola, there is a striking Himba tribe.
V Lately from time to time they began to admit people from the “outside” world.
One thing attracts guests: the amazing beauty and special, strange gracefulness of Himba women.

The Himba actually lead a semi-sedentary-semi-nomadic tribal existence in areas of an almost completely lifeless desert, in conditions of the most severe water shortage.

Himba live by herding. In fact, the only thing they have is skinny, but very unpretentious and tenacious cows of a special breed, ready, almost like camels, to do without water for weeks.

They don’t need clothes, except that plastic slippers will come in handy in this rocky desert. They do not use utensils - apart from pumpkin vessels, sometimes replaced by large plastic bottles for drinking water. And in general, it seems that they do not suffer at all from the absence of all these attributes of civilization.

New Naomi Campbell from Himba girls could be made right in dozens. And wherever modeling agencies look.

There are only two items that have become essential for them. Firstly, these are all sorts of combs and combs with which Himba women spend hours combing a special kind of "pom-pom" to crown their whimsical and complexly structured hairstyles.
And secondly, they are ready to decorate themselves and their amazing toilets, and store all their belongings in them, and tie the children to a belt, and even apply them in a thousand ways, sometimes quite unexpected, with which they are ready to decorate themselves and their amazing toilets with them.

Himba has almost no water at all: every drop that can be obtained will be carefully preserved and drunk. To also wash with water - this is impossible to imagine here.
The himba survive from time immemorial thanks to the magic ointment to which they owe their now famous red skin tone: a mixture of butter made from the milk of their skinny cows, a variety of herbal elixirs, and bright red volcanic pumice "okra" crushed into the finest powder.
Himba women smear this composition all over the body and hair several times a day. The ointment helps maintain the required level of hygiene, protects against sunburn and insect bites.
Surprisingly, the skin of Himba women is perfectly perfect.
And they smell quite nice - except that they give off a little ghee.
The same super cream serves as the basis for traditional hairstyles. Long "dreadlocks", however, are approximately doubled by someone else's hair: usually male, most often respectfully adopted from the father of the family.

By the way, every inhabitant of the Himba village has, in addition to the one received at birth, also a "European" name. His children receive when they study in mobile free schools organized by the state: almost everyone goes to study, so that almost everyone can count, can write his name, say a few English words and phrases.
After the first two or three grades, very few continue to study. Only a wealthy family can afford to send a child to the city, to a "big" school: education, housing, clothing, food in the city cost an average of seven cows a year. But it does happen sometimes.

From there, from the city, comes the Himba's worst misfortune: Speed. In Namibia, almost 20 percent of the population is infected with AIDS, and the Himba treat the danger of becoming infected purely philosophically: God gave, God took. Of course, they are not even talking about any kind of prevention. But if you're lucky, and you won't get infected with AIDS in childhood or adolescence, Himba live for quite a long time: often more than 70 years, and sometimes they live up to 100.
However, the old people are not visible in the village: either in distant pastures, with cattle, or in huts, where we are not allowed.

The main difference between Himba and other peoples of Namibia is that they still retain the entire load of their traditions and beliefs. Christianity did not affect the life of this people in any way. Life is himba, their customs have hardly changed. Today there are no more than 10 thousand of them.

Himba women only wear a loincloth. In addition to the paint covering the body, there are so many things hung on the Himbu women that you quickly stop noticing the lack of clothes: luxurious necklaces made of leather, iron and brass, pendants, a belt, bracelets, anklets. They do all this with their own hands.

All himba over ten to twelve years old have four lower teeth missing. Himba marriages are polygamous: a man can have several wives. Hence and big number children. When they reach a certain age, they go through a rather cruel initiation rite. This procedure is very painful. Healthy teeth of a person are deprived of simple objects - a burnt stick made of "sacred" fire and a stone. Each tooth is knocked out separately, and the wounds are then cauterized with a red-hot iron. If you want to be an adult, then be patient.

