Witch doctors are usually thought of
as evil. This article describes the
experience of a woman who went to
Zambia and found an almost miraculous
cure from one, and this one gives a 'pen
portrait' of a witch doctor.
In this 12-minute video, which is well worth watching, Ragi Omar explores the problems associated with the South African sangomas who operate in parallel to the 'modern' health service. In it, a witch doctor is seen throwing the bones so he can diagnose a patient's problems.
as evil. This article describes the
experience of a woman who went to
Zambia and found an almost miraculous
cure from one, and this one gives a 'pen
portrait' of a witch doctor.
In this 12-minute video, which is well worth watching, Ragi Omar explores the problems associated with the South African sangomas who operate in parallel to the 'modern' health service. In it, a witch doctor is seen throwing the bones so he can diagnose a patient's problems.
'Muti' killings, that is, the killing of someone to use their body parts in witchcraft, has been in the news recently because of the spate of killings of albino children in Tanzania. But, back in 2002, they suddenly came much nearer home when the torso of a small, black boy was found floating in the Thames. "Adam", as he was called, was possibly the victim of this sort of 'muti' killing. Despite a huge investigation his murderers have still not been brought to justice.
The word 'muti', meaning medicine, is used all over west, central, east and south Africa. And human killings by witch doctors similarly occur all over the continent, as evidenced by this article from South Africa.
The word 'muti', meaning medicine, is used all over west, central, east and south Africa. And human killings by witch doctors similarly occur all over the continent, as evidenced by this article from South Africa.
10
MAN-EATING LEOPARDS
Johnny found himself able to forgive the leopard that ate Mark's remains - a leopard often scavenges, and it is nature's way. What he did not know is that this may have led to the leopard becoming a man-eater.
Man-eating tigers, lions and leopards are often animals which have a wound or a disability that has made hunting their normal prey difficult, and sometimes it is the finding of human carrion which gives the animal the idea of hunting a new and much more vulnerable prey: man.
J.H. Patterson in his 'Man-Eaters of Tsavo', the story of how two man-eating lions stopped the building of the Mombasa-Nairobi railway, and Jim Corbett's books about hunting man-eaters in India, 'The Man-Eaters of Kumaon' and 'The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag', are wonderful stories of adventure, danger and human spirit.
Man-eaters still take their toll today. Tigers frequently take farmers in India, and the village Africans of parts of Tanzania suffer a horrendous toll - all in the interests of conservation, because eliminating the killers would be so very simply done.
Yet we make a fuss about having a few carefully controlled wolves running round in secure, electrically fenced estates in Scotland.
Johnny found himself able to forgive the leopard that ate Mark's remains - a leopard often scavenges, and it is nature's way. What he did not know is that this may have led to the leopard becoming a man-eater.
Man-eating tigers, lions and leopards are often animals which have a wound or a disability that has made hunting their normal prey difficult, and sometimes it is the finding of human carrion which gives the animal the idea of hunting a new and much more vulnerable prey: man.
J.H. Patterson in his 'Man-Eaters of Tsavo', the story of how two man-eating lions stopped the building of the Mombasa-Nairobi railway, and Jim Corbett's books about hunting man-eaters in India, 'The Man-Eaters of Kumaon' and 'The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag', are wonderful stories of adventure, danger and human spirit.
Man-eaters still take their toll today. Tigers frequently take farmers in India, and the village Africans of parts of Tanzania suffer a horrendous toll - all in the interests of conservation, because eliminating the killers would be so very simply done.
Yet we make a fuss about having a few carefully controlled wolves running round in secure, electrically fenced estates in Scotland.
The author, Jon Haylett, had personal experience of the power of witch doctors when he worked in Rhodesia. George, one of the farm workers, a cheerful, hard-grafting man of about 30, suddenly became withdrawn and unreliable, often not turning up for work. When, one day, he again failed to show, Jon stormed round to his house and insisted on an explanation.
George was bewitched. Someone who hated him - he did not know whom - had paid a witch doctor to cast a spell on him. Rubbish, said Jon, and insisted that George came back to work, but, over the next few weeks, George's condition deteriorated so much that Jon sent him to hospital, suspecting he had bilharzia. The doctor could find nothing physically wrong but confirmed what George had said: he was bewitched.
George became so ill he nearly died. His cure only came after he had been sent back to his home village, where he paid his local witch doctor to exorcise the curse.
George was bewitched. Someone who hated him - he did not know whom - had paid a witch doctor to cast a spell on him. Rubbish, said Jon, and insisted that George came back to work, but, over the next few weeks, George's condition deteriorated so much that Jon sent him to hospital, suspecting he had bilharzia. The doctor could find nothing physically wrong but confirmed what George had said: he was bewitched.
George became so ill he nearly died. His cure only came after he had been sent back to his home village, where he paid his local witch doctor to exorcise the curse.
ONE TESTICLE
Johnny's brother, Mark, only had one testicle. He may have had an undescended testicle but this is unlikely because, as this must-visit site - called embarrassingproblems.com - explains, there are simple cures. Even if these cannot be done, if the problem isn't that the testicle hasn't descended, an artificial one can be implanted. For some reason, Mark had not had this done. And if you want to read The Sun's recent scoop on Hiler's problem, it's here.
Johnny's brother, Mark, only had one testicle. He may have had an undescended testicle but this is unlikely because, as this must-visit site - called embarrassingproblems.com - explains, there are simple cures. Even if these cannot be done, if the problem isn't that the testicle hasn't descended, an artificial one can be implanted. For some reason, Mark had not had this done. And if you want to read The Sun's recent scoop on Hiler's problem, it's here.
