The girls are only spectators during the donga ceremony. They adorn themselves with the most beautiful designs on their bodies. It is an important gathering that can reach hundreds of people, from different tribes. 

Hans Silvester went more than thirty times to Ethiopia, in the Rift Valley, to meet the Suris. This semi-nomadic people live far from the modern world. Hans Silvester captured the ritual of the "donga" which can be translated as "duel with the stick". Strength, bravery and intelligence are the determining factors in these man against man fights. It is a very ancient ritual that brings together several tribes, and is especially an issue of conquest of women. The winners, adulated and elevated to the rank of heroes, concentrate the female gaze. 

Carried in triumph, the winners present themselves before the young girls and point with their stick to the one they wish to be their companion: if the girl is seduced, she hangs a necklace on the end of the stick.

Retour De Voyage selected this photo for this bewitching smile. We can see here Hans Silvester's ability to blend into the background to keep the spontaneity of the moment.