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Gogo Thokozile, 29-year-old Johannesburg-based traditional healer.

Millennial Traditional Healers Moving African Spirituality Forward

As Black Africans, seeking alternative methods of healing is foundational to our rich culture — something that should never be shrouded in shame.

Traditional healers have been, and remain, a fundamental part of African spirituality and culture. Long before Western medicine, and even after its continued medical breakthroughs, many Black Africans still seek healing from those who have been afforded the gift to heal and guide. And while the faces of these healers have oftentimes, throughout the years, been those of much older men or women, more and more young people are embracing their ancestral calling.


​​A MILLENNIAL TOUCH​​

In the age of social media and instant access to information, millennial traditional healers have the ability to dispel many of the aspersions cast on their practise and to set the record straight. This, is something popular traditional healer Gogo Dineo Ndlanzi does well.

Among the many millennial traditional healers, are South African celebrities such as rapper Boity Thulo,actress Letoya Makhene,actor and musician coupleDineo and Solo Langa, musician Phelo Bala and many others. When Thulo shared her journey to accepting ubungoma (the calling) in 2016, the gesture was met with backlash from those who accused her of using the sacred practice to further her career. However, healing lies in the hands of the chosen, regardless of celebrity status. In a recent interview with TimesLIVE, Thulo shared: "I don't have any regrets about letting people in. I took a huge risk because back then, people wouldn't have revealed much about this aspect of their lives — preferring instead to keep it private."

To those on the outside, the world of traditional healing remains in many ways shrouded in misconceptions and inaccuracies. This is largely due to the often sensationalised media depictions, as well as the lasting impact of colonial and Apartheid legacies — and perhaps, even, the shame exhibited by Black Africans when it comes to speaking freely about believing in traditional healing.

Livy Nnene, a South African millennial traditional healer shares: "A lot of millennials who have undergone this rite of passage (similar to mine) are open to a lot of things." He continues: "There are a lot of misconceptions about the practice and I don't blame people. When there's a lot going on and no one is explaining, people come up with thousands of 'it could be this or it could be that'. But these days, you can learn more about traditional healing on TV, or just by logging onto YouTube. People are definitely talking about it more."

Johannesburg-based Nnene embraced his calling to become a traditional healer after a long battle with mental health issues that Western medicine found no resolutions for. "You start having these very violent dreams that add on to your depression and anxiety. You end up thinking you're crazy! For the first time you try to understand your life and what's going on [with you] as a Black person by consulting a traditional healer. That's when I found out that actually I had a calling that I needed to pursue. From there, things kind of started falling into place."

IT'S ALL IN A NAME

Traditional, or indigenous, healing generally encompasses two broad groups of healers — izangoma and izinyanga. The differences between the two remain disputed even among traditional healers themselves. Isangoma is usually believed to practise in the realm of the spiritual — diagnosing illness, calamity and bad luck through assessing a person's relationship with their ancestors, friends, family or associates. Inyanga, on the other hand, is believed to treat or even cure illness using natural remedies. However, for Nnene, the difference between isangoma and inyanga is merely a graduation from one level to another. "Isangoma is an initiate. Once you have passed all the stages and are now out on your own, you stand as inyanga."

Another South African millennial traditional healer, Lesego Ntsime, begs to differ. "I would definitely say they are quite different because they delve into a different faculty altogether." She goes on to explain: "Isangoma is someone who divines. They get messages from above, from the ancestors and from God to relay to the person. Inyanga is somebody who heals through African traditional medicine or herbs. So it is quite different."

Language is important, and names even moreso. When we name things a certain way, there's usually an agenda there — good or bad. It is no surprise then that colonialism and the Apartheid government played a significant role in how traditional healers were, and still are, perceived. Under Apartheid, there existed the Witchcraft Supression Act 3 of 1957 which made it unlawful for "anyone to engage in witchcraft or similar practices where one pretended or professed to use supernatural powers". In an effort to vilify the practise, and make it synonymous with dark magic, 'witch doctor' is one of the many terms used consistently and interchangeably with 'traditional healer"'.

29-year-old traditional healer Gogo Thokozile detests the term 'witch doctor', saying it implies that her work is dark when it, in fact, is quite the opposite. "For some reason, people think that if you're able to communicate with people who are no longer alive, you are demonic. We constantly have to explain that we are actually light workers — which is tiring. People just don't believe our gift is from God."

