Ethiopia: Impromptu Family Portrait

A quiet family moment outside an adobe house on a street of Ethiopia’s Gambela.

To view more Ethiopia photos on this blog, write the word in the search box.

All the photographs of this blog are copyrighted.

No usage permitted without prior authorization.

 

Ethiopia: How Proud Tigrinya Women Carry Their Babies

A Tigrinya woman attending a crowded market in Mekelle, in Ethiopia’s Tigray Province, stands out by the luxury of her baby carrier, though her discolored dress reveals her as probably poor. The cross on the carrier reminds us of her Coptic Christian religion.

To view more Ethiopia photos on this blog, write the word in the search box.

All the photographs of this blog are copyrighted.

No usage permitted without prior authorization.

Ethiopia: Defending Field From Bird Attacks

Standing on an elevated platform, Anuak children of Ethiopia, near Gambela, defend their family’s field from birds by hurling stones at them. I was unable to learn the name of the cereal seen here.

To view more Ethiopia photos on this blog, write the word in the search box.

All the photographs of this blog are copyrighted.

No usage permitted without prior authorization.

Ethiopia: Drudging Complexity Of African Food Preparation

Much tedious work goes into Anuak food preparation near Gambela, Ethiopia, as is demonstrated by those two young girls inside their family hut.

To view more Ethiopia photos on this blog, write the word in the search box.

All the photographs of this blog are copyrighted.

No usage permitted without prior authorization.

Ethiopia: Anuak Girl Smoking Water Pipe

Anuak girl of Ethipia, near Gambela, smoking a home-made water pipe while working at her family's outdoor kitchen.

To view more Ethiopia photos on this blog, write the word in the search box.

All the photographs of this blog are copyrighted.

No usage permitted without prior authorization.

Ecuador : Teenage Cowgirls

Twelve-year-old Birgit, featured previously in the last few days’ posts, and her 14-year-old sister Belèn, leaving the family’s corral.

To view more Ecuador photos on this blog, write the word in the search box.

All the photographs of this blog are copyrighted.

No usage permitted without prior authorization.

 

Ecuador: How Four School Kids Get On A Horse

My last post showed four siblings riding a horse from a rural Ecuadorian school. Those of you who may have wondered how they got on the horse will find hereafter the sequence Birgit, the 12-year-old sister, followed. I was as curious as anyone to watch this.

    

The horse and kids’ clothes differ from those of the previous post. It’s because I shot those pictures on different days. And Birgit always needed to use whichever horse was currently available.

Standing on a stirrup, Birgit started by hanging the school bags to the saddle’s horn.

Then she lifted the little girl that would ride in front of her.

Then the little boy who would ride behind her.

And then Carmen, the seven-year-old Miss Rodeo.

Finally, lifting a long leg, Birgit lifted herself and squeezed in without hurting any of the kids with her spur.

Ecuador: Riding Home From School, Four To A Horse

Birgit, the teenage cowgirl l showed in my last two posts, has a full-time job on her family’s Ecuador estancia. One of them is to bring three of her siblings to school and back every day. The last little girl on the horse, who was seven at the time of this picture, had already won a miss rodeo title for her horse stunts. She could easily have taken Birgit’s place on the horse herself. But she could not have lifted the others on the horse.

 To view more Ecuador photos on this blog, write the word in the search box.

All the photographs of this blog are copyrighted.

No usage permitted without prior authorization.

 

Ecuador: Paula, A Girl’s Favorite Cow

Twelve-year-old Birgit asked me to photograph her with Paula, her favorite cow. She works as a cowgirl on her family’s vast hacienda, or cattle ranch, in the coastal lowlands of Ecuador’s Guayas Province. She’s the same I showed on my yesterday’s post, riding a horse with a sheep across her lap.

I spent several days photographing her and her 14-year-old sister Belén at work. First, during the dry season, when they spend much of their time on horseback. Later, during the rainy season, when their family’s land sinks under  Andean torrents, and moving is now done mostly by canoe.

By then the family’s men and their cowboys had moved most of the hacienda’s 400 zebus,  nearly100 sheep, and many horses to higher ground for several months. They had left behind only two or three cows to keep the women with milk.

I’m planning a children’s ebook of the girls’ lives. I’ll title it

Young Cowgirls in Ecuador: A Time for Horses, A Time for Canoes.

To view more Ecuador photos on this blog, write the word in the search box.

All the photographs of this blog are copyrighted.

No usage permitted without prior authorization.

 

Ecuador: Bringing Home A Stray Sheep

Twelve-year-old girl bringing stray sheep back to her family’s hacienda, or ranch, near Salitre, in Ecuador's Guayas Province.

To view more Ecuador photos on this blog, write the word in the search box.

All the photographs of this blog are copyrighted.

No usage permitted without prior authorization.