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Archive for September, 2008Africa in Motion Film Festival: 23 October- 2 November 2008The Africa in Motion Film Festival returns to Edinburgh this October with showings of lots of films from African directors including Malian director Souleymane Cissé and Burkinabe director Gaston Kaboré, who will both present retrospectives of their work. 0 Comments Fleeto and knife crime in Scotlandposted 23/09 by josiah.lockhart As we have seen in the news over the past few months knife crime is alive and well in the UK, but what are people doing about? A small theatre group from Glasgow has put out its protest in the form of theatre. With Fleeto we find a play based upon the Illiad and written in an estate like dialect of Scots. This comes highly recommended by the Scotsman, the Guardian, the Herald, the List, and many an art group in the Highlands, it also incorporates local children’s theatre groups. I reccomend this to everyone despite the fact I will be away. Also, due to a large amount of ’strong language’ it is 14+ £7/£5, 8-9 October @ St. Brides Centre, 10 Orwell Terrace, EH11 2DZ (0131 3461405) Reviews: Guardian, Scotsman, List, Herald 0 Comments Obligato MaputoAnother unexpected opportunity to pen a few lines… Mozambique seems very laid back with beautiful Portugeuse architecture and delicious seafood. Colleagues say that a tolerated culture of violence is always under the surface though. The old women we met in the village today were so sweet that you wanted to bundle them up and take them home - 80 year olds climbing in and out of our truck for interviews - carrying 3 buckets of water a 5km trek through the dry scrubland. We had a fairly comical chase of one old woman that was chased off her land by her own son (now living under a tree in a sort of tent) - we had both confused the meeting place so drove and walked around in circles before finally finding her grandson at a watering hole and joining up the pieces. Will be in Chokwe district for the next couple of days - an area badly affected by the 2000 flodding and civil war landmines (cleared) and probably out of email range. Off to read my Mia Couto novel and nurse a suntan. love to the ‘Burgh. JN Sunday SafariA harsh and somewhat cruel 3.30am alarm call for a stupid day of flight routes. The Guardian won’t insure me on anything Air Tanzania. Apparently being in the middle of nowhere with evil spirits is ok. Dar - Nairobi - Harare - Mupoto - bed! MUPOTO seems a laid back costal retreat compared to the past few days - beautiful old colonial facades skirting the beach front - fishermen and cold beers available. Bliss. Back to work tomorrow. Peace out, JN The end of a lifetime’s vegetarianism?!Saturday We had a field visit to another remote village near gold and silver mines today. The day began with a rare opportunity to meet a (registered, by village authorities) traditional healer, or medicine man, at his homestead. Dressed in feathers and beaded jewellery, he was one of 15 registered in a village with about 4000 people. The huts were decorated with shells and animal skins to ward off evil spirits. We gathered in his diagnosis circle where he humoured our ignorance by answering lots of questions and made a strange grunting/ warbling sound whenever ‘the ancestors’ made contact. The traditional healer apprentice (his eight year old son) stood shyly in the corner; watching and apparently learning the healer ‘code of conducut’. This particular healer seemed quite reformist in his support for older womens’ rights and his belief that traditional healing and health clinics had a complimentary role. On what I’ve seen so far I’m inclined to agree with him but the problem is tha tthe nearest health centre to this village is a 40km walk. The healer denied the use of so-called ‘divining’ practices using chicken entrails to declare indentify witches but I suspect it was also relevant that so many NGO programme staff were looking on and I had asked to record our interview. Difficult to get a true picture perhaps with honest reporting techniques. He pressed upon us an inivte to stay for a meal - a family goat had just bleated its last - the skin stretched to dry in the sun. I was actually feeling very hungry at this point and I observed distinct free range farming so, humbled by the gesture, I sat on a rice sack and dipped balls of rice into goat blood stew. Don’t tell but it actually tasted quite good! A few dives to the bushes on the way home may have suggested that my digestive system didn’t agree! The food was blessed ina manner that looked suspiciously Christina - the programme staff explained that villagers often pick aspects from several beleif systems - Animist, Christina, Islamic - ‘just to be on the safe side’ - funny though to see the very personification of Sukumuland tradition (the healer) cross himself before eating. Perhaps it’s better than being bigotted like many in the West. Happily fed and with the other goats beginning to relax a little we set off to visit one of the few female traditional healers - a highly revered position in the community and one who is relatively well off. She had a haunted look with cross-eyes and a permanent grin. She performed a diagnosis for one of the team with the twigs from a shrub and went into a sort of trance like state while shaking rattles and rubbing more sticks - the transaltion revealed that she was listing a range of catch-all, fairly ambigious scenarious possible to the ‘patient’ - much alike a horroscope ina tabloid paper. The programme member looked a bit embarrassed to be informed that he was having challenges in his sexual performance. Perhaps that was one of the ‘catch-all’ conditions. Back at the village government we watch a role play of older women being attached - for an evidently serious subject matter is was actually a very funny play with costumes and props - a bit Monthy Python like - laughter from the amassed crowd and ourselves removed any lingering cultural inhibitions. I interviewed a small group sfrom the village sungusungo/ militia about domestic relatioons and inheritance. It turns out that a woman accused of being a witch can be found not guilty if sufficient village elders vote it so, OR, she can opt to pay a fine levied of 12 cows. The problem? No single woman has ever owned more than 10 cows. In turn the men asked me questions about marriage in the UK, land law and agriculture - all my expert topics (!) - I bluffed some answers that seemed to appease. After two intense days I was sad to say goodbye to the team in Mwanza. Julia and I caught the late night flight back to Dar whereupon the pilot announced “welcome to Kilimanjaro”! At least he knew it was nightime.
