quick post
I will post a lot more tomorrow, including pictures, but this has been an interesting week.
First interesting thing: I went to a part of Pietermaritzburg that I haven't been to before (and probably should not go back to again). Let's put it this way--I ended up in a sangoma shop. You can look up sangoma if you want to know more but I was just scared to see all the muthi available for me at an asking price and the man at the counter asking me if I "wanted to be a sangoma." NO THANKS.
Second interesting thing: Today, we went to Isaiah Shembe's church, one of the many branches of African Christianity. Like most of the other versions of African-led Christian churches, it broke away from mission churches in the late 19th century because it perceived mission Christianity (not without cause but not 100% true either) as racist, hand-in-hand with colonialism, and out-for-a-profit. And also like the other African-led churches, it has grown like wildfire in the 20th century. I have pictures that I will post tomorrow, along with a lot more information.
First interesting thing: I went to a part of Pietermaritzburg that I haven't been to before (and probably should not go back to again). Let's put it this way--I ended up in a sangoma shop. You can look up sangoma if you want to know more but I was just scared to see all the muthi available for me at an asking price and the man at the counter asking me if I "wanted to be a sangoma." NO THANKS.
Second interesting thing: Today, we went to Isaiah Shembe's church, one of the many branches of African Christianity. Like most of the other versions of African-led Christian churches, it broke away from mission churches in the late 19th century because it perceived mission Christianity (not without cause but not 100% true either) as racist, hand-in-hand with colonialism, and out-for-a-profit. And also like the other African-led churches, it has grown like wildfire in the 20th century. I have pictures that I will post tomorrow, along with a lot more information.
posted by Jessica Somewhere in the States at 12:35 PM
2 Comments:
I wasn't especially creeped out, I just knew I wasn't supposed to be there. Sangomas are traditional healers. Much of what they do is connect people with their ancestors via muthi (medicine usually made out of cow parts and herbs). They also put curses on people, break curses that another sangoma has put on people, exorcise people who are possessed by spirits, or encourage spirit possession if the spirit in question is considered good. The word "umuthi" is literally TREE in Zulu but it also means medicine and it is the various conconctions that sangomas use to heal people, cast out spirits, create curses, and other things.
About to head off for my final exam, but thanks for the comment. As the bishop suggests, antiretrovirals may not be the solution, but certainly administering a short course to HIV + women in their 34th week of pregnancy, and then a dose to the newborn baby after birth, appears to prevent transmission in something like 80% of births. However, it doesn't prevent transmission through breast milk (which occurs at a 54% rate if it hasn't already been transmitted through birth) and most African women cannot afford formula. Even if they could afford formula, many do not have sources of clean water. So the bishop is probably very much correct.
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