WUNRN
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Failure to carry out purification rites is thought to
bring bad luck |
BEIRA, 17 November 2008
(PlusNews) - When Mariana Uchandidhora's husband was killed in a traffic
accident in South Africa a year ago, tradition required that she have sex with
her deceased husband's brother in order to be purified.
Uchandidhora, 36, refused, arguing that her
brother-in-law was much younger than she was, but the family found an older man
from outside the family to carry out the ritual, known as "khupita
khufa". Two months later she discovered that she was both pregnant and
HIV-positive.
The pregnancy did not go to full term, but Uchandidhora
is now a patient in Beira Central Hospital, where she is being treated for
malaria and AIDS. The jobless mother of five, who lives in the Marromeu
district of Beira, is convinced she contracted the virus during the
purification ritual.
Widows who submit to the ritual are obliged to have
unprotected sex three times a day over the course of a week. The practice is
thought to purify a woman and her home after her husband's death and is common
among members of the Sena ethnic group in Sofala, where the HIV prevalence rate
is 23 percent, one of the country's highest.
Similar purification rituals are also practised in the
neighbouring provinces of Tete and Zambézia. Although there are no precise
figures, Health Ministry officials believe such purification rites are
contributing to the spread of HIV in Mozambique.
Cultural values
Failure to carry out purification rites is thought to
bring bad luck to the family such as unemployment, illness and even death. As a
result, widows are under considerable pressure to submit to the ritual.
The custom is also not without risk to male
participants. If, for example, the man does not achieve the three-times-a-day
sexual target, according to traditional beliefs he will become sick and
possibly die. Many take the risk in return for payment or a share of the
deceased's possessions.
For 29-year-old Dique Lampião, participating in the
purification ceremony of his childhood friend Maria* meant more than just
money. "I thought God was opening up the path to make my romantic dream
come true," he told IRIN/PlusNews.
He had had a crush on Maria since they were children,
but she married someone else before he could muster the courage to confess his
love. Five years later, Maria's husband died from an unknown illness and it
became necessary to hire a man for the khupita khufa. Lampião jumped at the
chance and was accepted by the widow's family.
Two months later, he began coughing up blood and was
diagnosed with tuberculosis, which he believed was the result of failing to
meet the daily sexual target; not long afterwards he was also diagnosed with
HIV. Lampião believes he contracted the virus from Maria.
Trying to change tradition
Juvinaldo Amós, provincial coordinator in charge of
major epidemics in Sofala, emphasised the need for a change in attitude to
prevent khupita khufa from spreading HIV. "We need strategies that include
awareness-raising, so that the population understands the risks of unprotected
sex in a traditional ceremony," he said.
A lot of people think
that if they use a condom the ceremony won't go well
|
At the Provincial Nucleus for the Fight Against
HIV/AIDS in Sofala, Leonel Simango, a planning, monitoring and evaluation
specialist, said already fewer families were practicing the ritual as a result
of the awareness-raising work carried out by his department in cooperation with
several NGOs.
His department invites community leaders in all the
province's districts to annual seminars on the relationship between certain
purification rites and HIV. "We know there's still much to be done to
raise the awareness of more superstitious communities, but we're making a
concerted effort," he said.
According to the provincial secretary of the Mozambique
Association of Traditional Doctors (AMETRAMO) in Sofala, Gumapedje José Nhone,
there are alternative ways of carrying out the purification ceremony.
One of them requires sacrificing an animal, but this is
unpopular because of the cost. "People opt for the sexual relations
because they don't want to sacrifice their goats," Nhone said.
Another method of purification, involving the
preparation of a number of plants and a spiritual blessing ceremony carried out
in the presence of the entire family, is even less popular.
Campaigns aimed at stressing the validity of such
alternatives have largely failed to convince people that they are as effective
as khupita khufa, so AMETRAMO is now carrying out campaigns to encourage the
use of condoms during purification rituals.
Even this is not easy. "A lot of people think that
if they use a condom the ceremony won't go well," Nhone said. "But
although I recognise the stubbornness of those who practice it, I do believe in
change."
*not her real name
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