Child sacrifice

As of 8 October 2012 I became an aunty for a third time. Having my new niece born whilst I am in Uganda has inevitably made me think how blessed she is to have been born to the parents she has, and in the country she has been born into, compared to a child here.

This feeling has been exacerbated over the last couple of days as I have discovered more about the occurrence of child sacrifice in Uganda.

While I had certainly heard of witch doctors existing here, and had expected some 'odd' practices to be undertaken by them, I wasn't prepared for the reality that child sacrifice is alive and well. In fact the current child sacrifices occurring in Uganda appear to be a somewhat recent phenomenon (different to historical ritualistic human sacrifices common in Africa).

I had always assumed that if children were being kidnapped and murdered as sacrifices that it would only occurr in the deepest villages in the country. Sadly not. Child sacrifice has turned into a business, whereby people (often businessmen) will pay 'healers' or sham witch doctors money to ensure the prosperity of their businesses or ventures. Sometimes the sacrifice of a goat or other animal will be sufficient, but since approx 2005 there have been a number of cases where children have been abducted by these witch doctors to sacrifice. According to reports sometimes the children are buried alive in the foundations of new buildings. In other cases they are mutilated or blood taken. Of course the 'doctor' who performs the sacrifice charges a significant fee. Hence a so called business in child sacrifice has sprung up over the past few years (a uniquely Ugandan way to take out insurance for a new business).

The numbers of official reported cases are low, about 30 a year. But the figures are thought to be much higher.

I had not expected such practices to occur in Kampala or Mukono as they are both urban and relatively developed. But due to their relative prosperity child sacrifice is reportedly common in these areas (as there are more people building and starting businesses who can afford to pay a healer to make the sacrifice).

There are reports that if a child is scarred or has pierced ears that they are not suitable for sacrifice. I noticed a lot of girls had pierced ears at school and I wonder if this is why? I'll have to ask someone next week.

EACO's most recent program has been to educate communities in the area how to protect against child sacrifice (and hopefully to dispel some of the myths about it). Things like water collection present a real issue given children most often collect water early in the morning or after school when it is dark.

I find it extremely hard to reconcile a practice like this occurring in today's world, particularly where it seems that relatively educated people believe the myths.

If you want to read more about the practice and work being undertaken by EACO check out:
http://www.asafeworldforwomen.org/partners-in-africa/partners-in-uganda/eaco/studies.html

This BBC article is also worth a read: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15255357