Fear + Loathing in BugandandoFriday Up early to Bugandando village today to see programme interventions in action. The village is a couple of hours (bumpy) drive away from the main road. Red dust shrouds small hamlets of clay and straw huts centred around a clearing. The village government meeting was a colourful affair of chants and ‘rally’ style songs championing old peoples’ rights. So far so good. We sat under baobaou trees dsicussing cultural practices and beliefs. A very admamant woman wanted to stress that the village problems would be solved if they had access to binoculars and police sniffer dogs - only then would they be able to identify the ‘true’ witches instead of the false accusations. All nodded in agreement. The NGO suggested that access to clean water might also be relevant. The oldest man in the village was carried out to be presented to us - rumoured to be 118 - when tested he remembered a famous famine from the 1920s! I was really impressed by the translators - from sukumu to swahili to english and on some very sensitive topics like witchcraft killings, domestic abuse and governance strucutre. He helped us blow up some balloons as a small gift to his children.
Events took a sinister turn when we realised that there had been a killing of an old woman just the night before - apparently to frighten and intimidate the advocacy work. Details of any police investigation and support for dependents of the woman were sketchy but I hope to hear more. We then met with the survivor of an attack attacked because a child that she gave some nuts too became ill afterwards - she stripped down inside her house to reveal horrific machete wounds all over her back and shoulders - considered an old woman at age 50 - I mentioned that my mum also aged 50 might have something to say about this. Surviving such a thing is extremeley rare - her net curtains at the window still had slash marks. She spoke in such a quiet but steely and determined voice. Another interviwee had been isolated by community decree but continued to visit the same traditional healer that had made the devination for treatment of her evident athritis. Everyone was very quiet on the long drive home - a lot of inconsistent stories but a humbling welcome. Only when back at the hotel did the driver mention that he was feeling a bit hungry as it was now sundown - we had completely forgotten that being Muslim he would have abstained all day for Ramadan. I wish I could have some of his patience as I contemplate the speed of Internet connection or the trouble in obtaining a petrol receipt etc etc. To be continued…
From the shores of Lake Victoria
Word up Manifesto readers! So, yes, I’ve made it to Tanzania and thought I would check in with a quick hello. I’m here with Help Age International, an NGO that addresses older peoples’ rights, to write a story about allegations of witchcraft for The Guardian Development Journalism Competition. I was convinced that chronicling this journey on the blog would be good discipline for writing up the eventual story (and Phil Harrison was ever quick to oblige and provide with this daunting blank blog page) but with feeling tired and dizzy at a computer screen, ‘a dear diary’ rhetoric is not proving very forthcoming. I’ll try to put down some brief thoughts about the scene in Sukumuland. It’s a curious, but very exciting, assignment exploring a small part of East Africa with an entourage of classic NHO white jeeps, in-country photographers and partner agencies; made all the more confusing by the fact that the main broadsheet paper in Tanzania is also called The Guardian. It probably has less spelling mistakes. Dar es Salaam was the nosiy, clamerring hotbed of dealing and wheeling that I remembered it to be. Not exactly the ‘port of peace’ as its name suggests. Tonight we’re in Mwanza town in the far north of the country. Mwana - ‘the Rock City’ is a collection of shacks, churches and fish factories that cling to the rugged flintsone-like shapes all around. Far from being between a rock and a hard place, the Help Age Office compound was a welcome quiet workspace to get a briefing on Sukumaland cultures and beliefs. It’s the most conservative and traditional of all the Tanzania regions and tomorrow we will travel out to a village in one of the districts to meet with traditional healers and the ’sungusuma’ (local militia) accused of perpetrating violent reprisals against older women accused of witchcraft. The expression “kunu mkono wa mtu” (a witch’s hand is involved) is widely heard in a way that belief in witchcraft is rarely spoken of in the larger cities. Given the explosion in mobile phone use since I was last in Tanzania six years ago, I wouldn’t be surprised if the traditional healers sent out SMS to warn of evil spirits. The sungusuma claim to offer protection to local citizens against theft but I’m told they are particularly deaf to the needs of older people who do not have the resources to pay off the threats and intimidation. It seems to be a blackmail racket, Sukumuland style. Rest assured that I plan to keep my head down and stay well out of trouble. After all, I have responsibilities now that I have the pup to care for back in Leith. But as work to bring home the dog-food goes, it doesn’t get much more interesting than this. Julia (the Help Age press officer) and I have just bought up a 1kg bag of worthers original toffess, the finest Mwanza had to offer, under the guise of giving to friendly children but hopefully a bit of teeth-pulling confectionary will ward off nasty deeds by bad people too. There you go for now, and there I go… Asante sana, JN
Stories From The JungleThere’s a great little photography and illustration exhibition by Susan Anderson called ‘Stories From The Jungle’, based on a trip to Peru with a conservation project. Currently showing in the Roseleaf, a cute wee bar in Leith. Worth calling in for a pint and having a look! 0 Comments Jemma’s Africa BlogJemma’s off to Tanzania and Mozambique for a couple of weeks doing some writing and exploring - she’s promised to keep us posted here! Check the link at the top of the page for updates! 0 Comments Farming innovations in Kibera, KenyaCheck out some green innovations taking place in Africa’s largest slum, Kibera. The Afrigadget Blog has the story.
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