When whites bowed to black spirits
Mar 01, 2007
Has the Western world lost faith in Western knowledge and science? A group of whites seems to believe so; else they would not have travelled down to Africa to openly participate in ritual worship many Ugandans only attend under the cover of darkness, Alex Mwangu and Bob Kisiki write
university professor from Canada and his team have visited Mpambo African Multi Varsity in Busoga to study how to adapt African spirituality. They believe they can start a revolution that will generate new knowledge to save the world from degeneration.
Mpambo Varsity and the team from the University of Victoria in British Colombia want to recruit people of similar thinking, so that they can, in the words of Prof. Patrick Wangoola of Mpambo Varsity, “Save the world.â€
“We want to start a new world order. We want to show the world that African knowledge and thinking are capable of moving the world forward.â€
They have formed what they called the International Advisory Council to steer the project, of which Prof. Budd Hall of the University of Victoria is the chairman.
The two universities have an exchange programme, with each sending academics to the other, to develop the areas of research, staff development and science. They aim to develop a body of activists called ‘community-based organic mother tongue scholars, scientists and intellectuals.’ Their aim is to liberate the marginalised through traditional think-tanks, languages, medicine and science.
Who would have imagined that there were whites who treasured African traditional science? We have always known that every white man believed in modern technology; that none of them believed in any other cure than the use of tablets and injections; that besides the Bible and the Qur’an, no other spiritual source or power meant a rap to the people from beyond the great waters.
That is why the visit by this group of Whites is this enchanting!
And so, on the day they are to visit, electric anticipation fills the air in Kirowoza village in Goma sub-county, Mukono district. Local leaders have spent some time mobilising residents, telling them to attend a party to welcome bazungu (Whites) to the village. This does not happen everyday, no, not even every year.
The people have been promised a luncheon; a bull is slaughtered and beers will flow like the Ssezibwa Falls. There is likely to be plenteous music, too, not to mention dancing.
However, for the villagers, this is not where the excitement is. This time round, the real thrill is in receiving these bazungu traditionalists who are opposed to modern science.
But there is a snag. The bazungu do not arrive when they said they would. “You see,†the locals begin to grumble. “We knew there was a trick,†the locals continue. The delay by the visitors to arrive passes for confirmation to the anxious residents of Kirowoza that Jjumba Aligawesa Lubowa, a traditional healer, had tricked them so he could have a big gathering.
“Jjumba simply tricked us that bazungu who believe in traditional spirituality are to visit him. But how can a Muzungu treasure African traditions, herbs and spirits?†wondered Musoke Mayumba, a resident.
But they should not have worried. It seems that if the Bazungu could believe in African spirits, herbs and technology, they could also do with a bit of African time. Eventually, they arrive, to Jjumba’s relief and the enthrallment of the locals. Necks crane and eyes widen in utter bewilderment. It was real, after all!
The delegation, led by Hall and Prof. Lorna Williams goes through all the processes of communing with spirits (okusamira), to overwhelming cheers and sheer consternation of the locals.
They assured their coordinator, Wangoola, that they have to go through all the rituals. “Mpambo African Multi Varsity aims at generating a market of knowledge to show that African culture and science can develop the world,†Wangoola says.
He says Hall’s team wanted to train the uneducated traditional healers as well as forge a partnership for future research and development in African traditional medicine.
“It is our wish that we go through the whole process. We do not want short cuts. It is our day,†Hall says.
The basamize (spirit mediums) give Hall and his entourage pieces of busana (tree species that are said to appease and invite spirits), which they are ordered to cast into Jjumba’s bonfire. They kneel and fling the pieces into the fire. But Lorna acts differently. She reaches for her bag, picks out certain grain-like substances which the locals think are herbs, distributes it to a few people, raises her arms and orders them to put the substances into the bonfire, together with her. Thereafter, the delegation is taken to the main shrine and they are given coffee beans (akatta mukago) to cement the new-found relationship with the spiritualists. Jjumba then gives them bottled water, which they reject because he is not doing it in the traditional way.
