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'These are some of the instruments we use to call the ancestors.' |
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This (shrine) is where clients come to consult: What is the problem? How should the problem be handled? They want to get advice from here. We use the conch shells to learn more about the nature of the problem. Every conch shell contains some kind of message. He takes some shells in his hand, rubs his hands together several times, then raises his hands to pray. When finished, he continues his explanation: So, when we call the ancestors, the ancestors come and with their help we start understanding the problem. With a better understanding we continue with counseling.
During the consultation I separate out some conch shells according to the problem the client might be coming with, and choose ones that might be inclusive of her problem. I hold (the shells) in my hands. praying that any problem the client might have would be realized within them.
 'I hold (the shells) in my hands. praying that any problem the client might have would be realized within them.' |
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Nashib then hands his client the shells: When we give these shells to the client, we advise them to say his or her problem quietly through the conch shells.
We see the client doing so. Nashib continues: Then she just drops the conch shells down. If the problem concerns AIDS, we get this from the discussion using the ideas we get from the Theta workshops and training concerning modern treatments. We continue discussing and counseling the client. That is how we get to know whether the client is infected or if the problem is seen here (pointing to conch shells). Many people are infected. Others have many other problems.
C: So when you read the shells, in this case, what have you learned?
N: As far as we have seen, my client has a family problem and she has a pain. If some conch shells drop in a group, if they make a hill together, there are more than one or two problems. We have to know whether the client is married. Does the client have a baby or children? Is she employed? All these things we must learn. If the problem concerns the family, is it a clan problem, a family problem, or an individual problem like illness? If there is more than one problem, we must ask the client which should be the first to be handled? It depends on the client; the client is the one who decides through counseling. We continue to provide counseling until maybe we get to the stage when we ask the client to go for blood testing. Then they may go for modern treatment and maybe other methods as well.
C: So what would your client like to start with?
N: She has decided she will start with sickness or pain. Counseling continues with questionsuntil we agree and start treating.
C: So is there anything else you will like to show us?
N: So with the treatment I consult with the ancestors to know if the treatment can be handled by us or not. Most people also want to know whether they are bewitched and hated, or whether the problem occurred naturally. We need to know when the problem started so we know how to apply the herbs.
(The client shows the healer her calf and knee) So this client had a problem with a painful knee for almost four years. It got swollen and when we tried to cure this place it moved to another area. We asked if something hit her or if there is any infection. So those are some of the questions. When she went to medical doctors they just denied there was a problem. That is why she decided to come to traditional healers. She had gone to the western doctors and they didn’t see a problem.
So with this problem we apply two or three types of herbs. First of all, we give herbs for smelling. Secondly, we give her herbs for drinking. What I have realized is older people mostly get these problems. At times there is an infection that can be attacking that place, so we use herbs and try to raise the immune system. When the immunity is low, problems can arise all the time. When the immune system is high or powerfu,l it can control the body system.
When we treated this side (pointing to the right knee), thinking this side is okay, she started feeling pain on the other side. Then this problem moved to the back of the leg. So you continue giving herbs to empower the immune system.
C: Do you have herbs that will reduce the swelling?
TH: The method I first learned was cutting. This is a horn we used.
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It has a hole so we sucked and pulled blood out by a mouth. It opens the blood vessels. We were using this method before we realized HIV is a problem that is transmitted through blood and sharp cuttings. But now we use another method that is modern. It does the same thing, I’ll show you one experiment.
While Nashib leaves the room to find something Rose speaks to the client and translates her conversation.
Rose:So she said blood came out when he sucked it, which was before he used the new method. It brought out a lot of blood, so she was trying to compliment him. She used to go to the hospital and the doctors said we don’t see anything. They thought her knee is fine. She could not sleep. It was really paining her but it is less now.
Nashib returns to the shrine.
Rose: Do you contact spirits first?
N: Yes, I first do that, but they don’t choose to say anything (today) because I have not introduced you to them. (He laughs.)
Rose: Do the spirits come on your head? Are you possessed when you work?
N: There are times (he laughs) when I call them with my rattle and they come near me. Whatever I do, it might be their power dealing with the client's problems.
(Demonstrating the new method he has been taught with a suction cup used in Chinese medicine) He has a plastic bucket full of water and he washes the cup. He then pours some alcohol on a piece of gauze, sets it aflame with a match, and with the blaze heats the bottom of the suction cup before he places it on his client’s knee. The cup adheres and pulls on the skin.
 Using an alternate Chinese method, the base of the suction cup is heated with alcohol-saturated gauze which has been ignited so the cup will adhere to the skin. |
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Nashib: So you can see it is firm and it sucks the blood. In the new method there is no cutting, no contact with blood.
After this, I start giving her herbs. I smear them on the place that is swollen. Then there are herbs for smelling and drinking.
C: What conditions do you commonly treat?
N: Mostly fever, painful joints, some women come for help bearing babies or pregnancy. I also treat problems that affect young children, especially those under six.
C: How did you become a healer?
N: I learned it from my grandfather. As I grew up I saw how my grandfather was treating so I learned something about herbs from him. As I got older I also began to treat, especially diseases with spirits. The spirits controls most of the problems that we treat. We get advice from the spirits, we get power from the spirits, and we see how we treat the problem from the spirits.
C: How old were you when you first contacted the spirits?
