One of my favorite people in Zanzibar, just about the happiest person I've ever met in my life, is going through a hard time right now. And in some ways it's really illustrating the differences between us.
He believes that his baby is sick - and since he's lost 3 children in the past this is a really serious issue with a lot of history for him.
But not just any sick - he thinks that a wizard has put a curse on his house and this is what is making the baby sick. He saw a black dog outside of his house the night his last baby died - he told me it was a shape shifter that had come to the house with bad intentions.
So he called his brothers to ask for their help and they immediately told him that he needs to get his family out of the house or the baby will die. And so they've gone to town and the last we heard was that they were staying in a small hut full of mud preparing for a 17 day treatment with the witch doctor (and how knows how much such a treatment will cost).
What's heartbreaking is that my Director was over at the house a few nights ago and could see absolutely nothing wrong with the baby. She said that he looked perfectly healthy and that she couldn't see any of the symptoms that they were describing.
And now they're living in a hut in the mud where the baby could very well get sick.
And when we asked why they don't take him to the hospital if they think that he is sick? Because the witch doctor opened his looking glass and showed them the face of the wizard who is doing this to their family.
So what can a hospital do if it's black magic that they're dealing with? What can anyone do really but trust in the systems that you've been brought up to believe in and hope for the best?
Photos: Sri Lanka - NJ workshop
16 years ago
