So I’m going break my own cardinal rule and discuss something unrelated to GRS and HIV/AIDS work on my blog. Normally I wouldn’t want to waste your time with anything other than updates on my work for GRS but something really spooky and interesting has peaked my interest recently.
In the past couple of weeks, there has been a lot of talk about witchcraft all over Malawi and in some other African countries. The more I started hearing these stories the more spooked out I became. Pretty much every hundred yards you go in Malawi you see a signpost for the local witchdoctor (basically it’s a skull and bones flag that extends from the witchdoctors hut into the sky). In these huts, witchdoctors are rumored to do all sorts of black magic. They cast spells, they create bizarre potions, they cut people to get blood, and they do all sorts of wacked out stuff. Many of the spells are designed to cure sickly loved ones, or even to get some crush to fall in love with you, but there are also some more sinister ones as well. Some neighbors have been accused of getting the local witch doctor to injure or kill another neighbor to settle some dispute over land or money. As I’m writing all of this stuff, I can imagine most westerners who are reading to digest this info with a mixture of disbelief and humor. I’m sure most people are asking themselves – “How can people actually believe this stuff works?”
Well to answer that question, almost every single Malawian that I have talked to about witchcraft genuinely believes in it. In fact, not only do they believe in it, they swear by it and would most probably die to defend it. At first I thought like I imagine most westerners would think on the subject, I kind of just laughed it off and didn’t take it seriously at all. But the more I thought about it and the more I discussed it with locals, the more I appreciated what it means to local Malawians. Witchcraft is an integral part of Malawian culture and as such it should be respected and taken seriously. That being said, while I was reading the local papers this morning I read a very interesting article about witchcraft.
The story is more or less as follows: two older Malawian women were allegedly teaching some little girl the ins and outs of witchcraft, some woman in the community was murdered, the little girl accused the two women of casting a murderous spell on the victim and as a result the police took the women into custody. As I write this, the two older women are sitting in a jail cell facing a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment with hard labor. Apparently, the Malawian courts recognize the accusation even though there is no evidence to support it (I guess evidence is hard to come by in the world of magic and witchcraft). I make a point not to try to judge things too much when I’m in a foreign culture, for the most part I understand that Americans have traits and habits that the rest of the world mocks and we, as Americans, make fun of many foreign cultures for being “different”. All that being said, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the Salem witchcraft trials when I was reading this article. I mean, it is one thing to recognize and respect the Malawian predilection for witchcraft, but it is another thing all together to think that it’s ok to put someone in jail for 10 years without any inkling of evidence.
Finally, I know I said that this post was completely unrelated to my work for HIV/AIDS. But you probably won't be suprised that the world of black magic/witch craft isn't too far away from the world of HIV/AIDS in a lot of cases. Many local people believe that if someone is diagnosed with the disease it is because someone else has cast a spell on them. Too many people, and especially children, think that HIV/AIDS is the work of black magic and not of bad choices (unprotected sex etc). I can't tell you how many times I've discussed the role of witchcraft when discussing HIV/AIDS with children here. I do my best to tell them that there are real and tangible ways of avoiding HIV/AIDS but a lot of children don't believe me. While many children may agree that leading a healthy life style can be one way of avoiding HIV/AIDS, according to them there is nothing you can do to avoid the disease if a witch doctor has you in her cross hairs.
Finally, I know I said that this post was completely unrelated to my work for HIV/AIDS. But you probably won't be suprised that the world of black magic/witch craft isn't too far away from the world of HIV/AIDS in a lot of cases. Many local people believe that if someone is diagnosed with the disease it is because someone else has cast a spell on them. Too many people, and especially children, think that HIV/AIDS is the work of black magic and not of bad choices (unprotected sex etc). I can't tell you how many times I've discussed the role of witchcraft when discussing HIV/AIDS with children here. I do my best to tell them that there are real and tangible ways of avoiding HIV/AIDS but a lot of children don't believe me. While many children may agree that leading a healthy life style can be one way of avoiding HIV/AIDS, according to them there is nothing you can do to avoid the disease if a witch doctor has you in her cross hairs.
All right, well I just thought this stuff was pretty cool so I thought I might share it with you. Hope everyone is doing well wherever you are! Miss all of you!
