3.4 The process of ukuthwasa
3.4.6 Women and basic health in the developing world
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Merwe (2008, 1300) maintained that “the concept of ancestral involvement in everyday life is more than a story or a myth”. Although, notions of modernisation are called upon for the rejection of ancestral practices as being backward and traditional, these practices are important to millions in many areas in the world (Oyewumi 2002). Ancestors can be defined as the living dead who hold influence over their living descendants (Bae and Van der Merwe 2008, 1300).
Those that remain in this world are still very much connected to those that have died;
communication does not only end when people die. Through rituals, communication between the living and the dead continues and the relationship grows. It is the social capital of the sangomas that allows this relationship and communication to thrive.
The living kin gain protection, blessings, explanations and guidance from those that have died.
According to Bae and Van der Merwe (2008, 1300), “the living descendants are believed to gain protection and blessings in return for their veneration of the ancestors. They further stated that “the ritual practices associated with ancestor worship are heavily reliant upon the premise that the dead are able to return to the living and have an influence on the lives of the living”
(1321).
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considered unclean and the discharge, according to Agyekum (2002), weakens the woman and possibly those around her during that time. An international survey of literature by scholars such as Agyekum (2002), Das (2008), Umeora and Egwuatu (2008); Cicurel and Sharraby (2007) demonstrated the belief that menstruation makes women spiritually unclean.
TBAs have broken these socially constructed prohibitions which are at the forefront of pregnancy and birth. Pregnancy and childbirth are interwoven in the spiritual realm and are considered one of life’s most important events. Today women are actively involved in these spiritual events and this changes the manner in which many communities operate and define the role of women. The TBAs are part of the most important spiritual practice of bringing life into this world, communicating with the ancestors for the rite of passage to pregnancy and childbearing. TBAs are mediators that negotiate pregnancy with the ancestors, they ask for protection and guidance of the pregnant women throughout the duration of the pregnancy. The importance of TBAs in many communities is becoming evident; we see women who have defied gender roles and being marked as subordinate within communities by taking on previously dominated practices which were and in some communities still restricted to the male gender. This supports the views of some African feminists like Oyewumi (2002) that the Western perception of feminist roles are different from those in Africa.
“The ancestors do not care whether you are male or female, when they need to use you they use you. I have been a practising sangoma for as long as I can remember and I do not recall a single day where my call or plea to the ancestors was not heard because of my gender.” – Primrose
“Gender is not important to the ancestors, otherwise no woman would be a sangoma. I think that men here in the land of the living feel that they have to undermine us as women because they know how strong we are. I respect men, but at times I feel that the rules and practices in our societies are for their benefit. They want to be seen as honourable and superior at all times.
I feel that even though they uphold a certain status in our communities, women are the ones that make the communities function the way they do. A woman is compassionate and quick to understand that is why you find that as a TBA I take the pain and joy of another woman at heart because I have lived some of their experience. The fact that I can heal, diagnose and assist many people proves how powerful a woman I am.” – Dolly
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“Women are considered unclean and impure, especially during their menstruation cycle. In many homes you find that any rituals being performed are led by men because they are believed to be purer and superior to women. You find that there are restricted areas such as isibaya (kraal) where women are prohibited from entering especially if they are having their period.
Women are not allowed to touch or come in close contact with traditional medicines especially during their periods because it is believed that they kill off the usefulness of the medicine. There are many negative connotations that are associated with being a woman in traditional societies, however, the ancestors see beyond these social constructions when selecting an individual that will carry out their work. As a practising sangoma I am able to lead instead of being led, I possess more knowledge and I am listened to. People come to me when they need assistance, they know that I will be able to assist and solve their problem because I have the knowhow, regardless of the fact that I am a woman.” – Angela
Nyanzi, Manneh and Walraven (2007) described TBAs as mothers to the village because of the service that they offer to the community. Nyanzi et al. (2007, 46) added that “TBAs provide general health care and support to their communities – over and beyond the sphere of reproductive health. Not only do they attend to women and/ or their babies during the antenatal, delivery and postnatal periods, but they are also often the first point of call for other community members when ill-health is suspected”. This description of TBAs reinforces the life stories of the participants in this study. In some instances, while I was at their homes for interviews their phones would ring constantly – women calling and seeking advice and others booking consultations. On one particular visit to Angela’s house, a woman whose foetus had not moved in days came to consult. She was in tears when she arrived, but Angela calmed her down and took her to isgodlo (her consultation room) to further investigate the matter. As I waited outside another woman who was having problems with her in-laws came to see Angela; she wanted to seek Angela’s advice as she was regarded as a knowledgeable woman who assisted families resolve conflicts. Drew (1995, 5) claimed that “female consciousness stems from women's nurturing role in the socially-defined sexual division of labour and refers to women's awareness of themselves as producers and nurturers of life.”
Ancestors empower women to become more than mere members of the community, especially in patriarchal societies as they hold power and knowledge that makes them more than women;
rather they are seen as individuals who can help and partake in traditional practices that were traditionally led by men. Even though considered to be of a lesser standing in society, women
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who are chosen to become traditional healers are associated with power and knowledge. It is through networks that these women continue to empower themselves.
“You cannot know everything, sometimes you need the knowledge and assistance of other people, when I am consulting a patient and they present symptoms I have no knowledge of I always contact another TBA for assistance. We need to assist each other in our line of work, it is through this practice that we grow. I believe that it is important for women to assist each other in these communities that we live in because we are already considered to be inferior” – Juliet
This is evidence of the social capital that these TBAs enjoy on the basis of their roles in society.
They share ideas and learn from each other in order to attend to the needs of the community. It is a positive expression of the social identity that they also enjoy in the midst of general negative perceptions described earlier. The researcher, however, found that even though women are empowered and alleviated from certain social constructs of societies because of their ability to break social norms and take the roles which were previously restricted to men only, they continued to suffer some form of oppression through not being able to fully own their bodies. According to feminist theory, women should own their bodies. However, the research participants described how they would have preferred not to be sangomas; they did not want to accept their calling because of the hardships of initiation school and because it meant giving up their life dreams and professions to become practising sangomas. Angela shared that she was not happy about sharing her body; she felt that it was not fair because she did not want to become a practising sangoma. She was forced to become a sangoma because running away from her calling made her sick. She shared that it was difficult because she had no knowledge of what happened to her when the ancestors possessed her body to communicate their messages.