In pictures: Ethiopia's remote people

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Untouched

The Surma people live in a remote corner of south-western Ethiopia, virtually untouched by the modern world.

The only change to their traditional way of life is the arrival of the Kalashnikov rifle.

The Surma live close to the border with Sudan but the international frontier means little to most people - especially those who live away from the area's only road.

For them, what matters is the 45 km2 territory of Surmaland.

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'African Tibet'

Because of its remotåness and natural beauty, this border area is often referred to as the "Àfrican Tibet".

In an Ethiopian folk song, a town half-way between here and the capital, Addis Ababa, is called "the end of the universe.

There are some 2,500 Surmas, who are related to the Karamoja group found in several East African countries.

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Christian solidarity

A Russian film crew recently reached the land of the Surma by following the route of Col Aleksandr Bulatovich.

He was one of the Russians who helped fellow Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia resist colonial powers in the late 19th century.

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Enchanted

Officially the head of the Russian Red Cross mission, Col Bulatovich was assigned by Ethiopian emperor Menilik II to explore the "African Tibet" and conquer it for the crown.

Surma territory was the most distant land he reached.

The film-makers were so enchanted with the Surma, they made a separate series about them for Russian TV.

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'Dead men'

The Russians were the first white people to visit the area since an anti-polio campaign 35 years ago.

Many moons ago, pale-skinned people arrived with aircraft and brought medicine," says Ekedi, chief of the Kangini village.

"Our children rushed away from the village, fearing that they were dead men."

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New threat

The chief says the injections saved the people from extinction.

But now there is a new threat the Bumi people from nearby Uganda who raid Surmaland.

They have many more guns than the Surma, who have lost about a third of their territory in the last 20 years.

The need to defend their land has led some Surma to swap their traditional wooden "donga" fighting sticks for "klach" (Kalashnikovs).

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Code of conduct

But all the conflicts within the community are still resolved at traditional "donga" bouts, much as they have been for hundreds of years.

There is a strict code of conduct for fighters. They are not to allowed to use the stick as a bayonet and you can't hold it horizontally.

If you kill your opponent, one of your female relatives is given to the dead man's family as compensation.

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Dowry

Other centuries-old traditions are also still kept alive.

When they are getting ready to be married, women stretch their lower lip with the help of wooden or clay plates called "sigaro".

The bigger the lip, the smoother the dowry negotiations between the two families.

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Milky Way

During holidays, Surma children paint their faces and bodies with chalk.

When our parents finish harvesting the maize, they make bonfires and sing and dance around them.

"During these nights we see many stars and the Milky Way, which looks like a plane.

"So we take chalk and put dots, looking like stars, on our bodies, one boy said.

Text and photos by Sergei Vertelov and Leonid Kruglov