This is Guiomar.

She is a member of the Yanomami people and is nine years old. She lives in a village called Watoriki in the Amazon rainforest (Brazil, South America). It's rather hot here. Well, I thought so anyway. Guiomar showed me all around her village and introduced me to her friends.

Everyone in the village lives in a doughnut-shaped house called a yano.

The rainforest is very beautiful but sadly some of it is being spoiled by goldminers who come onto the Yanomami people's land to look for more gold. These miners bring with them diseases like flu and measles. The Yanomami don't have any protection against these diseases because they've never been exposed to them before. So many of them get sick and die.

Here I am inside the yano with some of my friends.

These kids aren't letting this man have much rest, are they? Perhaps that's because they're getting excited about the big party which is going to happen this evening.

Here's Guiomar getting ready for the big dance. Penguins never paint their faces. Well the paint would wash off, wouldn't it. But the Yanomami like to decorate themselves just like people everywhere. Guiomar's putting on her 'makeup' here. Could you paint your face like that? I watched her and it looked difficult to me.

And here's the big dance!

I kept out of the way in case someone trod on me by mistake.

to visit Esimba in Africa.