You can tell a boy from a girl by the hairstyle. Girls wear two pigtails hanging over their eyes. Boys - one, behind, or even do without it. A girl who has reached the age of 14 is considered a bride. As a sign of this, many braids are braided to her, so that they almost completely cover her face. Have married women the hairstyle is the same, but the face is open. The hair is supported by an intricate headpiece made of leather.

Himba has such a procedure - if a husband kills his wife, this happens in family life, then he pays compensation to his wife's family in the amount of 45 cows. If the wife kills her husband, this also happens, then the husband's family does not get anything. The authorities do not punish those responsible for incidents, and do not put them in jail. They believe that this is an internal matter of the Himba, and do not interfere.

Himba weddings do not happen often. A large ransom must be paid for the bride, and not every man is able to do this.

The Himba still has a tradition of swapping wives during the holidays.
This freedom of morals worries the government.
After independence, the Namibian authorities launched an offensive against the customs of the Himba. Officials urge the people to abandon ancient traditions due to the threat of AIDS. Himba, on the other hand, believe that the ancestors were distinguished by enviable health, because they sacredly observed traditions. And it is useless to abandon traditions, although each time has its own dictates.

In civilized countries, they differ from each other only in details. Girls love sleek men who look after themselves and dress well.

And let the ladies also want to evaluate handsome men, in our society women are more often judged by their appearance. Another thing is the Nigerian Wodabe tribe. This nomadic people are known for the annual men's beauty pageant, which is held at the pile festival. It takes place at the end of September and lasts for a week. The most interesting thing is that the competition is judged by women!

Here, the opposite is true: the boys spend a lot of effort, time and money to dress up, and the girls choose the brightest and cutest. The tournament is so important that all representatives of the tribe come to it.

Participants smear their faces with multi-colored paints. Red symbolizes courage and bravery, yellow ocher speaks of mystical powers, and white is equated with death. Well, black paint better highlights the snow-white teeth and pupils. It is made from the ashes of animal bones.

For added elegance, guys adorn themselves with colorful cotton togas and chunky beads. Participants cover their heads with turbans or wide-brimmed straw hats. Some men dress so smartly that they can hardly be distinguished from pretty young ladies.

At the beginning of the competition, applicants line up across the Sahel savannah. The girls from the jury evaluate them by height, wide smile, physique and endurance. The men show the latter in competitions: they saddle camels, catch game, sing, conjure and dance the ritual dance herevol.

During the dance, they grin their teeth, roll their eyes and go into a trance. To endure such a dance in the hot Sahara sun, participants often drink a special drink made from fermented bark, which has a hallucinogenic effect.

Any girl can walk up to a favorite and slap him on the shoulder. This means that she has chosen for herself ... a husband! At the same time, she can officially be married, and the new relationship will be considered a "love marriage". After such short novels, children appear, due to which the gene pool of the village is renewed.

The winner of the tournament can choose any number of girls and stay with them for a whole month. Interestingly, the ladies of this tribe also love to dress up and are considered one of the most beautiful women West Africa.

Three things are appreciated by Wodabe: beauty, livestock and family. The tribe trades in cattle and supplies meat to hundreds of villages from Lake Chad to the Atlantic coast of Senegal. Without knowing it, these amazing people are challenging gender stereotypes of beauty. They do not really like contact with foreigners, and even in their native language, "Wodabe" means "people of taboo."

This beautiful, distinctive culture is a real treasure of our world. Would you like to witness the famous ritual tournament? What do you think of this tribe? Tell us in the comments and share with your friends.

The sixth day of our trip "From the deserts of Namibia to the Victoria Falls" we started on the Atlantic coast of Namibia, where we saw flamingos and ships washed ashore by storms. And then, turning to the right, we headed deep into Africa and there we met

By 17:00, having overcome the last 80 km that day, we arrived at the Khorixas lodge, located on the outskirts of the town of the same name. In the lodge there were about two dozen such cozy houses with air conditioning and all the amenities inside, as well as a barbecue on the side of it.

Cottage houses in Khorihas Lodge

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The candlelight dinner was prepared by our commanders Rouen and Trust in the form of a barbecue, the ingredients of which were purchased from a supermarket in the town of Khorihas.

