The WitchDoctor

Over the last few weeks, the big news in Tanzania and Kenya has been about this 76 year-old witchdoctor who claims to have the cure for AIDS. Mchungaji Ambilikile Mwasapile or,“Babu”(grandfather in Swahili) is a retired pastor from a rural village outside of Arusha. According to multiple sources, the “cure” is essentially a cup of tea mixed with an herb. Thousands of people from the surrounding areas (including this village) have taken the journey to see him. Unfortunately, at least 52 people have died from various complications (I'm assuming that a bunch of sick people living in already unsanitary living conditions presents certain health risks). Moreover, during last week’s trip to Shinyanga, we encountered a huge crowd outside of the city’s main hospital as we were picking up one of the villagers. Later, we found out that the government was investigating one of Babu’s patients. The crowd had formed outside of the medical facility because one of the fifty-two bodies was being autopsied. To his credit, Babu only charges 500 schillings (about 30 cents USD) per person. Although this price is not outrageous, I’m going to leave my opinion on the matter at the door because as the saying goes…”If you’ve got nothing nice to say, then don’t saying anything at all!”

Okay, well enough of the facts, (we’ll leave that to the official SeanWhiteTZ Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Nicole Nalepa. Check her out on the western Mass NBC affiliate, WWLP 22News. And yes, contrary to popular belief, people do live west of Natick. Sure most of them are married to their cousins, but I digress…). Personally, I’m more interested in the whole concept of a “WitchDoctor.” Furthermore, if I don’t have a job by the time I come home, I may be exploring this occupation more seriously…Can you say Craig’s List??

Name: SeaNzungu
-If you can't beat 'em, might as well join 'em.

Description/Appearance: Off the top of my head, I think the best way to describe a WitchDoctor would be for you to close your eyes and visualize the “Jesus Guy.” Every summer he stands outside of Fenway, holding up signs and passing out those pamphlets that urge us to “Repent” or else we’ll be subjected to eternal damnation. Anyway, the point here is that he’s a marketing machine…and as much as you don’t want to admit it, you’ll never truly be able to erase the image of the “Jesus Guy” from your mind.

Product: Deodorant
I’ll keep this short and sweet. When priority #1 is putting food on the table, personal hygiene takes back seat. I’m not gonna lie, I had been warned about the BO, however, my faulty intel had assured me that I’d stop noticing the smell after a few weeks. Well I got here in Feb. and it’s now April…not much has changed. If anyone feels compelled to contact CVS and request like a 1,000 packs of deodorant(Norty, this could be a golden opportunity for P&G to control the East African market!), I think I could coordinate a sweet UN Peacekeeping-Style ” Deodorant Drop!”