Rink
10-04-2005, 08:17 AM
Custom made for the spread of Aids
By David Blair in Mbingwa
(Filed: 04/10/2005)
Shaded by a grove of mopane trees, the village cemetery was strewn with fresh graves, most filled by victims of Africa's Aids epidemic who never reached the age of 30.
Fanny Mbewe knelt in silent prayer beside her husband's unmarked resting place.
Anyone who wonders why Aids has spread faster in Africa than anywhere else in the world needs only to consider her experience.
With millions of other women, Mrs Mbewe fell victim to a tradition known as "kulowakufa" which dictates that any woman whose husband dies must submit to sex with one of his male relatives.
This, supposedly, "cleanses" her of her spouse's spirit. But, given the risk this tradition carries, it might as well have been designed to spread Aids.
After her husband, James, died in a car accident three years ago, Mrs Mbewe was forced to have sex with his cousin. The man who "cleansed" her was a well-known drunkard, married with several children.
Mrs Mbewe's fear of catching Aids caused her to flee Mbingwa in rural Malawi and seek refuge with her sister-in-law, Rose. But her relatives tracked her down and insisted that she submit.
"My sister-in-law said, 'Why are you running away? This is our culture, you must do this. If you do not, people will say you have your husband's spirit. You will be blamed every time someone dies in the village'," Mrs Mbewe said. "I was afraid, but my relatives forced me to accept. I was especially afraid of the [Aids] virus. I was so afraid that I would get the virus and my children would be without their mother."
Despite her fear, Mrs Mbewe, who does not know her age, submitted to sex with her husband's relative. This took place in her old home while her son, Joseph, seven, and daughter, Margaret, five, were asleep in the room next door.
"The man was very dirty," said Mrs Mbewe. "He was a drunkard and a very dirty man. I washed myself when it was over."
Mrs Mbewe, like most people in the countryside, has never been tested for HIV and does not know whether she was infected by her encounter.
But at least 16 per cent of adult Malawians do have HIV or Aids. The epidemic has orphaned 600,000 of the country's children.
More on this Story (http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/04/wmal04.xml)
================================================== =====
These people are so backwards and ignorant, no wonder they cant pull themselves out of their poverty, disease striken ways.
I'm gonna say something un-PC, these people need Christianity, they need their 'traditions' beaten out of them and have Christianity replacing their moronic, backwards 'traditions' that are inhumane.
Plain and simple!
By David Blair in Mbingwa
(Filed: 04/10/2005)
Shaded by a grove of mopane trees, the village cemetery was strewn with fresh graves, most filled by victims of Africa's Aids epidemic who never reached the age of 30.
Fanny Mbewe knelt in silent prayer beside her husband's unmarked resting place.
Anyone who wonders why Aids has spread faster in Africa than anywhere else in the world needs only to consider her experience.
With millions of other women, Mrs Mbewe fell victim to a tradition known as "kulowakufa" which dictates that any woman whose husband dies must submit to sex with one of his male relatives.
This, supposedly, "cleanses" her of her spouse's spirit. But, given the risk this tradition carries, it might as well have been designed to spread Aids.
After her husband, James, died in a car accident three years ago, Mrs Mbewe was forced to have sex with his cousin. The man who "cleansed" her was a well-known drunkard, married with several children.
Mrs Mbewe's fear of catching Aids caused her to flee Mbingwa in rural Malawi and seek refuge with her sister-in-law, Rose. But her relatives tracked her down and insisted that she submit.
"My sister-in-law said, 'Why are you running away? This is our culture, you must do this. If you do not, people will say you have your husband's spirit. You will be blamed every time someone dies in the village'," Mrs Mbewe said. "I was afraid, but my relatives forced me to accept. I was especially afraid of the [Aids] virus. I was so afraid that I would get the virus and my children would be without their mother."
Despite her fear, Mrs Mbewe, who does not know her age, submitted to sex with her husband's relative. This took place in her old home while her son, Joseph, seven, and daughter, Margaret, five, were asleep in the room next door.
"The man was very dirty," said Mrs Mbewe. "He was a drunkard and a very dirty man. I washed myself when it was over."
Mrs Mbewe, like most people in the countryside, has never been tested for HIV and does not know whether she was infected by her encounter.
But at least 16 per cent of adult Malawians do have HIV or Aids. The epidemic has orphaned 600,000 of the country's children.
More on this Story (http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/04/wmal04.xml)
================================================== =====
These people are so backwards and ignorant, no wonder they cant pull themselves out of their poverty, disease striken ways.
I'm gonna say something un-PC, these people need Christianity, they need their 'traditions' beaten out of them and have Christianity replacing their moronic, backwards 'traditions' that are inhumane.
Plain and simple!