There was also a restaurant in the lodge where we had breakfast. And next to it there was a nice pool, in which no one bathed - there was not enough time ...

For travelers looking to stay on a budget, there was a playground nearby where they could pitch both their rented cars and their tents. Each such site had a fireplace and barbecue. All African safari jeeps are usually equipped with special devices that allow you to set up a tent right on the roof of the car. Here it is a mandatory safety standard from wild animals when spending the night in the savannah!

7th day. The Himba people. Evening safari in the Etosha National Park (376 km)

Leaving the Khorixas lodge at 8 am, after a hundred kilometers along a good asphalt road No. C35 we arrived at a supermarket in the town of Kamanyab. There we refueled with gasoline and food for lunch and dinner. We also bought souvenirs for the children of the Himba tribe - all sorts of pens, pencils and notebooks - we will visit them in an hour on the way to Etosha National Park.

Route map to Himbu village

The supermarkets in the Namibian towns looked quite modern and had an ample assortment of goods and products. Of course, they did not have the abundance that is in large metropolitan markets in the form of dozens of types of cheeses, sausages or jamon, but five or six types of each of these products could be found.

Alcoholic drinks were also present, but in a separate sector, which was open only during the daytime. Of these drinks, we preferred South African wines, which were in a fairly good range. AND the best option for our camping-car life was the purchase of dry wines, packaged in 5-liter bags ...

Supermarket and gas station in Kamanyab

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Our Driver Trust

Turning off the road No. С35 to No. С40, at the 20th kilometer we drove to the right onto a sandy primer and through the open windows we heard some unusual sounds - as if someone were cracking nuts. Having stopped, we saw that the whole road was strewn with some large insects that boldly crawled along the road.

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Road to himbu

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After driving a little more, we stopped at a small one-story building, which served both as a school and as a checkpoint to the Himba village - Otjikandero Himba Orphanage Village, in which we met the Khimba people living in the Kunene region of Northern Namibia. Their number is small and no one knows the exact number. It is believed that it ranges from 20 to 50 thousand people.

Himba village school building

A guide, a local guy, came up to us and said that there was nothing to pay for the entrance to the village or the women in it. Only if there is something for the school - there are different pens, pencils or notebooks, then it can be donated to the children. Well, and buy souvenirs made by Himba hands!

After listening to such a parting word, we handed him school supplies, which we bought for the children, quickly assembled the equipment and left the safari truck to meet new impressions. A hundred meters later, our gaze opened up a spacious area with a couple of dozen round houses under thatched roofs.

Such a settlement in the Himbu is called kraal, and as a rule one family lives there. The kraal has a circular layout. It has a large stockyard fenced with wattle, which contains cows and goats. There are family huts around - children, wives, elderly parents.

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Residential house of the Himba people

Between the huts there were some trees with blossoming beautiful flowers... As it turned out later, these were Perpepotemenella trees (as our guide Rouen wrote their name). Their flowers are used as tea leaves.

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A little to the side of the houses there was a playground - their central square, which was used for various village events - meetings, market trade, dances, etc. And now a dozen women were sitting in a circle, leaving a passage to the center of this space for tourists and waiting for us.

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Like any people, the Himba also has a myth about their origin. And it says that the ancestor of the people of Mukuru and his wife, along with cattle, came out of the sacred tree Omumborombongo. In other legends, Mukuru is identified with the creator god, the creator of all that exists, who endowed the souls of deceased ancestors with supernatural powers.

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All the women were like one - with interesting hairstyles on their heads in the form of braids of hair, thickly smeared with red clay, with all kinds of necklaces around their necks and arms, and were naked to the waist. How do they do such hairstyles (every day ?!), how do they sleep with them (sitting?) Is a mystery ...

It is difficult to make such a hairstyle and therefore they help each other in this. When braiding their braids, they cover them with a mixture of ocher, fat and ash. By the hairstyle, you can also determine the marital status of a woman. All himbu cover their bodies with the same mixture in order to protect their skin from the scorching sun.

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They were different in age - from young girls to women already "in years" ...

