Thursday, June 14, 2007

71-Year Old Witchdoctor Pays Radio Reporter a Visit via Motorcycle Taxi

The headline pretty much says it all. That was, without a doubt the highlight of my day yesterday.

I made the trip down to Nshamba on Tuesday. Nshamba was the site of the worst part of the reported epidemic: more than 217 people were affected there. By the miracle of the small-world-game style of reporting I'd adopted I'd actually located a woman who'd been affected with Omunepo when she was 6 in 1962.

My local guide/fixer/translator/former TZ national team soccer star Raymond and his dutch friend and our driver Arianne took the car in to get some oil in the morning and hours upon hours later we finally hit the road to Nshamba. It was a 2+ hour journey on really rough roads past small subsistence farms (coffee, bananas, pineapple).

When we arrived, Gertrude, the interview subject, told us that she'd planned to take us 1 hour further down the road to see the man who helped treat her. He was 22 at the time and was the assistant to the witch doctor. Looking at the low position of the sun in the sky, and consulting my traveling companions, we told her it was impossible, we'd never make it there and back to Bukoba before dark. (Raymond was in a pretty severe car accident about 2 weeks ago -- his face and head still show the evidence pretty graphically -- which infused a healthy measure of caution into our driving plans.) Raymond hatched up an excellent back up plan, though: let's send a motorcycle taxi to go get the witch doctor. this way, we can interview Gertrude while he makes the trip and we'd still have time to make it home before dark. Perfect!

The interview was exactly what I'd hoped for: a very detailed and specific story and entirely new information, unlike anything I'd heard in Kashasha Village or Bukoba.

After waiting an hour after finishing with Gertrude we finally get a call: the motorcycle taxi has broken down on his way to reach the witchdoctor. But Raymond has an idea. He tells gertrude: "I think it would be possible for you to send him to Bukoba tomorrow by dala dala." (Dala dala is a minivan which acts as a local bus). Gertrude says "no, I don't think so." And that's when Raymond pulls out the Jedi mind trick. He keeps repeating "I think it is possible."

Low and behold, Gertrude calls me 4 hours later: the motorcycle brought this 71 man to her home and he's just arrived and she will send him by daladala to Bukoba in the morning. "He will be there at 7 am" she tells me. Yes, I think it is possible.

And THIS is what a daladala looks like:



He made the trip...and then...oh, I'm out of time...I am writing this from a tiny grass-roofed hut on beach on the island of Zanzibar. Yes, literally.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

バイク便
家庭教師 鎌倉
不動産登記
埼玉 不動産
カップリングパーティー
カップリングパーティー
ユニキー
脚やせ
ブライダルエステ
納骨堂
脳 学習
先物 オンライン
中古 厨房機器
製氷機
アヴァンス
声楽教室
白衣は白衣
エアコン取付
オーディション
新宿 整体
私学
フランチャイズ
折込チラシ
時計修理
自己破産
賃貸宝塚市
エルメス 修理
スポーツトレーナー
ドイツ語会話
英語 学習
英会話 カフェ
大腸がん
ホームページ制作
結婚準備
デイトレ銘柄情報
スパ
ファンドマネージャー 転職
福生市 不動産
証券会社 転職
FX比較
先物情報
インド 会社設立
介護施設 横浜
改修工事
スライドショー
ECサイト 構築 システム
ダイエット お茶
カクレクマノミの繁殖
オフィス レイアウト変更
オフィスデザイン
PAレンタル
桜新町 マンション
アトピー
川崎 一戸建て
埼玉県 結婚式場
和装 結婚式
にきび 治療
エルメス バッグ
レストランウェディング 東京
ケータリング
映像制作会社 東京
業務用エアコン
株 情報
新座 不動産
フランチャイズ 情報
保育士資格
ビーズ パーツ
蛇口 水漏れ
まつげエクステ 口コミ
債務整理 秦野

izumiyuu said...

http://rltz.blogspot.jp/2007/06/71-year-old-witchdoctor-pays-radio.html
及び

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1924508084422985516&postID=3877571687239078949
より当社宛て

http://www.a-ori.com
へ貼られているリンクは
当社の意図しないリンクである為、早急に削除してください。
「折込チラシ」から発信されているリンクです。

宜しくお願い致します。