Fat tribesmen banned from sex can only drink milk and blood to win respect of village by having biggest belly

Tribesmen in remote Africa have been locked in a unique endurance event - to get fat, not have sex and only drink fresh milk and blood from cows. The so-called Kael festival takes place annually in the remote area of Omo Valley, southern Ethiopa, to celebrate the Bodi tribe's new year. The women of the Bodi tribe are attracted by the fat men and the festival is considered a good opportunity for them to show their charms. Becoming a fat man is the dream of every Bodi kid. For six months, the men from the tribe feed themselves with only fresh milk and blood from the cows. On the day of the Kael, the fat men cover their bodies with clay and ashes. Some of the men will wear headdresses made of ostriches feathers.
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The men will not be allowed to have sex and to go out of their little hut with everybody will taking care of them. The women take care of the fat men as they give them alcohol, remove their sweat, and sing for them to keep them awake, before bringing them milk every morning in pots or bamboos. The blood is taken after making a hole in a cow's vein with a spear or an axe, then they close it with clay. The first bowl of blood, containing about 1 to 2 litres, is drunk at sunrise. But the man must drink the blood quickly before it coagulates. The area is also often invaded by flies during these meals.
Some men cannot drink everything and instead finding themselves vomiting violently. The ceremony ends with the sacrifice of a cow in which tribesmen kill it with a huge sacred stone. The region does not normally welcome tourists and has largely kept its traditions. However, many fear that the Kael will end soon as the land of the Bodis has been colonised by foreign companies. They are said to be moved way in camps by the government, destroying their culture.

Photographer Eric Lafforgue said: "Some fat men are so big that they cannot walk anymore.

Source: Mirror