Himba Children
Opuwa, Namibia
The Himba people lead a nomadic life in the desert regions of Northern Namibia where they breed goats and cattle and seldom do Himba children go to school as the modern world is rejected. Thus the Himba people have managed to hold on to many of their traditional customs. For example, as adolescents, the heads of both boys and girls are shaved, with boys having braids that grow to the front and girls to the back. And like some Western women, adult Himba women can spend hours getting themselves ready in the morning. Each day they treat their skin to a massage with a paste made from a mixture of animal fat and ochre (the red stone that dominates the landscape). It smells awful, but the natural moisturizing benefits of the animal fat, and the pumice-like grittiness of the s
tone, gives them most beautiful complexion to rival even that of any super model.