THE SHAME IN CONSULTING

A traditional healer dressed in red and black traditional gear.

Gogo Phephisile Maseko, 44, traditional healer and national coordinator of the Traditional Healers Organisation (THO) of South Africa attends to patients on October 1, 2018 using a blend of cannabis and other herbs in a consultation room at their offices in Johannesburg.

Photo by GULSHAN KHAN/AFP via Getty Images.

The vilifying of traditional healers has, in some sense, ascribed a feeling of shame to the practice — especially for those wanting to consult. This has, in turn, created a never-ending tension between Western and indigenous medicine. People often feel that the two are mutually exclusive and that there is no chance for collaboration! That shouldn't be the case though, argues Gogo Thokozile. "I don't think people should be choosing. I'm married. When I met my husband, he wasn't a believer of anything traditional. Whenever he'd get a headache, I'd offer him umuthi (traditional medicine) which works for my headaches, but he actually preferred tablets. I think it also goes with your belief. I think that when you're sick and you don't know what's wrong with you, you must go to a doctor and get a proper diagnosis — but also go the traditional healing route. You can believe in healing spiritually but also seek treatment from doctors."

It is exactly this kind of philosophy, in addition to being able to speak freely on social media platforms, that sets millennial traditional healers ahead of their older predecessors. At the centre of millennials delving into the healing space is the understanding that their lives are not consumed by it and that they are still multidimensional individuals outside of their practice. Healing during the millennial era has also offered freedoms to healers which were not previously available to them. "I would say izangoma from previous eras did not seem to have lives of their own. It was very much "I'm [just] doing the healing work 24/7," says Ntsime. She adds: "What I do love about this age is that we're beginning to see traditional healers who enjoy other facets of their lives outside being healers. When you step out of the scared space where you conduct your healing work, you become your own person." The work of a traditional healer requires a careful balance that results from a constant give and take, particularly when there are careers and interests outside of the practice. Nnene, for instance, graduated with his law degree in 2018 with all the excitement that comes with a first job — an apartment and other luxuries enjoyed by working individuals. "Life was great. As young people, we're all chasing 'the good life'," he says. In his case, however, traditional healing eventually took precedence over his law career. "Mentally I wasn't in a good place. I decided to quit my job and try to focus more on myself. I am now more focused on my traditional healing and my law career had to take a back seat."

Healing work is certainly not without its own challenges. There is often an unreasonable expectations for traditional healers to be available to others around the clock. "When you're out in your personal capacity, just trying to have a good time over a couple of drinks with friends, people want to try and impose their problems on you. Then when you express that it is neither the time nor the place, people take offence to that. Those are just some of the struggles, but it comes with the job."

RECLAIMING HEALING

Part of reclaiming our healing as Africans begins with casting away the shame associated with consulting traditional healers. This shame exists for a number of reasons. One of them being that Black people who subscribe to the Christian faith, especially, have often been forced to choose between their cultural practices and the church's teachings — with no room to practise both. "What I know about Christianity is that you pray and leave it up to God," Gogo Thokozile says. "Christianity believes that once you consult a traditional healer, then it's out of God's way — and so you're forbidden from doing that. You're actually supposed to pray about everything." The second reason is that because of the vilification of traditional healing as a whole, people are apprehensive about being perceived differently after consulting. In many ways, because of Western ideals around healing, there's a deep-rooted fear that consulting a traditional healer is barbaric.

What is apparent from Nnene, Gogo Thokozile and Ntsime anecdotes is that a traditional healer can be seen as both a burden and a privilege, with the latter often revealing itself in those that benefit from the healing they receive. "We also have our bad days. Then out of the blue, a patient will call to share how you really helped them. Learning that things are finally working out, whatever problem they came to you with, is so fulfilling," concludes Gogo Thokozile.

Events
Photo by Ransford Quaye.

Fun Places in Accra, Ghana to Visit This Weekend

From Winged Wednesdays at Cachie & Cachie to Open Field Day at Bambo’s Adventure Park, Accra is packed with places to have fun.

This weekend is packed with places to have fun at! Enjoy unlimited wings, sides, and free drinks at a cool new restaurant, or sign up for a “Capture the Flag” paintball tournament with your entire squad. Whatever your choice of fun is, here is a list of places to visit this weekend in Accra, Ghana.

Right from the midweek all through to the weekend, here is a list of fun places to visit in Accra, Ghana.

