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"But that’s not real witchcraft."

Submitted by Jim Downey on June 8, 2008 - 4:57pm.

Welcome to the effects of magical thinking:

Discrimination against albinos is a serious problem throughout sub-Saharan Africa, but recently in Tanzania it has taken a wicked twist: at least 19 albinos, including children, have been killed and mutilated in the past year, victims of what Tanzanian officials say is a growing criminal trade in albino body parts.

Many people in Tanzania — and across Africa, for that matter — believe albinos have magical powers. They stand out, often the lone white face in a black crowd, a result of a genetic condition that impairs normal skin pigmentation and strikes about 1 in 3,000 people here. Tanzanian officials say witch doctors are now marketing albino skin, bones and hair as ingredients in potions that are promised to make people rich.

Yes, you read that correctly: albinos are being hunted down, killed, and then their body parts used in potions sold to people to 'make them rich'.

How can this happen? Well, the quote I used in the title comes from this statement, which just might offer a clue:

One traditional healer, a young man in a striped shirt who looked more like a college student than a witch doctor, said: “Yeah, I’ve heard of it. But that’s not real witchcraft. It’s the work of con men.”

"It's the work of con men."

Not like real witchcraft, of course.

*sigh*

At least someone (identified in the article as Commissioner Paul Chagonja) gets it:

“These witch doctors have many strange beliefs,” he said. “There was a rumor not so long ago that if you use a bald head when fishing, you’ll get rich. There was another one that said if you spread blood on the ground in a mine, you’ll find gold. These rumors come and go. The problem is, the people who follow witch doctors don’t question them.”

Just like people who follow shaman everywhere.

Jim Downey

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