The Medicine Man

So, I finally got to hang out with a real life Traditional Healer, or as some prefer, witchdoctor. Robert was a shockingly fun and quirky man. I went with 2 other volunteers from Denmark, one volunteer from Iceland, myself and 2 Ugandan co-workers. Now a little history before I delve into the experience. Uganda has more traditional healers than actual clinics. Surprisingly, traditional healers are more expensive than clinics. This is namely because Uganda practices a ‘Universal Healthcare’ system. What that really means is you negotiate prices. When you are seen for something at a clinic you bribe them and depending on the circumstance you may or may not have to pay for medicine from the pharmacy. When you go to a witchdoctor, he only asks a small donation of what you earn, so that may be a few hundred shillings (5-20cents). Then when you are healed, he will ask you for something of value like livestock or a large sum of money. If you cannot give that to him then he will threaten to bring back your disease, sometimes even worse than before. Witchdoctors are many within subcounties but those who see them are those who usually do not practice an organized religion. For those who are ‘pure Christians’ it is frowned upon to do so, and if caught, you will receive ridicule; although, I have it on good authority that there are quite a few ‘pure Christians’ that still go to the witchdoctors. In order to become a witchdoctor you have to be chosen. For most, it is a family tradition and one inherits it from their lineage. Robert, he man we saw, his father had been a powerful healer and when he passed, the spirits summoned Robert to follow the path. Robert even said that the spirits kept him from going to school so that he could stay focused on his work as a healer. Interestingly, he said that there are not bad spirits but there are strong ones. They have the national leadership which leads all the witch doctors in Uganda, she is called Mama Feena. There are some false traditional healers and so this ‘clanship’ fights against them. Recently, there has been a lot of child sacrifice around the county in Uganda under the name of false healers. Some will say bring me the tongue of a child, or something along that line. So the traditional healers have to guard against fake practices. The false ones that are found will be given to the police for punishment. They perform a ritual every month, towards the 28th, where they slaughter a goat and give thanks to the spirits. Sometimes when he calls the ancestors, they appear in the form of a huge black snake and he places a cloth over it. He has herbs from the natural world for mostly everything; Mango leaves for cough; Mukikumbu for headache; Bones of a wild pig for curing spells; Eating the soup of a cow leg can cure joint pains- he only calls the spirits when he doesn’t know what to do. Sometimes, when he calls the ancestors, they attack the patient and he has to stab it with a special spear to make it go away. When he summons the ancestors they usually speak in tongues that he does not understand but they can find common ground through Luganda. Robert beats the drums, sings ritualistic songs to call the spirits and when they come forth he shies into a trance and communicates with the ancestors in another dimension. He cannot cure HIV, blood transfusions, dehydration, malaria but can cure the symptoms of those illnesses. Most come to the witchdoctor for mental problems. The man who took us to see the witchdoctor told us that his sister had been acting mad, which meant that someone had placed a curse on her or as they say ‘bewitched her’. This happens as a means of revenge. So he took his sister to the witchdoctor. Robert performed a ritual of drumming and singing to call the ancestors and he said they came and were screaming- moving all around the tent. After that his sister was fine and remembered nothing. I happened to have a sore throat when we went to visit him and he gave me bark, in the local language is called Abasi. I couldn’t find any information on this anywhere. I took a small bite of the bark and chewed it then swallowed. It was so hot! Like a cinnamon type of flavor just very intense. Sure enough, it cleared the pain in my throat and it has not returned since! Although, my taste buds are still a little out of sorts, it was worth it for a pain-free throat. This was an awesome experience and it definitely sparked my interest to continue such investigations in other parts of the world.

Male Circumcision- *WARNING* explicit content

*WARNING* some of the content is very graphic- please view at your own risk. So, this tradition is unique to only 2 tribes in the eastern region of Uganda. It occurs once every 2 years and one is not considered a man until the ritual is completed. Those who participate are to stay awake for 2 days time and parade around the town. They are then lined up and a surgeon cuts off the foreskin without the patient taking any painkillers. If the boy makes a sound or any facial expressions he is not a man and is out casted from his family. The boys do this in front of a large group of people. It is also interesting to note that if the surgeon misses and slices off anything that the boy wanted to keep or hinders his ability to have children the surgeon will face a mob justice killing. I have heard that there have been instances that the child has lost the ability to reproduce from the way he was cut and so the parents killed the surgeon; I mean after all, what good is a man if he can’t make more children. So there is a lot of pressure on the ones cutting as well. Also, once the boy is cut, he is given a house and land to start his own family (regardless of age). So a 8 year boy is expected to find a wife and reproduce just as an 18 boy is. I must say, it was a truly amazing moment to be caught up in the utter chaos of the festivity. All the men were rip roaring drunk and spitting an oatmeal home brew all over one another as a ceremonial right of passage; the women were dancing nonstop as if they had not a bone in their body; and everyone was jumping and shouting in excitement. After the cutting, the crowd broke up a little and the father of the youngest boy came forward and kissed him on the forehead. I don’t think I have ever seen a man so visual proud of his son than in that moment.
Also, those who are cut are not allowed to feed themselves or do anything really. They are waited on hand and foot- all food and drink given to them by their family members until they are ‘healed’. It was an amazing thing to witness but very intense.

