27795679811Traditional Healers And Modern Herbal Medicines,Astrology,Sangoma In Sangoma In Polokwane, Lebowakgomo, Mankweng, Mokopane

 South AfricaMadagascar

Officials And Ngos Hope To Work With Healers, Who Thrive InRemote Areas, In Order To Reach Underserved Communities.

Mama Zainabu Is A TraditionalHealer  And A Pillar Of His Community InMadagascar [Tom Maguire/Al Jazeera]

By WilliamWorley

PublishedOn 1 Aug 20161 Aug 2016

South Africa – In LimpopoVillage In The Remote South Of  Polokwane,It Is Said That The Man Whom People Seek Out To Cure Their Sickness Was TrainedBy A Ghost. Sixty-Years  Old Mama Zainabu Is A Traditional HealerAnd Claims His Potions And Spells Can Treat Diseases And Psychiatric Disorders– And Even Make People Fall In Love.

He Is The Sole Inhabitant Of A Wooden House – ARare Luxury In A Region Where Many Families Cram A Dozen People Into One SmallLiving Space. Inside, A Brown And Yellow Tapestry Emblazoned With Depictions OfButterflies And Vines Hangs Across A Wall. Pinned To It Is A 2016 Calendar AndA Weekly Timetable. Tools, Boxes And A Bicycle Are Neatly Stacked Around ASizeable Bed.

Sitting On The Thatched Floor, Mama Zainabu Explains How The KnowledgeOf His Craft Came To Him. “In 1975, I Fell Sick,” He Says. “I Had To Drink ZebuBlood [The Blood Of The Local Humped Cattle]. Soon After, A Ghost Came From TheSea And Taught Me Everything I Know.”

Another 4,860 Ghosts Followed, Mama Zainabu Says, And They Always SitOn His Shoulders – Even As He Speaks. “I Take Them As Gods, They Guide Me.” TheyAre His Counsel In Healing And Advise Him On How To Treat People, He Says.

KEEP READING

List Of 4 Items List 1 Of 4

AllegedBody Part Theft By Harvard Morgue Manager Spurs Lawsuit

List 2 Of 4

SprinterTori Bowie Died From Childbirth Complications: Autopsy

List 3 Of 4

HowCommon Is Albinism And What Gene Causes It?

List 4 Of 4

ShouldGovernments Make Breathing Clean Air A Human Right?

End OfList

He Is One Of Many Healers Practising His CraftIn Madagascar, One Of The Poorest Countries In The World, Where 80 Percent OfPeople Live In Extreme Poverty. 

The World Health Organization (Who) Defines Traditional Healing As “The Knowledge,Skill, And Practices Based On The Theories, Beliefs, And Experiences IndigenousTo Different Cultures Mama Zainabu ProvidesA Face To An Issue Present In Many Developing Countries – Across Africa AnEstimated 80 Percent Of The

Bottom ofForm

Thecommunity pillar

Mama Zainabu’s RemediesAnd Solutions Are At Odds With Modern Medicine, But He Is A Pillar Of TheCommunity In A Remote Place Which Feels Forgotten By Modern Institutions OwingTo The Lack Of Infrastructure AndServices. 

From His Small Shack In Polowane, Mama Zainabu Diagnoses Patients AndPrescribes “Treatments”. “There Are Two Kinds Of Diseases, Those That NeedHospital And Those That Don’t Need Hospital MamaZainabu Says.

“The Only Thing That I Cannot Heal Is SomethingWhich Has To Be Done By Surgery, But The Tools Of How I Do It Change Every SixMonths.”