N: It came slowly, not abruptly. First of all, when I was young I used to feel that there is something that presses me, that there was a heavy load on me. There were times when it came, especially when it was new and I didn’t know anything.
So it comes on you and acts as it needs, but when you are used to it, they don’t even come straight on the head. It comes near you and you apply it to your work. As I feel here, there are some spirits near me and I am free to do the work according to their advice. They are just around me.
C: Do you have dreams that have taught you?
N: Yes, there are times when we get it through dreams but we believe that these dreams are brought by the ancestors. They can bring such a problem to be viewed, like watching tapes or video, and you can see how the problem came and how it is being controlled. I myself don’t depend on the dream, I start from there. I apply other methods. There are times when you get a dream but you are not given advice, so you have to find ways how you can overcome a problem. Some problems are very hard and you refer this problem to another clinic.
C: Do you remember as a boy a very important dream to you becoming a healer?
N: I don’t remember that. Most of the dreams that I get concern the problems that will be coming in the future. They can happen within a week or two, I will get a client with the problem.
C: How did you learn that certain herbs treat certain conditions?
N: When I am given advice, I give it to a client. Then I follow up with the client so I get to know if the problem has been cured. We get to know what herbs have healed when applied. We learn from experience.
C: Do you treat mental conditions?
N: Yes, we know mental problems, they can happen because the ancestors are annoyed, and they can come because the person is bewitched. When someone comes here and we learn from the ancestors that the person is being bewitched, those problems can be treated. We can treat those mental problems depending on how or what caused the problems.
C: Many people think traditional medicine is witchcraft. What would you tell those people?
N: This belief was brought by the missionaries. They are fighting the traditional methods, trying to assert their own methods of Jesus, They want to make people think that those practicing traditional medicine are practicing witchcraft. There are bad people, there are bad practices. But I assure them that many in the community contact traditional healers with their problems and traditional healing is not witchcraft. We just treat and help. As far as Uganda and Africa are concerned, many clans have traditional practices involving ancestors. We have realized that every clan has ancestors, and problems and treatments involving ancestors are considered to be witchcraft, which is not true.
Rose: What would you tell the public?
N: I tell them that they wanted the people to neglect their traditional methods and practices. I tell them traditional treatment, traditional practices, are not witchcraft. They are here to help people feel well, just as modern practitioners do.
C: How do the fundamentalists in your community view your work?
N: Since AIDS came, they have started to realize that traditional practitioners are not bad people. They don’t want to work with us when we have shrines. There are some persons that have contacted me, telling me your work has been good, what you do is good, so why don’t you remove the shrines? The herbs, the treatment, it is good, but when they see the shrines and that we invoke the ancestors, they view that shrine and the ancestors as witchcraft.
C: You also said some people are bewitched. Are there witches that are bewitching them? Is that what is happening? What is your understanding of how they become bewitched?
N: The feeling of being bewitched. That is how one gets the problem when the client doesn’t know what has brought on the problem. You ask many questions, have you been bitten by anything? Have you been hit? So you start realizing there must be bad by the ancestors or the spirits. The client feels the ancestor bad spirits caused problems. At times when they are dizzy, the ancestors can be annoyed and cause problems. They can also demand rudely, that they can also call being bewitched. We call all these rude, demanding, and bad sources of problems being bewitched.
C: If you learned that someone was practicing witchcraft in your community what would you do?
N: Actually it is rare. The ones who are practicing witchcraft are not usually the traditional healers. There are not very many of them within this area. Okay, they can be popular but not known. He cannot advertise that he is here bewitching people but the traditional healers can advertise and welcome people day and night.
C: How has the community viewed you work and has that changed since joining Theta?
N: First of all I joined Theta in 1992. I was working alone before, but from the advice and the ideas I got from Theta, now I am working as a successful local counsel person within the community. They trust me, and bring most of their problems to me. I am one of the members who will be found within the counsel committees and local committees. We also have a support group, which shows people trust me. The people welcome my practice. Those are signs that you are successful within the community, because if you are not trusted you will not be given that post of leader or becoming a member of the local council.
Local council 1, (at the village level) I am the general secretary.
C: What are some of the challenges to your work?
N: If you spend much time associating with people and being a community leader, you spend a lot and you gain very little. Everybody is always asking for assistance and there are some who don’t have money. As far as counseling is concerned, they even don’t pay as you expect. Some are very poor, others might be bankrupt and need assistance, so you use a lot and sometimes you gain little. I agreed to work with the people, I give counseling, I give herbs and some must be given freely because they need assistance from me.
C: Do you have support groups?
N: There were separate groups for people who are infected and those who are not. I decided to combine those groups because we are trying to fight the stigmatization people receive if they have HIV. If not, we stigmatize ourselves, we are just infected people, We started the support group to help one another. Secondly, we learn from our friends, we support our friends. We have farming; we grow foods and fight malnutrition. There is another project of singing where there is a drummer. That drummer is being used within our community awareness programs.
 'That drummer is used in our community awareness project.' |
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We go into the community and provide community awareness. We use that drummer to mobilize and also to empower us or empower the people. Then, when we meet here, there is another project for handicrafts. There are some old ladies that work on handicrafts when we come together. It keeps them busy when we discuss issues. We also have another project of home visits. We go and visit our friends who are bedridden. We support them, we go to them, and we help them because we know what the problem is. Our support group is called Chinoso AIDS Support and Orphans Care. There are 35 in the group.