'I did not respect our traditions, so they killed my babies': Agony of Ethiopian mother whose 15 'cursed' children were thrown to hungry crocodiles by tribal elders
- Buko Balguda's 15 children were declared cursed or 'mingi' by Karo village elders and murdered at birth
- Mingi children are thought to bring the village bad luck and are killed by being thrown to crocs or left in the bush
- Reasons for being declared mingi include being illegitimate, being a twin and having upper teeth that develop first
- Although outlawed by the Ethiopian government, an estimated 300 children still die this way each year
By RUTH STYLES
PUBLISHED: 11:37 GMT, 16 July 2014 | UPDATED: 12:45 GMT, 16 July 2014
Buko Balguda, 45, from Duss, a Karo tribal village in southern Ethiopia's Omo Valley, is alone. The reason? Her seven sons and eight daughters were all killed at birth by village elders who deemed the children to be cursed.
'I lost five plus five plus five babies - 15 in total,' she explains. 'I had seven males and eight females. During this time, our tribal traditions were very hard. I did not respect our traditions, so they killed my children.'
And Ms Balguda is not alone. The concept of 'mingi' or cursed children remains a tenet of tribal life for the Karo, Hamer and Bano people, with elders insisting that mingi infants are killed before they can bring the rest of the tribe bad luck.
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Tragedy: Every single one of 45-year-old Buko Balguda's 15 children were killed at birth by village elders who declared them to be 'mingi' or cursed
Tradition: Children can be declared mingi because they are part of a set of twins or because they develop upper teeth before they get bottom ones
As a result - and despite efforts by the Ethiopian government to ban the practice - cursed children are murdered every day, whether by being left alone to be eaten by hyenas, thrown to hungry crocodiles or simply starved to death in a locked hut.
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For Ms Balguda, the problems began before she even married, when her future husband failed to take part in her tribe's traditional bull jumping ceremony - an initiation rite for men which has to be completed before they can marry.
When he married Ms Balguda anyway, village elders declared that any children would be considered illegitimate and thus, would be killed as soon as they were born.
But illegitimacy isn't the only reason for a child being declared 'mingi'. Others are deemed cursed because of disabilities, because their parents didn't get permission for a pregnancy from the elders, because they are part of a set of twins and most cruelly of all, because their teeth develop the wrong way.
Curse: The fate of Hamer children is decided as soon as the mother's pregnancy begins to show, with elders declaring it mingi for a variety of reasons
Frightened: Although Hamer women love their children, the thought of curses and being ostracised by their village means they usually do what the elders say
Fortunate: This set of twins from the Hamer tribe were lucky to survive with most children born in multiple births in the Hamer tribe declared mingi and killed
Superstition: Bana and Hamer people are deeply superstitious and worry that they will bring bad luck to the village if they don't dispose of mingi children
'If the first tooth appears in the upper jaw, instead of the lower, the child becomes mingi,' explains photographer Eric Lafforgue who has spent a considerable amount of time with the Karo and Hamer tribes. 'This applies to the baby teeth and the adult teeth, so older children can be killed too.
'Being declared mingi almost always means death of the child,' he continues. 'The tribe will leave the child alone in the bush without food and water or will throw the child in the middle of the river full of crocodiles.'
Although Ms Balguda wasn't required to kill her own child, she was forced to stand and watch as elders carried her babies away to their deaths. 'It was not me who killed the babies,' she remembers. 'It was other people from my village. I broke the rules of our community, so they killed my babies.'
Cruel though the practice is, village elders fear that if the children aren't killed, bad luck will blight the tribe. 'Most of the tribes in the Omo Valley still have strong superstitions,' adds Lafforgue.
'The Karo, Bana and Hamer tribes believe evil spirits or a "curse" will bring bad luck for the community, like drought, famine, disease or even death if mingi children are not killed.'
Gruesome: Mingi babies are often thrown from the cliffs into the Omo River where they are eaten by crocodiles or left to die from exposure in the bush
Culture: The people of the Hamer tribe (left) and the Bana (right) continue to practice mingi even though it has been outlawed by the Ethiopian government
Co-operation: If families don't abide by the decision of the village elders - even if it means death for their children - they will be declared cursed themselves
Powerful: Although Karo elders, among them this man, decided to end the mingi tradition in 2012, elders from the Hamer and Bana tribes continue
But help is at hand for some of the doomed children. In 2012, Karo tribal elders finally agreed to put an end to the mingi tradition - in part as a result of the efforts of Lale Labuko and John Rowe, the founders of Omo Child; a charity that takes in mingi children.
Labuko, himself a member of the Karo tribe, was among the first in his village to go to school and discovered at the age of 15 that he had had two mingi sisters - both of whom were killed before he was born.
The charity, which operates orphanages in the Omo Valley, spends much of its time trying to persuade Bana and Hamer parents to give their mingi children to foster parents outside the community instead of killing them.
But changing the local attitude to 'cursed' children has proved challenging. 'Some women who know know they are pregnant with a mingi child agree to give the baby to the organisation,' explains Lafforgue.
Changing times: Although education has begun to make inroads into ending the mingi tradition, village elders still have the final say on everything
All change: The Karo people banned the killing of cursed children in 2012 but an estimated 300 are still killed each year by elders from the Bana and Hamer tribes
Lucky escape: Some children are rescued by an organisation called Omo Child which takes infants such as this one to be raised in orphanages
Rescued: Four-year-old Shomo Bulka, seen here in the arms of a nanny, is a mingi child but was saved by his father who handed him to a policeman soon after birth
Passion project: Lale Labuko grew up in a Hamer village and was one of the first to go to school. His two older sisters were declared mingi and were killed
'But some come under pressure from the elders and change their minds, which means the baby dies. One Hamer woman I met even told me that although she wanted 10 babies, if one turned out to be mingi, she would "throw it away".'
Those that do survive are taken to an orphanage where they are raised away from their families but many more suffer a horribly early death at the hands of village elders, with an estimated 300 children thought to be killed each year.
'Although the Karo have stopped, the Bana and Hamer still practice mingi,' adds Lafforgue. 'It is illegal but elders do it in secret and nobody has been arrested for doing it so far.'
Until things change, the pain for women like Ms Balguda will continue. 'At the time, I had no choice,' she adds. 'Nowadays, when i see the women giving birth or giving milk, I feel sorry. I feel lonely. Nobody is on my side.'
Better life: Mingi children who are rescued grow up away from traditional tribal life and thus usually have a better chance of going to school when old enough
Safe and sound: Omo Child has rescued 37 mingi children so far, some of whom, among them this group, live in orphanages run by the charity
Difficult job: Workers from Omo Child spend much of their time attempting to persuade parents not to kill their mingi children and to send them to orphanages instead
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