By Piason Maringwa
Human beings are in most cases naturally superstitious and stories abound of very highly educated people who have been found at traditional healer’s and prophets; shrines doing unimaginable rituals.
Being superstitious has cost many people both their lives and dignity. Superstition is also among the reasons why so many people hate each other and are always fighting and sometimes killing each other.
The advent of HIV/AIDs brought with it its own fair share of problems related to the superstitious nature of people. Because of the shame usually attached to being HIV+ most people suffering from HIV related ailments found comfort in blaming witchcraft and evil spirits for their ailments. Members of my family who tested HIV positive in the early 2000s refused to accept their status and opted to blame witchcraft and evil spirits for their ailments and all died as a result. A lot of people out there do not want to level blame for their being HIV+ to themselves and their errant sexual behaviors but instead find it more satisfying to blame witchcraft, evil spirits and other supernatural forces.
The “Ngozi” or Avenging Spirit effect of HIV came as result of some people’s superstitious nature .This reminds of a very sad scenario that happened to the Gombero family in Chigodora area of Chief Zimunya in Manicaland in the early to mid 90s where almost all extended family members perished due to AIDS but all blame was put on Ngozi or Avenging Spirit because of the superstitious nature of the family.
The whole drama unfolded like this , one of the family members, the eldest brother of the family had a thriving bottle store at the local business centre but worked in Harare and only came home to Chigodora once or twice per month. The shopkeeper was his unmarried and stunningly beautiful young sister in law. Each time the shop owner’s elder brother came to visit his rural home and shop he would sleep with his beautiful sister in law thus infecting her with HIV which he unsuspectingly brought from Harare where he also had infected his wife and they had already lost two infant children. The other younger brothers would also come to their rural home from their work places across the country at different times and also sleep with “mwaramu” ie their elder brother’s beautiful sister in law thus getting infected in the process. When they returned back to their homes they each would infect their wives and sometimes their unborn children. Soon and very soon the stage for a disastrous catastrophe was now set and ready to explode.
The ticking time bomb was just waiting to explode and when it did start the effects were devastating. People began to die in their large numbers and every week there was a funeral or two of members from that extended family. The situation became so dire and frightening within the extended family to an extent that accusations and counter accusations were levelled at each other with some pointing fingers at others accusing them of being witches.
Prophets and witch doctors had a field day taking advantage of the superstitious beliefs this family had. Meanwhile nobody within the family ever imagined that what was decimating them was HIV/AIDs. Prophets and witch doctors put all the blame on avenging spirits and witchcraft, there was mayhem as people from all age groups continued to die unceasingly. It was much later when the elder brother was ill and went to his doctor friend for a diagnosis that he was found HIV+. When the elder brother discovered that he was HIV+ that’s when it dawned to him that all members of his family had died of Aids. Today if you visit the Gombero family heroes’ acre in Chigodora you’ll be shocked at the number of graves and their frequency way back then actually it was death after death for many weeks.
The elder Gombero who is believed to be the architect of the AIDs that wiped out his kith and kin survived on ART for many years only to die in 2018.
The Gomberos are not the only victims of superstitious beliefs to die in large numbers with and within a short space of time .There are a lot more and there will continue to be a lot more unless measures are taken to stop false prophets from taking advantage of people’s ignorance and superstitious beliefs.
The advent of HIV/AIDs has brought with it lots of disputes as family members accuse and counter accuse each other of witchcraft yet the biggest witch is in our pants and minds through superstition. We must learn to accept reality and agree that HIV is real .Being superstitious will only continue to fuel hatred and feed pockets of false prophets and witch doctors.
A lot of HIV+ people do not want to face the truth leading to non disclosure which fuels more new HIV infections. I have heard some saying no matter what they’ll never disclose to the public unaware that most people on ARVs are known due to the way ARVs are distributed through CARGI groups where one individual collects ARVs for say ten or more people and besides we meet at our health facilities regularly and get to know all on ART in the process.
There is a lot of work that needs to be done to make people aware that HIV is a reality that we need to accept because it is still there and will continue to be our guest for as long as we continue to play hide and seek with it. Time has come for everyone to smell their coffee and shun superstition with all its evil machinations.
