The Bodi tribe in Ethiopia has a traditional custom where men indulge in a competition by drinking only cow milk mixed blood for 6 months. The purpose of this competition will move you.
The Bodi tribe is part of the Mekan ethnic group that resides in the southwestern part of Ethiopia.
According to Wikipedia, these people have a population of about 56,585 individuals as of the 1998 population census.
Across the world, the Bodi tribe people widely known for their strange traditional customs. One of those traditional customs which have made headlines has to do with their “Unhygienic” competition – where tribesmen who take part in the competition drinks fresh cow blood mixed with fresh cow milk for 6 good months.
Why?
According to them, drinking milk mixed with blood helps tribesmen put on more weight. In the tribe zone, men with weight are highly respected and admired by the tribeswomen as compare to slim men.
How is a competition organized?
The competition is a very tough one amongst the tribe. Before the competition, every Bodi family present an unmarried man to take part in the challenge. Those men are not allowed to come out within that 6-month time range but rather stay in their huts.
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While staying in their hut, they are being fed by the tribeswomen with cow milk mixed with cow blood, all in fresh quantity. The winners of the competition do not get a prize (those that can put on more weight) but get a chance to marry any of the women who served them during their 6-month stay-in.
The competition is carried out every year to mark as part of the ka’el festival to mark the beginning of a new year.
If you have money to spend and would love to travel, then, why not visiting this tribe every June as it is the time where the “awful” festival is being celebrated.
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