Winged Wednesdays at Cachie & Cachie

Cachie & Cachie is a budding restaurant and bar located at East Legon, Accra that offers a diverse culinary experience. However, despite their distinct menu we’re here to highlight their signature weekly attraction - unlimited wings! Yes, you heard right, unlimited. Cachie & Cachie offers unlimited wings and sides every Wednesday evening for a flat rate that’s easy on the pockets. Also, show up early for a free mocktail from 6 - 6:30 p.m. only.

Date: Wednesday, 24th May, 6 - 10 p.m.

Venue: Cachie & Cachie, West Legon

Cost: From GHC85

Happy Hour at The Honeysuckle

The Honeysuckle is a popular sports bar themed after the famous British sports bars across the United Kingdom. Well known for its great food and ambiance, The Honeysuckle is regarded as one of the best spots in Accra for after-work leisure. On Thursdays, you can pass by to enjoy discounted food and drinks during Happy Hour. Also, there are multiple Honeysuckle locations in Accra, so take your pick, have a drink, and watch your favorite sports match for your pre-weekend unwind.

Date: Thursday, 25th May, 2-5 p.m.

Venue: The Honeysuckle, all locations

Junkie’s Burgers New Location Launch

If you’re a foodie and you haven’t tried Junkie’s Burgers, what are you doing? Junkie’s Burgers is home to Accra’s Best Burgers, and they’ll be launching a brand new location on Thursday. The new Junkie’s will be at Labone, so pass through for Junkie’s signature Fully Loaded Burger or any burger of your choice. Vegetarian options are also available.

Date: Thursday, 25th May

Venue: Junkie’s Burgers, Labone

Open Space at Kukun

Open Space is a conversation platform that periodically hosts panel-type conversations on intriguing subject matter facing young Africans across the world. It’s comparable to a live podcast, and their events are free to attend. Their mandate is “building and connecting Africans across the world through honest conversations,” and their conversations are intriguing, thought-provoking, and sometimes even humorous. This week’s topic is a hot one, so make sure to tap in for a night of great conversation.

Date: Friday, 26th May, 6 p.m.

Venue: Kukun, Osu

Cost: Free

“In Relation To Light” Exhibition at The Mix Design Hub

Curated by Mamoud Brimah, “In Relation To Light” is a solo exhibition featuring the work of Ghanaian illustrator and artist Michael Badger. The exhibition explores what constitutes true self-expression with a series of surrealist, figurative paintings depicting varying human emotions on a journey toward self-discovery. The artist involves these figurative subjects in an exploration of what it means to stand in the light.

Date: Friday, 26th May, 6 p.m.

Venue: The Mix Design Hub, Osu

Cost: Free

Dance Class at DWP Academy

For a dose of fun, great vibes, and some physical activity this weekend, you can sign up for a dance class at DWP Academy. Dance With a Purpose Academy is Accra’s most prominent dance studio, located at East Legon. DWP Academy dancers have featured in Beyonce music videos, performed alongside Usher at international festivals, and more. If you’re passionate about dance, DWP Academy is definitely a place to check out.

Date: Saturday, 27th May, 12:20 - 3:30 p.m.

Venue: Lizzy Sports Complex, East Legon

Cost: GHC50 for a session

The Awakening Live Recording Concert with Akesse Brempong

For fans of contemporary Christian music, there’s an event for you as well! Akesse Brempong, one of Ghana’s leading voices in the gospel music scene is hosting a live recording concert called “The Awakening: Anthems of Revival.”Other top gospel voices are on the bill as well, such as Pastor Isaiah Fosu Kwakye Jnr., MOG Music, Efe Grace, and Kofi Owusu Peprah, so it promises to be a night of gospel music excellence and one you definitely don’t want to miss.

Date: Saturday, 27th May, 4 p.m.

Venue: Empowerment Worship Centre, Achimota

Cost: Free, but register to attend

Vine Brunch

Vine Restaurant is a premium restaurant, bar, and lounge located at Labone. They offer a choice selection of continental and African dishes and drinks, and on Sunday you can catch the Vine Brunch for premium cocktails and mouth-watering dishes prepared by master chefs all throughout the day. Trust me, there’s no brunch like a Vine Brunch.

Date: Sunday, 28th May, 12:30 - 9 p.m.

