Butcher Skins Goat with Daughter Nearby I took this photo in 1994 in my assigned Peace Corps village in Niger. Every village had an authorized butcher who was the only one allowed to kill and cut live animals for ceremonial purposes or just to sell meat to well-to-do customers who could afford to buy meat. In this photo, the butcher is very delicately skinning a hanging goat tied to a tree in his yard. His beautiful daughters stands nearby in front of the camera. Notice her scarification on her forehead, cheeks and around her eyes. Tattoo type scars are a sign of beauty and they are carved into the skin when babies are young. This child is also wearing a very special necklace called "gri-gri". Koranic verses are written in tiny print on paper, then folded into tiny pieces and sewn in leather pouches to protect the verses. The leather pouches are hung on a strand of leather to form a necklace worn around necks and waste lines. It is believed that the more "gri-gri" one wears, the more protected one is.