She has not a beard, it is just her dress made of animal skin that jumped to her face! The Tharaka live on the eastern side of Mount Kenya. About 10% live in towns, the rest in the villages of the area. Meaning "starving", the Tharaka belong to the Ameru ethnic group. They speak a Bantu-language, the Meru. They are farmers and shepherds: they grow cereal crops, cotton, and sun flowers and rear cows, goats and sheeps. The decline in livestock holdings, attributed to droughts and declining available lands, is a concern for the Tharaka since goat meat is central in their diet and custom. The Tharaka are also merchants, since they trade with people all over the country. They live in small huts with a corrigated iron roof. Village life is better considered (compared to the life in towns) since it preserves their culture. They have a strong sense of belonging. The "mukuru" (elder) is the most important person of the community, who gives advice and settles disputes. In this tribe, like in others, there are age-sets: men have to go through several stages before reaching the highest one. There are several important celebrations: the birth of a child, circumcision, marriage and the harvests of June and January. Before marriage, high bride price is paid by the prospective groom to the wife's father. They have also an important rite of passage called "Kirimo", animal that swallows human beings and spits it out thereafter. They use arrows and have very efficient fighting techniques. So they still have kept their traditions, but are now also christians. There is an estimated 20% active Christians, and 70% have now adopted the christian faith. Tharaka people have an elaborate set of myths, that they share with the other Meru groups and keep in through their oral tradition. One of them involves an exodus from an original homeland called Mbwa near a large body of water, another the origins of the Tharaka art of healing, called ugao. According to the legend, ugao originated from the Mbwa land. The clan of Nyaga was born with ugao but since they were poor, they had to teach other clans about ugao to get some goats and food. Consequently, as per the myth, the art of healing is owned by a single clan. Furthermore, in the myth, there is a reference to a classification of clans with colours (black, white and red), the red clans being associated with the ugao art. © Eric Lafforgue www.ericlafforgue.com