Camp GLOW

At the fist ever camp GLOW to be hosted in Uganda I was a proud camp counselor of the Gorillas. I, along with my co-councilor Susan, was in charge of 10 girls. There were a total of 16 groups all with approximately 10-12 girls in each. Every group had a unique African animal as their mascot, mine were the Gorillas. This was a week long camp with a very intensive schedule. There were 3 directors, 3 media specialists, 10 staff members and 24 counselors. Arrival began on Sunday, December 5th 2010. Upon arrival, each camper had to fill out a pre camp questionnaire and register where they received their shirt, name tag, dorm assignment and group. When everyone arrived we all conducted team building activities and got to know our group members. We took dinner and talked, then met on the field to discuss an overview of the week and go over rules. Monday-Friday the schedule resembled this structure: Wake up call and bathing took place from 6-7:00am; 7-7:45am breakfast and group reflection; 7:45-8:00am morning message; 8-9:00am Sessions (lifeskills, teamwork, arts and crafts, GLOWing, healthy living); 9:10-10:10am Sessions (lifeskills, teamwork, arts and crafts, GLOWing, healthy living); 10:20-10:50am break tea; 11-11:30am Dear (drop everything and read); 11:40-12:40pm Sessions (lifeskills, teamwork, arts and crafts, GLOWing, healthy living); 2-3:00pm Talk from a woman speaker; 3:10-4:10pm Sessions (lifeskills, teamwork, arts and crafts, GLOWing, healthy living); 4:20-5:20pm Sessions (lifeskills, teamwork, arts and crafts, GLOWing, healthy living); 5:30-6:30pm Free time (chosen from a list of activities such as a nature walk, how to make friendship bracelets, dancing, etc.; 6:30-7:30pm dinner/bathing/cleanup; 7:30-8:00pm free time/journaling; 8-10:00pm group activity (game night, movie night, campfire, talent show). Through out the week, each group was to attend the 5 sessions each day but obviously at different times so that about 3 groups would be in one session at a time. There were many wonderful sessions that the girls were able to attend. Some of these included: making a money jar and talking about savings, gender roles, reproductive health and the menstrual cycle, how to be a good friend, put on the condom relay race, taking care of your body and puberty, what is sex, self defense, painting, HIV and stigma, HIV transmission, goal setting, the human knot, picture yourself in 10 years, HIV truths and myths, malaria, public speaking, blindfolded obstacles, developing Uganda and carrying on information (bringing it back to the community), water and food sanitation. I taught the session of ‘We GLOW with goals”. Myself, along with my Ugandan counterpart, explained the difference between a goal, a dream and daily choices. We discussed the different types of goals one could have (learning something new, beating an old habit, etc.). We then discussed SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time bound) goals. We went over each in much depth. Finally, we talked about how setting goals affects outcomes (choice, effort, persistence, state of mind), how to best stay committed and the process for achieving goals. We passed out a worksheet to each camper and gave them adequate time to complete it and if there was time, some had the opportunity to share with the rest of the class. The worksheet had two columns: one for short term goals and one for long term. The campers had to identify one short term and a long term goal and then for each goal they had to answer the following questions: the benefits in reaching my goal, what might stand in my way, what do I need to learn or do, who will encourage me, plans of action- steps I will take, completion date. All of the campers were open and participated enthusiastically. I loved teaching this session! Throughout the whole camp, the councilors were to stay with their campers at all times except for free time. I had an amazing group of girls. It took some time for some of the girls to open up but it was a great feeling when they did. I am thankful for the opportunity to have watched my campers arrive as scared and unsure girls and leave as open, confident and happy women. Can you imagine having never left your village your whole life and then traveling, for some, all the way across Uganda to spend a week with 150 girls whom you had never before met? My gorillas were extremely well behaved co councilor was amazing. We had a blast and I only had to discipline some of my girls but one time. I think my favorite part was when we had a cheer off and out of 16 groups my girls won first! It was a lot of work but I was so sad when it had come to an end. Some of my girls wrote me letters that made me cry they were so sweet. We had a great closing ceremony and then danced the night away. The next day all the girls went back to their respective villages. I am very thankful for the opportunity to have had such a meaningful role in the camp and wish Peace Corps Uganda the best of luck in regards to hosting another successful camp GLOW.