Role & Fashion of Wodaabe Women....

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Wodaabe Women....

-Decorate their ears with several large rings of brass or silver (up to 8 in each ear).
-Dot their temples, cheeks and lips with geometric tattoos to ward off evil spirits.
-In some cases sport scars on the face and at each side of the mouth representing the clan they belong to.
-Wear brightly colored jewelry, and use light colors for their makeup.


(WILL UPDATE LATER.. )

Mehn....too bad i'm not Wodaabe...would have loved to get me one of those

lol.

Nice to have you Sweet.

indeed they are.

Odumchi you're AWESOME!

thanks!

Nice pics thanks

No doubt the wodaabes are naturally endowed with physical beauty, however, they also are preoccupied with physical adornment, particularly the application of animal fats to enhance facial appeal and visual softness.

The wodaabes use organic minerals and methods to get this result. All nomadic tribes have this secret! The Fulanis as well as the Masai also use animal fat for skin beautification.

Animal blood rubbed on the skin helps in anti-aging and retards wrinkling. There is risk to health and safety. Carelessness in the choice of animal blood, as well the application, can lead to skin disease and other undesirable consequences.

Animal dairy consumed fresh or processed into body oils respectively help to rebuild and renew soft tissues that produce and supply oil from the sub-cutaneous layer of the skin and also act as shield on the skin surface to block out harsh elements that would otherwise dry and burn the skin.

Taking daily baths, while it cleanses body of perspirations and body odour, accelerates corrosion of the skin. The soap and sponge de-film the skin of its naturally produced oily coating and leaves it bare to the harsh elements. This is why the skin afterward is ashy or dry and so we apply artificial or inorganic lotion and cream to moisturize but they are no substitite for the organic blood and dairy from a goat, sheep or cow.

In addition to using organic minerals, Nomads do not bathe daily. When they do, which is far inbetween, their moisturizer is also made from animal fat - an organic substance.

Lastly, visual softness in physical objects is derived innately from the essence of creation itself, namely, duality! Everything in nature is paired, including the face. To enhance beauty of the created face you focus attention on its symmetrical attributes. This knowledge is what the Wodaabes are using to amplify the beauty and appealing attributes of the created face by dividing it in symmetry to give it softness.

You can experiment with it yourself......use their example and color your face with a light foundation and then use a constrast color to divide a line down the middle then look yourself in the mirror and amaze at your own beauty, or evwn take a picture.

This visual effect of symmetrical balance is also responsible for why we view frontal gap in denture (ejii) as an appeal. It gives the owner a softness to the eye and we are instinctively charmed when they smile. lol!

Thanks for the write up. I really appreciate it!

To be honest just the thought of rubbing animal fat and blood on the skin grossed me out at first but really the stuff we use to moisturize our skin as you have pointed out is,really an imitation of the real thing and not as effective.

What I love about them other than their charm, if their ability to make something out of "nothing". Thats survival for you.

The bracelets they put on also have some significance to them. Unmarried girls put much, much colourful bracelets, but when they are married, they dont wear too much anymore.
I actually took that one to me in Gambia, as the fulanis see it kinda the same. And I was married, walking around with muuuuch colours..

Okay they really are weird and crazy people.

sweetcocoa: Okay they really are weird and crazy people.

I can agree. But in a GOOD way

JallowBah:

I can agree. But in a GOOD way

Amen. That is why they are considered the most fascinating tribe in W.A.

jallow,

Wow. Thanks for the info about the bracelets.

http://beauty-of-africa.tumblr.com/

All about fula-tribes, with pics.

thanks jallow

[size=18pt]Children:[/size]

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[size=18pt]Music: Featuring "Etran Finatawa"[/size]

Live performance of a band that is made up of Wodaabe and Taureg tribesmen.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPkKhEaxWO0

I had no idea they were part of an international tour.
Hopefully one day I will get the chance to see them live.

Nice relaxing west/north African music. I can definitely hear the roots/influence of
both Reggae and Jazz.

