Sometime last month, I participated in a challenge with my friends. In the challenge, we all had to post a video screenshot of our respective Instagram feeds.

I couldn’t help but notice the amount of mentally exhausting content on some of my friends’ feeds. I saw that they were following accounts of people they didn’t even like and accounts with contents that were of no interest to them.

The one that concerned me the most was the screenshot of one of my friends that’s currently struggling with insecurity about her body. …

In March 2016, Patrick Kilonzo Mwalua started a project that would later make him famous for saving the ecosystem. He has been buying and transporting water for long distances to Tsavo West National Park, a park for wildlife in a region that's known to be suffering from several episodes of drought since 2014.

Patrick Kilonzo Mwalua was born in Kajire in Taita county, southern Kenya, an area that’s known for having many wildlife parks with a wide variety of animals. As a little boy, he was quite familiar with animals as he’d had several encounters with animals such as buffalos…

For decades now, the Dani tribe has been able to keep their traditional lifestyle irrespective of modernization. With a population of over 220,000 people, the Dani people are one of the most populous tribes spread across the highlands of western New Guinea.

The first contact with the Dani tribe was during the central New Guinea Expedition in October 1920 when the explorers spent about six months at their upper Swart River Valley farm (Present-day Tali Valley). The people were mostly fetish worshipers until when missionaries John and Hellen Dekker (the first whites to live there) introduced the people to Christianity.

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Though gently whipping a woman on the butt for fun may sound a bit sexual to some, to the people of the Czech Republic, it’s way more than that.

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in central Europe that’s bordered by Austria to the south, Poland to the northeast, Germany to the west, and Slovakia to the east. Formerly known as Bohemia, the Czech Republic has a hilly landscape that covers an area of 78866 square kilometers 30,450square mi), and it’s mostly oceanic climate and temperate continental climate.

The Czech Republic’s lands became more industrialized during the 19th century…

In most places spitting on a person is considered disrespectful and offensive but for the Maasai tribe of Kenya and Tanzania, it is a thing of honor to be spat on.

The Maasai tribe is a Nilotic ethnic group that resides in north-central and southern Kenya and is also found in northern Tanzania. The people are known to be fierce warriors and for their beautiful traditions and unique cultural attire.

The tribe originated near lake Turkana and the people are pastoralists who have stood firmly by their active traditional lifestyle regardless of efforts made by the government to make them…

Thaipusam is a Hindu festival that takes place in Tamil communities in India, Malaysia, and Singapore. It is usually celebrated annually by millions of Hindu worshipers who gather at various Hindu temples nationwide for the ceremony.

The word Thaipusam is translated as “the month of Pasum” with Thai meaning month and Pusan meaning Star. Though the period for the festival is usually within January and February, the exact day is based on the full Moon day of the month.

Thaipusam Festival

The festival involves several rituals where the worshipers engage in various acts that signify the victory of good over evil. The…

The Satere-Mawe is a tribe of indigenous people of Brazil that reside in the region of the mid-Amazon River — which is on the border of the states of Amazonas and Para. With a population of about 13,350 people, the tribe is known to be the first people to domesticate and cultivate guarana (a herb that's used as a stimulant). The name Satere-Mawa is derived from Satere which is translated as “ caterpillar of fire” and Mawe which means “intelligent and curious parrot”

The people of this tribe are mostly known for their rite of passage ceremony for warriors —…

Blackening is a traditional wedding ceremony that is performed on a to-be bride weeks before her wedding day. The culture is usually found in the rural areas of northeast Scotland, the Highlands, and the Northern Isles.

The Origin of Blackening the Bride Ritual

According to research by Dr. Sheila Young from the University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Institute, the Blackening custom was birthed During the 19th century, from a cleansing ritual referred to as feet-washing. It initially a cleaning ritual aimed at preparing women for marriage. During the feet-washing, the women's feet were blackened with soot that's gotten from a chimney. According to Dr. Young, by the early…