Mario Aliberti

Mario Aliberti, born in 1941, obtained a diploma as an accountant and commercial expert, worked as an employee in private companies while simultaneously starting his activity as a labour consultant which, only a few years later, would become a professional order. He practised in this sector as a self-employed professional, deepening his studies in labour law and private insurance. At the age of 62, after 40 years of travel experiences in tents, caravans and campervans in Italy and European countries, free from commitments, he picked up his backpack and tent again to seek new emotions in countries and areas unreachable by one's own means, but rich in charm and extremely interesting from an ethnographic and anthropological point of view. After his first chance contact with the Himba ethnic group during his trip to Namibia in 2003, indigenous peoples and endangered ethnic groups became the preferred destinations of most of the more than twenty-five trips made over 20 years: Africa, India, North America, South America, Indochina, Mongolia, China, Papua New Guinea, Bangladesh. More than 470 million indigenous people live in the world, of whom approximately 150 million live in tribal societies — diverse peoples who are the true custodians of the planet, its riches and its beauty. It is thanks to them that today we can enjoy all of this, yet we fail to realise it and are destroying what they have preserved for millennia. This first book concerns the indigenous peoples of Africa: 45 ethnic groups contacted in 9 African states over the course of eight trips. The author wished to promote the guiding principles and contribute to the discovery of a world unknown to most. Getting to know at least part of their histories, their rituals and their customs is a cultural enrichment that can lead us to regard diversity not as something to defend ourselves against, but as an immensely valuable asset worth preserving.