The tribe where big is definitely beautiful: Ethiopian men compete to be the fattest in the village by drinking a gruesome mixture of blood and milk while living in isolation for SIX months

Men from the Bodi tribe compete to become the fattest during the new year or Ka'el c eremony

They spend six months guzzling a mixture of blood and milk in a bid to fatten up as fast as they can

The winning fat man doesn't get a prize but is feted as a hero for life by the rest of the tribe

Bodi want to retain their traditions but they are threatened by government resettlement plans


Slim might be in elsewhere but for Ethiopia's Bodi or Me'en people, bigger is always better. The tribe, which lives in a remote corner of Ethiopia's Omo Valley, is home to an unusual ritual which sees young men gorge on cow's blood and milk in a bid to be crowned the fattest man.

Six months after starting the regime, the men emerge to show off their newly engorged physiques and for a winner to be chosen. The champion fat man is then feted as a hero for the rest of his life.



Now the little known rite is the subject of incredible photos taken by French shutterbug Eric Lafforgue - who spent time with the Bodi while travelling through south-western Ethiopia during the run up to the Bodi New Year or Ka'el ceremony.

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Hero: Every child wants to become one of the fat men, according to Lafforgue, who are feted as heroes by the rest of the tribe for their incredible feat

Competition: On the day of the Ka'el ceremony, the tribe's fat men walk for hours around a sacred tree, watched by other men and helped out by the women

Challenge: The feat begins six months before the Ka'el ceremony when participants retire to their huts where they stay, while the women bring them food

Too much! A Bodi man finds that his morning bowl of blood and milk is a little too much and is ill outside his hut - watched by a baffled-looking herd of cows

Regime: Each competitor is nominated by his family who then spend the next six months helping him to fatten up on a diet of cow's blood and milk



Sadly, the Ka'el ritual and the Bodi's traditional way of life is under threat from the Ethiopian government who plan to resettle 300,000 people from all over the country on their lands.

For now, the tribe continue as they always have, and still celebrate Ka'el in traditional style each June.



The contest begins six months before the ceremony. Every family is allowed to present an unmarried man for the challenge, who, after being chosen, retires to his hut and must not move or have sex for the duration.

Food comes in the form of a cow's blood and milk mixture, served regularly to the men by women from the village. 'The cows are sacred to the Bodi tribe so they are not killed,' explains Lafforgue. 'The blood is taken by making a hole in a vein with a spear or an axe, and after that, they close it with clay.'

Because of the scorching temperatures, the men have to drink the two-litre bowl of blood and milk quickly before it coagulates but as Lafforgue reveals, not everyone can handle drinking so much at speed.

'The fat men drink milk and blood all day long,' he says. 'The first bowl of blood is drunk at sunrise. The place is invaded by flies. The man must drink it quickly before it coagulates but some cannot drink everything and vomit it.'