Bull jumping

Turmi, Ethiopia

Bull Jumping is the rite of passage from adolescence to adulthood for the young Hamer man,in the Omo river valley in the deep south of Ethiopia

The ceremony starts in the morning and continues until the dead of night with frenetic dances, alcohol, shouts and much excitement from all participants, who arrive from neighboring villages, some after several days of walking. The challenge consists in jumping over the backs of a line of around twenty bulls, for at least three times, completely nude. But the main protagonists are the young women, they ask and provoke to be flogged by the boys who must overcome the challenge, o show their courage: the deeper the lacerations, the more they will be appreciated.

The girls, all very young, but already in age to get married, are waiting for the party to start
The boy, who will soon have to start the test, must first splinter the animals on which he will have to jump on it
Only women go wild in unbridled dances that start early in the afternoon until sunset
The girls are whipped to show their courage and they are proud to show the wounds on their backs.
Guests, who also come from very distant villages, are always offered to drink local beer, before they enter the village
The girls, practically still and without uttering a moan of pain, get whipped by the boys
A girl Hamer with the typical hair, with braids dyed with red earth and mixed with butter
Before the ceremony begins, the friends of the boy who will have to face the test, they paint the body. The art of body painting is very common among the populations living in this area, and is used for ceremonies or even before going to battle
The Hamer people take great care of their image, always taking care of all the details
This girl Hamer wears three collars around her neck, and the bigger one means she is the first wife of her husband, but he has two other wives
After having painted the body, the friends of the celebrated, they rest in the shade with the relatives, waiting for the start of the final exam
A Hamer woman who rests with her child, after walking several hours to reach the place of the ceremony
Despite being a day of celebration, attention is always high, especially when there are cows
The girls are whipped to show their courage and they are proud to show the wounds on their backs.
To decorate the body they only use natural products and bird feathers
The untiring girls keep singing and dancing all day long
The village boys help to gather the cows chosen by the celebrated for the final test
Guests arriving from other villages stop at the entrance to the village, men on one side and women on another. They wait for them to be offered a drink, and then join the party
Herè village Hamer people
A girl with the typical horn in her hands that are constantly playing during the dances
Around the village the typical vegetation of the Omo Valley
The celebrated during the bull jumping