Shanksteps # 96
A 60-year-old woman lay on the floor of the Emergency Room. Fear filled her eyes. She was given a medicine cup filled with water. Her eyes grew more fearful and she threw it across the room. She answered questions appropriately, but was agitated with a crazed look on her face. One minute she was lying calmly; the next she was writhing and breathing fast. When asked why she threw the water across the room, she answered that she was “afraid” of it. Her brother was in the corner crying softly (extremely rare to see men or women cry here). We asked if she was bitten by any animals recently, and the response was yes, by a dog a month ago. Rabies! 100% fatal once symptoms start, and death usually occurs within a week. Her brother had died of rabies a year ago after being bitten by a dog. My heart aches, I feel like joining the brother in the corner. I explain what rabies is and what the outcome will be. I pray for healing or endurance for her and the family. I asked the nurse to prayin Mafa, so that she could understand. We pray that she accepts Christ and that she feels peace. Later I ask the nurse that lives near them why they didn’t look for rabies treatment after she was bitten, especially when her brother died of the same thing. He explained the following: It is common belief that only sorcerers die when bitten by a dog with rabies. Other people do not. So if you are not a sorcerer then you don’t need to worry. But maybe you do believe medical recommendations to get treatment, if then you go to get the treatment you are very shamed because all your neighborswill be convinced that you ARE a sorcerer. Here is the pathophysiology of a rabies bitten person based on local beliefs. After the bite a small dog starts growing inside. It is in the early stages that the traditional healers can “treat” it with sacrifices and other witchdoctor things. In the later stages when it already “has teeth and hair” it is too late and cannot be killed and the person will die of the disease. As you can see, it is hard to convince someone that the treatment is necessary when they are bitten. Especially when they are not a sorcerer and our medicines wouldn’t treat something like a dog growing inside anyway. So it makes more sense to go the person that treats these kind of things, the witchdoctor. Continue to pray that we learn how best to relate to the Mafa people that have so many different beliefs and understandings than we do. In His Service, Greg