Lol kind of off topic...

but check out these Taureg brothers.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzWBow0OAeA

JAMMING!!

[size=28pt]Nomadic Life[/size]
By Susan Rich
http://wws.peacecorps.gov/wws/stories/stories.cfm?psid=159

When I come back with the cups of tea
the sugar bowl has been emptied,
my imported M&Ms—
gone. Flies stretch their legs
search, then spiral
in a dust storm of light.
Aisha sits solemn in afternoon heat
examines the inside of ice cubes
questions what makes water
strong or weak.
We invent common words between us,
point at the refrigerator door,
the photograph of ferns rising out of snow
the last volunteer left behind.
I'd like to trade with her
my typewriter keys
for the way she navigates the desert,
reads the coordinates of sand.
I want to know as Aisha knows
when it's time to follow
the ambivalent line of landscape
keep faith in dunes that disappear.
By evening when she tastes
my color-coated chocolates
shares them with her friends
we both will recall the nomad
the other woman
we each might have been.

Interview With Susan Rich

1) Why did you write “Nomadic Life”?

I began this poem more than seven years after my Peace Corps service in Niger. Aisha was the mother of Sa-a, a young boy who came to visit me almost every day. I don't remember how I knew that Aisha was Sa-a’s mother but I knew. I wanted her to approve of me. Sa-a was probably in his very early teens (although no one in Niger knows their exact birth date) and I thought perhaps it was a worry that he spent so much time with a foreigner.

Aisha and Sa-a were Wodaabe Fulanis, a nomadic people who travel the desert and have very little to do with Europeans or Americans—or even other Nigeriens.The Wodaabe don’t attend school or learn to read or write. This is because any outside influence is seen as being corrosive to their culture and traditions. It was only due to severe drought that the Wodaabe had come into the town where I lived. I knew Sa-a much better than I knew Aisha.

After writing a poem about Sa-a, I had the idea to write about my visit with his mother, Aisha.

“Nomadic Life” doesn’t mention that Aisha was visiting my house because of Sa-a. Or perhaps Aisha wasn't only concerned for her son; perhaps she also came looking for food. Sa-a and his friends had lunch at my house almost every day. There was a bad drought the first year I was in Niger. The drought is what brought nomads like Aisha and Sa-a near the town. During Aisha’s visit, I brought out snacks. When I left the room for a moment, Aisha emptied them into her plastic sack. I didn't consider this to be stealing because I had served the food for her to enjoy.

Of course, it was a cultural difference and one that probably wouldn't have happened between two Wodaabe women.

As the poem developed, I realized that we had both seen the other as a stranger in the most profound sense of that word. While thinking about Aisha I became slightly obsessed with what it would be like if we were able to switch identities and know what the other woman knew. Writing the poem is the closest way I know to have that kind of transformation.

2) How has your Peace Corps service influenced your life? Your writing?

Growing up we all tend to surround ourselves whenever possible with people who think like we do, act like we do, even look a little like we do. Well, when you are the only white woman in the neighborhood there is nowhere to hide!

Living in Niger gave me insight into a world far different from my own. It left me curious about how others live and let me understand how much a person can learn about herself when living among people who uphold different values and have a different way of life.

As a teacher in Niger, I learned that humor was the educator's best defense if she wanted her students to listen to her; from the nomadic children who came to my home everyday looking for food and friendship, I learned that language was not needed in order to love; and from the challenges I faced daily by virtue of living in an African town, I came to see that I was more resilient than I'd ever known myself to be.

Many of the poems in my book The Cartographer's Tongue: Poems of the World are based on my Peace Corps experience, including the opening piece, “Lost by Way of Tchin-Tabarden.” Peace Corps gave me a world outside of myself to explore and try to understand. I have continued to write about Africa even though it is now [many] years since I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Niger.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

**Very interesting interview. This slays and debunks any claims that outsiders ALL study Africans as "lab rats" with the intent to "taint" and "destroy" African values. There is a lot to learn and gain from meeting and interacting with others.

And as I have always stated, 'ENLIGHTENMENT is the key'.