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Hair, clothing and jewelry are important in traditional culture for Himba women. They often have pearl necklaces. And on their hands, as a rule, they wear bracelets made of copper, decorated with shells.

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All the tourists, and a bus with German tourists arrived with us, scattered around the village in search of interesting photographs. But, since we were the first, we still managed to shoot the local texture without tourists in the background.

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If a Himbu woman is naked on top, then at the bottom she has a very complex design of skirts, including leather ones made of goat skins. This piece of clothing is also adorned with various kinds of "jewelry". And sometimes there are so many of them that you quickly stop noticing the lack of clothes: luxurious necklaces made of leather, iron and brass, pendants, a belt, bracelets, anklets. And they do all this with their own hands.

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Looking inside the house, I was horrified by the sight of its "interior", which had absolutely no furniture. And - even a drawer on which you could put things or kitchen utensils. Everything was lying or lying on the bare ground. She also wore thin mats for sleeping and procreation ...

Mostly women work in the kraal. Beat butter in vessels made of dried pumpkin, process the skins, clean them from the skin with a scraper. Well, and of course, cooking and raising numerous children are on their shoulders. In addition, they procure fuel and maintain order, and are engaged in gathering. Savannah, despite its apparent poverty, also contributes to the nutrition of the Himbu. There are enough all kinds of edible roots, fruits and berries! So the kraal is the real kingdom of women. They are in charge here.

And with all this, Himbu women remain such beauties!

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Immediately at the exit there was a fireplace on which food was cooked in a pot. Small children spun underfoot. They, unlike their mothers, were dressed in European clothes - shorts and T-shirts. Their men were also dressed, whom we practically did not see.

Of the household items, there were even large 20-liter plastic cans with which they went to fetch water. And this was also the responsibility of women. They say that carrying a load develops a slim figure. Actually, Himbu women looked like that. How many times have I suggested to my wife to carry purchases from the market like that - she does not want to ...

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Himba has almost no water at all: every drop that can be obtained will be carefully preserved and drunk. To also wash with water - this is impossible to imagine here.

The himba survive from time immemorial thanks to the magic ointment to which they owe their now famous red skin tone: a mixture of butter made from the milk of their skinny cows, a variety of herbal elixirs, and bright red volcanic pumice "okra" crushed into the finest powder. Himba women smear this composition all over the body and hair several times a day.

The ointment helps maintain the necessary level of hygiene, protects against sunburn and insect bites.

Surprisingly, the skin of Himba women is perfectly perfect. And they smell quite nice - except that they give off a little ghee ...

The same super cream serves as the basis for the traditional hairstyle. Long "dreadlocks", however, are approximately doubled by someone else's hair: usually male, most often respectfully adopted from the father of the family.

By the way, every inhabitant of the Himba village has, in addition to the one received at birth, also a "European" name.

His children receive it when they study in mobile free schools organized by the state: almost everyone goes to study, so that almost everyone can count, can write their name, say a few English words and phrases (first of all, English numbers are useful - especially when it comes time to bargain ).

After the first two or three grades, very few continue to study. Only a wealthy family can afford to send a child to the city, to a "big" school: education, housing, clothing, food in the city cost an average of seven cows a year. But it does happen sometimes.

From there, from the city, comes the Himba's worst trouble: AIDS. In Namibia, almost 20 percent of the population is infected with AIDS, and the Himba treat the danger of infection in a purely philosophical way: God gave, God took.

Of course, they are not even talking about any kind of prevention. But if you're lucky, and you won't catch AIDS in childhood or adolescence, Himba live for quite a long time: often for more than 70 years, and sometimes they live up to 100. huts where tourists are not allowed.

The ideal starting point for a trip to the Himba settlements is the town of Opuwo. Already here, by the way, you can meet the representatives of the Himba. Don't be surprised to see one of these gorgeous ladies in the supermarket.

It is better to go directly to the Himba village with a local guide. He will be able to negotiate with the leader of the tribe about visiting the "kraal" (the traditional dwelling of the Himba) and he will talk about the life and culture of the Himba.