Friday, July 20

Things have gotten mighty strange in Yambio since I was last here five weeks ago. Warnings of witchcraft are as frequent as the rains are long. It seems that the returning refugees coming from Congo are being accused by the community of practicing witchcraft – specifically, skinning human beings and draining them of their blood.

The stories go like this: A man hired a motorcycle driver to take his wife and baby to a distant location. When the destination was reached, the motorcyclist did not stop. Instead, he drove into the bush, and tied the woman to a tree. He then proceeded to drain the woman’s baby of its blood, killing it then. He then prepared to do the same to the woman. She, however, asked if she could first say a prayer. He allowed her as much. Just then, a snake dropped from the tree, bit the man and killed him. The woman picked up her dead baby and walked into town. Is it true? Who knows?

The second story: A woman survived an attempt by a man to skin her alive. As she was paraded into the police station (here, victims of violence are often taken first to the police station to complete a report before being allowed medical treatment. We are working hard to change this), the long, thin, red scar down the length of her spine was visible to the crowd that had gathered as the word spread throughout town. Is it true? Well, she did indeed have a scar down her spine. Our gender based violence team visited her in the hospital, only to learn that the incident was more likely attributable to an attempted rape. Both she and her uncle, the perpetrator, were incredibly drunk. He attempted to have sex with her. She refused. She passed out and when she awoke discovered the cut down her back.

The third story: Several man were arrested on suspicion of having blood in their jerry cans, more commonly used to transport water from boreholes to home. Is it true? Not likely. Draining someone’s blood would most likely cause death. Yet, no one has reported that their family members have died or are missing. My friend, Stephanie, a police officer with the United Nations Mission in Sudan, monitors police work here, but cannot demand action, least of all the production of allegedly bloodied jerry cans.

The reports of skinning and blood draining brought such alarm to the populace that a 10 p.m. curfew was imposed throughout the city. It lasted for two or three days before a new announcement came via a vehicle equipped with a bullhorn: there is no witchcraft; the accounts are nothing but rumor. The priest at the Catholic Church reiterated this at Sunday mass.

However, a few days later the police were at it again – arresting a driver and four men in his truck for having jerry cans filled with human blood.

There is no doubt people are scared. One man said he went outside at night for a “short call” (think latrine). Someone shined a flashlight in his direction. He fainted from fear, falling and injuring his leg. Another man was bicycling in the dark when a pedestrian asked him for a ride. The pedestrian did not take no for an answer and jumped onto the bike. The bicyclist shrieked with fear, summoning the neighbors, and proceeded to accuse the man of attempting to drain his blood.

It appears the rumors may be thinly veiled attempts to discriminate against the returning refugees who spend the exile in Congo. It is widely believed that witchcraft is practiced there. Try telling people here that there is no vegetation in the jungles of Congo that sucks human blood. Most often, seemingly crazy beliefs come from a nugget of truth. A colleague tells me that blood draining is in fact practiced in West Africa, where the blood is used to cast spells. The blood-letting always increases around election time, she says, when people are casting spells in hopes that one candidate wins or the other loses.

Suffice it to say, while there have not been major problems with the reintegration of thousands of returning refugees, the populace is experiencing a change as people come home. During the protracted war, some people sought refuge in Congo, some in Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Central Africa Republic. Though they are of the same land and likely of the same tribe, they now have different practices and beliefs that can easily be misinterpreted. We are humans and we are often afraid of the unknown. As for me, I’m not buying it until proof is had.