I was born in Bora Bora in 1986. I use the name "Fara". I have openly been transsexual since my childhood years. This situation has never been a problem for my family, friends or the society that I live in. I have never felt different.

I work as a dancer in the tourism sector. I perform at the hotels. I have a good life. I am very happy here, and I don't want to live anywhere else.

In Bora, everybody accepts and shows respect to transsexuals. I wish the same for all around the world. I want to be the voice of all the transsexuals who live in French Polynesia.

We are not different from you.

Andrea Vanessa
Bora Bora, French Polynesia, 17 October 2018

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I was born in 1996 in Bora Bora. I have a big family. My childhood and school life were very happy. I stayed with my family until I began to work. Now I am living with a girlfriend of mine in this apartment. I love Bora very much, and I don't want to be anywhere else. I work in the tourism sector. I am a member of a dance group which performs local dances at the hotels. Music and dance are my biggest passions.

My biggest wish from life is the happiness of my family.

I am still very young, and I believe life should be lived from day to day. That's the way I do it and will keep on doing it.

Raita Timiona
Bora Bora island, French Polynesia, 17 October 2018

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My name is Emmanuel Hung. I am 28 years old. I live with my family in one of the villages in Nagarinaro, North Tanzania, which is called Arusha. I make my living by selling jewellery at the beach.

One day, I will leave my family to get married, of course. But before this, I have to fight against a lion and I have to kill it. Can you believe this? Once I have killed it, this means I am brave enough to marry more than one woman. As a Maasai man, I want to continue my life in polygamy like almost every other man in my tribe and ancestors. Please pay attention to my emphasis on the word “man”, since polygamy is forbidden for women. What can we do, this is our tradition.

Oh, I should tell you about jumping as well, it is not only our traditional dance but also I hope jumping higher will help me to pay less money to the families of my future wives to get their permission for marriage. As you may guess, I am continuously working on jumping to reach the highest level I can.

I am looking forward to have minimum 5 children as soon as I have married. I want them to have an education unlike me, and I want them to live their lives better and easier than mine and my family’s.

My other expectations from my life and future is to have a car (I do not know how to get it actually.), to watch a movie, and to visit many European countries before I die. I am not sure if I can achieve all of my dreams, but I should keep dreaming.

Emmanuel Hung
Zanzibar, Tanzania, 16 June 2018

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My name is Olagery. I belong with the Mursi tribe. We live in Omo Valley, between the Mago and Omo Rivers in Southern Ethiopia. I am 31 years old. I have two brothers and three sisters. I have three wives. In our tribe, we are able to marry more than one wife. In order to marry a woman, a man has to have enough cattle to give to her father.

In our tribe, wealth is measured by the number of cattle you own. I have 18 cows. I have been very sad because some of my cows have died from illnesses. Nowadays, I am trying to increase the number of my cattle.

I have six sons and three daughters. They live with their mothers respectively in the houses that I built.

We have scars on our bodies. We make the scars with razor blades. Then, we rub dirt into the wounds to make them permanent. A Mursi design of skin scarification which is applied on left shoulder of a man announces his passing into adulthood.

We used to carry large sticks (dongas) for fighting. But nowadays, we replaced them with AK-47 rifles.

Our main nutritional source is a kind of dry porridge which is made from sorghum or maize. We mix it with milk and blood which is taken directly from a cut from the neck of the cattle. We also practice limited agriculture in our community.

I am happy living here and hope to live here till the end of my days.

Olagery
Ethiopia, 9 October 2018 

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My name is Agnes Kelero, I am 23 years old. I am from Kenya, Maasai Mara.

I have a big family but my dad died a long time ago and my mother moved away to her own land. I am the eldest child. I have four brothers and two sisters. I’m not married yet because I want to find my own strength before I get married. I have a three year old son.

I am a lady safari guide in Maasai Mara. I have been working for four years. I want to be able to provide proper education to my children. I want to help them to accomplish their dreams.

After identifying the things that are most important in my life, it was the time that I started to eliminate everything else. This is all about simplifying my life, so that I can focus on the things that matter most.

I had so much unnecessary burden in my life and because of this I was emotionally overloaded. When I began to unload these futile things from my back I have found my inner peace and become more relaxed.

I also find this convenient in financial matters too, that when I eliminate unneeded expenses, I've become much less stressed.

My passion is to be a star lady safari guide in Maasai Mara, and I expect to have a good standard of living and hopefully helping my family to have a better life.

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I was born in Paris in 1927. I studied fine arts. I was enlisted as a paratrooper in the army. I went to Africa, and I lived there for forty years. I worked as the bodyguard of a minister. I lived an adventurous life, both as a soldier and civilian. My biggest passion was hunting, especially in the sea. I used to dive down to 39 meters. I hunted elephants. 

I came to French Polynesia on duty, and I liked being here very much and decided to settle down. I got married and I had two children, but then my wife left me because she didn't want to live here. In 1975, I bought this place in which I have been living since. In those days, I made my living as a painter and sculptor. I've met and married a wonderful woman who designs jewellery. Since my kids were living with us and there was no school in Morea, (with my wife's insistence) I bought a plane, and for ten years, I used it to carry my children to school in Papete. 

I am a lucky man - I have achieved everything that I wanted in my life. One of my paintings was awarded in an art competition in France and exhibited at Louvre.

My only regret is hunting. I killed elephants, and elephants are very smart and wonderful animals. I am very sorry for killing them.
In Africa, I was free and powerful; I did whatever I wanted to whenever I wanted. In French Polynesia, I don't have such power and freedom, but all in all, it is a very beautiful country, and I have been very happy to live here.

Allen Kerebel
Moorea Island, French Polynesia, 21 October 2018

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