It was a hot summer day in Bunga Bunga village. I was attending a funeral of an acquaintance that I had done some land business with a few years back. There were hundreds of villagers sitting quietly underneath the shade of some large trees waiting for the ceremony to begin. I leaned over to my Ugandan friend, Dennis, and asked “what has happened to this man?” Dennis explained, “This man is a very influential man in this area was had been suffering from severe swelling in his extremities. He also had burning and sharp pain in his feet and legs.” Dennis lowered his voice and leaned closer to me to tell the real story of why this man had died. “Convinced that one of his enemies had placed a curse on him, he went to a local Witch Doctor in an effort to counteract the spell. The Witch Doctor chanted and prayed and commenced to slice open the areas of extreme swelling with a razor blade and insert some local herbs. He died just hours after.”
At the funeral, an Anglican priest stood up to begin his homily for the ceremony. But instead, he began shouting at the people that this is why you are not to go see Witch Doctor’s! This is why you must call the Church and they will come and pray for you. Then he announced that the man died from his wounds at the Witch Doctor’s hand. He was not cursed, but rather was suffering from Diabetes which could have been treated at the clinic in the city. There was a great collective gasp from the crowd and the murmuring began…
Today we welcomed into our village his youngest child.