Venue: Vine Restaurant, Labone

Open Field Day at Bambo’s Adventure Park

Bambo’s Adventure Park is a recreation center located at Labone, Accra. On the last Sunday of every month, they host Open Field Day, a fun games event. Their arena-style paintball tournament is the main attraction, however, there will be loads of other activities, as well as music, food, and drinks. Play capture the flag with a team of friends, or relax and unwind with board games at Bambo’s Adventure Park this weekend.

Date: Sunday, 28th May

Venue: Bambo’s Adventure Park, Labone

Cost: GHC180 per head

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Photo courtesy Directors’ Fortnight.

Rosine Mbakam on the Power of Family and Returning Home in Filmmaking

The Cameroonian filmmaker uses her documentary skills to create her first fictional feature, Mambar Pierrette, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this week.

After a critically lauded career as a documentary filmmaker, writer/director Rosine Mbakam arrives at the Cannes Film Festival in the Directors’ Fortnight program with her first narrative feature: Mambar Pierrette. The film sees Mbakam returning to her homeland of Cameroon to tell the story of a dressmaker — Pierrette (Pierrette Aboheu Njeuthat) — as she deals with mounting financial calamities that threaten her children’s school year and the health of her business.

It’s a conceit that feels familiar to Vittorio De Sica’s film, but with a different, uniquely African touch. While Mbakam has switched mediums for this film, the story, and its translation is similar to the director’s previous films, such as Chez Jolie Coiffure, Delphin’s Prayer, and The Two Faces of a Bamileke Woman in their focus on Black women who use their respective craft to cope with the hurdles they encounter. For Mambar Pierrette, Mbakam retools these familiar themes for Cameroon. The result indicates a change of direction for the filmmaker with regard to mood and tone, switching from ruminative to joyous, from staid to colorful and vibrant. Because all around Pierrette is life: It’s her children, it’s her village; it’s her vivid customers and the lively dresses she designs.

With Mambar Pierrette, Mbakam offers the unique cultural lens she’s spent nearly a decade crafting to give viewers a vision of radical empathy and a change in perspective. After having spent several years working in television, she attended film school in Belgium, where she is now based, before going on to create her first trio of feature-length documentaries that shared stories of Cameroonian women.

She talks to OkayAfrica about wanting to show a different Africa, making a film with her family, and subverting the traditions of Western filmmaking.

The interview below has been edited for length and clarity.

You’ve spent your career doing documentaries, but this is your first fictional film. Why did you feel you needed to switch for this particular story?

Fictional features were my first desire. I discovered documentaries when I was in film school. But my desire when I wanted to do cinema was to do features because it was what I was seeing on television in Cameroon. It was not documentaries. When I was in film school I really didn't know what kind of fiction I wanted to do. And when I discovered the documentary [form], it gave me a lot of freedom to be myself, to really experience what I wanted to, because I didn't want an intermediary between me and the people that I wanted to film.

Because of all the legacy of colonialism — I was in Belgium — I didn't want to use a white person or a person that didn't know what I wanted to question. But the documentary really helped me to deconstruct my gaze, and to just find my way and really see what kind of fiction I could do. Because the fiction that I learned in film school was Western fiction, and it was difficult for me to apply it in my reality in Cameroon. I'm really happy to come to my first desire of cinema, of doing fiction and really the fiction that I want to do with all the knowledge that I had from documentaries.

An image of the filmmaker, Rosine Mabakam, holding a microphone.Rosine Mabakam speaks at the premiere of her film in the Directors’ Fortnight program at the Cannes Film Festival.Photo courtesy Directors’ Fortnight / Delphine Pincet.

Your previous films are set in Belgium, but for this one you returned to Cameroon. Why did it make sense to return now?

Because when I was in Belgium I was there in the context of the legacy of colonialism. And I was confronting it every day. I wanted to really find my position there because I chose to live there, even though my inspiration was Cameroon. I wanted to deconstruct that and find my way because I knew that when I was deconstructing it that it would help me to see my reality differently. Because when I was in Cameroon, I was colonized. I didn't know I was reproducing all the things that I was seeing from the films I was watching in Cameroon. I wanted to discover how the rest of the world saw people like me in Belgium. It was important for me to deconstruct that first and to go back to Cameroon afterwards because I didn't want to reproduce the power of Western cinema on people that I wanted to film in Cameroon.

