KATHMANDU BABY

The Bonthe Society

Im sitting on the porch eating the juiciest mangos for breakfast. I’ve passed on the huge dish of rice and am drinking coffee I packed from Freetown. It’s a beautiful day : I’m feeling relaxed. My peace is interrupted by some shouting and I look to the house next door . The house next door is made of mud and has a thatched roof: this is the structure of most the properties in the village. Those that can afford it use bricks and have corrugated iron roofs. The village was a buffer zone during the civil war and only now homes are being slowly re built.

Outside of the house there is a group of people who appear to be carrying a struggling woman. Those around me are ignoring the commotion. But curiosity gets the best of me and a slight feeling of fear and a question to myself as to what I should do in this situation. ‘Junior, why is a large proportion of the village holding that girl down? ’.

Junior is one of Emmanuel’s closest friends, calm, kind, speaks good English and understands mine. Junior turns his head smiles and answers in a reassuring slightly amused tone,

‘she has been possessed by evil spirits and so needs holding for protection.’ Junior seems surprised by my disbelief and questioning of the ‘evil spirits’ line. We don’t get anywhere with the discussion and the commotion appears to have ended. I have heard a bit about the mende societies for men and women. I am ignorant as to the details though and will have to remain so. If a mende man tells anything about his initiation he does not expect to live long thereafter. Who I am to challenge a belief system I am ignorant of? Except except when it comes down to issues like female genital mutilation, there in my book there is no room for cultural relativism and this I have made clear to who it matters most in my life. The practise, I am told, is much less common now. Traditional belief systems are being challenged.

It is perhaps another of the impacts of the civil war that traditional belief systems came to much higher prominence again. In this district, attacked and vulnerable from rebels and the army in a mineral rich district, the Mende Kamajors formed a civil defence society to protect their communities. The Kamajors were immune to bullets after their initiation. They had some success in the war and so traditional belief systems are cemented.

Back to the spirit possessed neighbour. She is running toward us pursuing Christiana, Emmanuels 10 year old niece. Christiana hides behind us the girl is taken off again. She believes she needs children to join her society. I try to not look as terrified as Christiana, but I just don’t understand this and its so alien to me.

The spirit possessed one is packed off the next day to a neighbouring village to be with her mother. Her father and mother had been separated during the civil war. Away from each other for so long they had turned to new partners and remain separated. The war took its toll on every aspect of life and every day in different ways it is played out.