KamZamNews

This is from Kamau and Kimberly's News Blog. This one was titled
Witches, Mumps, and Pox. For pictures go to
www.kamzamnews.blogspot.com

..From Kamau

Greetings friends! I trust this finds you all doing well! From what
we've heard, you have been experiencing a sizzling hot summer season
especially in the East Coast! Here in Zambia, the months of June and
July are usually our winter season and yes it has been getting cold
late in the evening and especially early mornings' but it has none the
less been a rather warm winter which is unusual.

You in the Northern Hemisphere may find it hard to believe, but it
really does get cold in Zambia to a point where I have been forced to
wear several layers of clothes to stay warm. The house we live in has
a tin roof and no ceiling such that when its get cold, the only
solution is to dress up and go to bed early. Now during the hot
months, the opposite is true! The same tin roof gets so hot you feel
like you are broiling slowly.

Now about those pesky witches! This is one of those things which as an
African I really find aggravating! Especially when I witness the
strong spiritual, emotional and mental bondage many are subjected to
including some believers! It especially get me riled up when I see the
adamant rejection of the care of a medical doctor because the person
or the family of the patient believes that the illness has nothing to
do with normal sickness which any person born of flesh may suffer, but
a belief that someone has cast a spell or that out of jealously, the
patient has been bewitched and therefore medical science has nothing
to offer.

This was our experience recently when one of our workers became
seriously ill and we decided to take him to hospital. He was admitted
into the local district hospital but a few days later, his wife and
his brother came to see me and told me that the patient was being
transferred to the national hospital for more specialized care and
they therefore need money to help facilitate this transfer. They were
given the funds but several days later, they came back and said they
needed yet more money! I was confused and thought perhaps we were
having a communication barrier, because as far as I knew the transfer
to the national hospital and already been effected! I don't speak
their particular language and so I asked one of the staff to
translate. It finally came out that they needed the funds to pay a
witch doctor who I was told was treating the patient! I got so angry
and told and them there was no way we were going to take money God's
people have provided to pay for the services of a witchdoctor!

The whole story eventually surfaced and I found out that lies had been
told; the district hospital had not really transferred the patient but
the family had decided to remove the patient from the district
hospital and taken him to a witchdoctor in the village because they
had decided that what he was suffering from was not a "normal illness"
but that he had been bewitched and therefore the only way he could be
cured was through "traditional means." They were heard to say that
they had seen a witchdoctor and that the witch had actually shown them
on a "screen" the persons who had bewitched their loved one. According
to the family the people responsible for the "bewitchment" were the
patient's two co-workers who out of jealousy had done this terrible
deed.

Now, being accused of practicing witchcraft is a very serious charge
in Zambia! People accused of bewitching others have been killed and
sometimes burned alive in their grass huts! Killings of people
suspected of witchcraft occurred recently in a place called Mansa. You
can therefore appreciate the deep hurt and pain our two workers were
experiencing not to mention the danger inherent at such an accusation.
The two threatened to report this matter to the police in order to be
accorded protection and help guard their reputation. When we as
management found out that the family had removed the patient from the
hospital, we decided to step in and do whatever was necessary to help
him access medical care. We paid a visit to the home of the worker's
parents in the village to plead with them to allow us to take him to a
good hospital. We found the worker lying on a mattress on the ground
very weak and emaciated; he could barely see or talk. We were informed
he had not eaten for days nor used the bathroom. After some
discussion, the family agreed to let us take him to the hospital, we
took him to a private hospital where we were sure he would get proper
care and attention. The doctors at the well equipped Egyptian Orthodox
Hospital very quickly diagnosed him with TB which is a treatable
disease. He was there for almost a week and was beginning to eat and
get stronger when he suddenly took a turn for the worse and died. He
was only 27 yrs. He left behind his wife and two children, one a very
young baby. The cause of death was listed as respiratory failure and
TB. NOT witchcraft! But a treatable illness! I can't help but wonder
if he would be alive today had he been able to access thorough medical
attention much earlier instead of a dalliance with primitive and
hollow remedies.

Here at the children's home, we have faced our own challenges with
chicken pox among some of the children and an outbreak of mumps. Four
of our children in the same house tested positive for mumps and just
last week, two other children from a different house also tested
positive! We hope it doesn't get out of control; we are trying not to
panic! (Did I hear witchcraft!!!) Just joking! I am reliably informed
that this illness is particularly bad for boys and especially older
men! Boy, am I glad I have 44 children!

May God's peace and grace rest upon you!

The Kamaus