How men of Bodi tribe drink gruesome mixture of blood and milk while living in isolation for six months, parade naked in fierce competition to be crowned the Fattest. Those with six packs (body) labour hard and pray fervently to get big bellies or else they live life in shame
At a corner within the Ethiopian territory lives the Bodi tribe where big bellies in big body mean everything. Here, men do what may be considered the unthinkable. They compete to be the fattest in the village by drinking a gruesome mixture of blood and milk while living in isolation for six months.
The tribe lives in a remote corner of Ethiopia’s Omo Valley.
Food comes in the form of a cow’s blood and milk mixture in the Bodi tribe. It is served regularly to the men by women from the village. The cows are sacred to the Bodi tribe so they are not killed. 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.
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Because of the scorching temperatures, the Bodi men have to drink the two-litre bowl of blood and milk quickly before it coagulates but not everyone can handle drinking so much at speed.
The fat men drink milk and blood all day long. 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.
The D-day of Body Show
On the day itself, the Bodi men cover their bodies with clay and ashes before emerging from their huts for the walk to the spot where the ceremony will take place.
The ceremony itself involves spending hours walking in a circle around a sacred tree, watched by the other men and helped by the women who ply them with alcohol and wipe away the sweat.
Once the fattest man has been chosen, the ceremony ends with the slaughter of a cow using a huge sacred stone. Village elders will then inspect the stomach and the blood to see whether the future will be a bright one or not.
A day after the D-day
After the ceremony, the men’s lives return to normal and most lose their enormous bellies after a few weeks of eating sparingly. But a few weeks later, the next generation of competitively fat Bodi men will be chosen and the cycle will begin again.
Becoming a fat man is the dream of every Body kid because he will remain a hero for life even though his stomach gets back to normal.
The Bodi traditional way of life is under threat from the Ethiopian government who plans to resettle 300,000 people from all over the country on their lands. For now, men of the tribe continues as they always have, and still celebrate the Ka’el in a traditional style each June.