I love that you see it as a deconstruction of the image white people have of people from Cameroon or really any African country. You always get to the inner lives of the people you capture by looking at their craft. With Chez Jolie Coiffure, for instance, you focus on hairdressers. What draws you to a person's relationship with their craft, and why did you choose a dressmaker for this film?

In Cameroon, in my culture, all of those small spaces are where people come and drop stories and drop pain and also reconstruct their mental health. And I want to underline those spaces that sometimes people neglect because for them, maybe, it's not important. For me, for Chez Jolie Coiffure, with the hairdressers, it's the same thing. It's the space where women, and some men, come to just drop something and or take something.

I want to make people understand that sometimes it's not big spaces or important spaces that make us feel confident or that make us feel fine. I grew up in those smaller spaces. My mother was a dressmaker and my grand sister was her hairdresser. I really know those spaces and I know how it's built my imagery for stories of strong women. I wanted to show that.

I love the designs of the dresses; they’re so vibrant and vivid. What do they represent to you and to the character of Peirrette?

It's the dresses and how people can rebuild themselves through them. It's the space where your life can change with the world, with solidarity and also with love that people have brought to you through those spaces. You are surrounded not only by one woman, but by all these people who are coming. And yes, I really like fashion and also the colors.

In Cameroon, we don't have enough confidence in what we have. Even in fashion, we’re always looking at the West and how the West dresses without taking into account what we have. I wanted to show that it's beautiful and our story is important by just talking to ordinary people to show that even if we are ordinary, we have something important to say.


A still from the film of a group of women outside a rural dress shop.Rosine Mbakam’s first narrative feature is set in Cameroon.Photo courtesy Directors’ Fortnight.

The actress who plays Pierrette is your first cousin, correct? And it’s her first time acting?

It's not only my cousin. All of the cast are members of my family except for two people. But the rest are my mother, my aunts, my cousins, my sisters, my grand sisters.

Did you find it challenging directing people who you're not only related to but are in a situation where they’ve probably never acted before?

It's more challenging. There is a power in cinema and we know how that power has been used to stereotype Africans. I know the consequences of that power. And even more so with my family. Because they didn't really don't know what is the cinema, and how that power can be destructive. It's easy to take that power and to make them do what I want. It's important for me to be more vigilant and to give them the space to express themselves. That was really challenging because I had to be more careful about that.

With all of the travesties that befall Pierrette, a woman on an economic edge, I was really reminded of Vittorio De Sica’s films like Bicycle Thieves and Umberto D. And yet, you don’t remain on a track toward heartbreak like those films do. It’s almost like a De Sica film would be impossible to pull off because the idea of community is so present here?

I didn't feel it was possible to end like that because, usually, it doesn’t end like that in my family. With every problem you have people going together to resolve something, to bring joy, even if there is something very painful. For me, it was a perspective that I wanted to give to that story. And I wanted to give the perspective of that power that I can see in Pierrette and all of the members of my family. I wanted to show that power is higher than the difficulty. That was the intention behind that ending with the mannequin, and of all the neocolonialism that exists. Our power can overtake those problems.

A still from the film, 'Mambar Pierrette,' of a woman walking next to a girl carrying a bucket on her head.In ‘Mambar Pierrette,’ Rosine Mbakam enlisted family members for the film.Photo courtesy Directors’ Fortnight.

Her shop is also very small, yet open. Whenever Pierrette is making dresses, in the background you can see the street and you can see the life of her neighborhood. Could you talk a bit about why you framed her in that way as opposed, to say, close-ups?

If you see my film Chez Jolie Coiffure, you’ll notice it's really close. But if I close the perspective, here, it's not how we live in Cameroon. There is always a door open somewhere or someone can open the door to give you something, to give you help, to give a testimony. But in Chez Jolie Coiffure, in the West, Black people are closed into their space. In Cameroon it's different. There is always a perspective, there is always a solution. And I wanted to show that, to open that place, even if it's small. In Chez Jolie Coiffure, in the salon there is no door open anywhere. It's really close. It's like a prison. It's really close. In this film, it’s different. You can see the life of the earth coming, you can see light coming.

What do you hope people take away from this film when they’re finished?

I hope people will see another Africa and another way of filming Africa, another way to imagine Africa, and how we can look at Africa differently. I don't think we usually see that perspective, to be in the position of someone in Africa. I want people to be with these people and to help them understand what they want to say. I hope that people will watch the film and will remember the images and the words of this Black woman.

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