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The first time I listened to this music was way back in 2011 when I and my grandma was on a journey to an ancient place in Ethiopia. The people who live there are mostly not familiar with modern music instruments. They use their own musical instruments and it very fascinating that these people live in their own way. I found it interesting when I first landed at this place and the music that I heard at the moment. Even though I dont know a word of what they were saying and not being familiar with their language, I was amazed and inspired by the songs that they sing. Hammer is one of the most remote places on earth.
My grandma and I traveled almost four thousand miles to a remote corner of the southern region of Ethiopia. We spent a couple of weeks with the Hammers a tribe of shepherds and farmers who live in the plains of the Omo Valley. This place is filled with amazing views and the beauty of the people who live in this place is very interesting. The first time when my grandma and I arrived in this place we saw women being whipped as a celebration of tradition. The reason why I visited this place was I felt my grandma wanted to go on a journey to this place. She always asks herself if she is happy and could carry on with her life. Our journey starts with a two-day drive from the capital city of Ethiopia Addis Ababa. We head down to the lush highlands and to the hot plains in Ethiopia.
The place is very dry and hot which makes it hard for animals and people to survive in this place. The people in this place live side by side in huts. Women and men have different roles in this place. Mostly the men herd goats and cattle and are often away for days looking for grazing land. While the women look after their household, raising children, collecting wood and water, grinding flour and cooking. I and my grandma stayed with these people for two weeks and learned more about the people, their traditions, and their lifestyle. The people in the hammer are incredible socially. More than twenty people live inside one hut and that makes the hammer people unique socially. I remember the evening we arrive the men gather around and give us a traditional welcome. They sing a song that I have ever heard in my life before.
They sing a song with words we dont even know. We enjoyed the music and the instruments they were using. Every task they do ends up being a social occasion. We saw so many fascinating things that we didn’t expect that would exist. The hammer women’s cut each other to make themselves more attractive which leaves them with a scar over their shoulders and back. Women being whipped is an integral part of the tribe’s culture. Females prove their loyalty to their family by being whipped. The other most fascinating thing I noticed was that all the cooking is done on open fires which fetching fire is a daily chore for the tribe. They walk more than three hours to collect wood for cooking purposes. On our journey at the hammer, my grandma and I had to get used to lots of things which was very difficult for us and was challenging. Things like this dont happen very often and we were proud to see this place and experience a whole new world with things that we are not used to and find it very challenging.
On our two weeks stay in this place, the people killed a goat for us as an honor and gathering against and people eating together. Things like this are very important for this tribe in order for the people to be socially active and keep their tribe in the way it is supposed to be. The other thing that I found interesting was a cattle jump. Hundreds of people gather around to a cattle jump, which is an age ceremony. If the teenage boy jumps over a row of cattle, they believe that the teenage boy has emerged as a man and is ready to get married. While the teenage girl will be put in something that’s alien and brutal. The teenage girls mother will put butter on her daughters back which they believe that it will help reduce the pain of the whipping. The womens dance by demanding to a group of young men. The reality behind wiping is that the more the girl gets whipped the more she shows loyalty to her family.
The teenage boy has to jump over the cattle back four times in a row in order for him to complete his competition. Once he jumps over the cattle back four times in a row the teenage boy is considered as a man and his strong enough to bond his family. Once the competition is over the people will return to the huts and their life will return to normal.
One thing that makes their music and culture different from any other tribe in the world is that these people are very kind and have their own way of living and doing things. It is so unique and very interesting to see these kinds of tribes exist in the world and I am honored to experience this in my life during my amazing journey with my grandmother.
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