“The spirits sip water from these pots (ensumbi) and we share with them but I am serving you bottled water so that you are not worried about its quality,†Jjumba says. The Whites protest, saying they want to go through the whole process. Jjumba yields.
One by one, the Bazungu sip the water from the pot as they chew the coffee beans.
Later, they visit other shrines of spirits that offer children, riches and protection.
Hall, who had spent a week at Isegero, in Namutumba district at the Mpambo Africa Multi Varsity campus, believes that traditional science is the way to forge development in the world and praises black spirituality as powerful.
He says if the world can exploit the old knowledge considered by the whites as wild and wicked, the country can develop at a faster pace than today.
He says the world is having problems because it is built on new white knowledge, which is not good.
“In spite of all the guns and bombs in the airplanes, Americans today are in more fear than ever before. We know that the climate itself is at risk because of the development of petroleum and green house gases that are produced in the industrial north. Take an example of vaccines which are based on very high standards that are proving to be dangerous. There is more interest than ever before in the power of natural remedies that have come from Africa and are well known by the healers in Africa,†he says.
He says that even in America, poor conditions of living and under-development are written all over the wall because they neglected traditional science and spirituality, which would be important for development.
Hall says that even in his home city of Victoria, British Colombia, there are over 1,000 people who are homeless, yet he lives in one of the richest countries in the world.
“So we are looking for stories to build another world. We know that white science is the newest of all the science in the world. It dates back to only 500 or 600 years ago, but because of the coincidence of the discovery of gold in Latin America and elsewhere, white science spread very quickly all over the world,†Hall says.
He says there is need to link white science with traditional African science, indigenous North American science, Indian and Japanese science.
“Americans should know that their science is not the only science and should admit that the new white science is insufficient to ensure the survival of humanity on this planet. We have to team up because African science is very rich and powerful,†Hall said.
From Africa, Hall travelled to India, where they believe marginalised people will be set free by their language and culture. The Indian members are visiting Uganda in August, to cement the collaboration.
The group is, working on a research and publication programme. In 2010, they plan to host an international retreat to popularise their movement.
The entertainment group plays a tune “Sserubwatuka Wanuka Waggulu eriyo Omuliiro†(Arch-thunder, come down with fire), asking spirits to come. The individuals who represent the spirits are possessed and hit the floor like wounded animals. Hall reaches for the shakers (ensaasi) and shakes them with vigour as the residents claim he is possessed. Another muzungu storms the floor and dances vigorously to the tune like she is possessed by spirits.
But Sylvia Namutebi, the national chairperson of the traditional healers, tells Hall she is worried that the adventure may have sinister motives. “I am suspicious that you have a secret plan and I don’t think we can work together because your traditions sharply contradict with ours.
You want to steal our sciences and then dump us. We cannot work with you; but if you want to extend financial assistance, you are welcome,†she said.
As they feasted, the residents toasted to African spirits, saying they were so powerful that even Bazungu respect them.
Mpambo Varsity and the team from the University of Victoria in British Colombia want to recruit people of similar thinking, so that they can, in the words of Prof. Patrick Wangoola of Mpambo Varsity, “Save the world.â€
“We want to start a new world order. We want to show the world that African knowledge and thinking are capable of moving the world forward.â€
They have formed what they called the International Advisory Council to steer the project, of which Prof. Budd Hall of the University of Victoria is the chairman.
The two universities have an exchange programme, with each sending academics to the other, to develop the areas of research, staff development and science. They aim to develop a body of activists called ‘community-based organic mother tongue scholars, scientists and intellectuals.’ Their aim is to liberate the marginalised through traditional think-tanks, languages, medicine and science.
Who would have imagined that there were whites who treasured African traditional science? We have always known that every white man believed in modern technology; that none of them believed in any other cure than the use of tablets and injections; that besides the Bible and the Qur’an, no other spiritual source or power meant a rap to the people from beyond the great waters.
That is why the visit by this group of Whites is this enchanting!
And so, on the day they are to visit, electric anticipation fills the air in Kirowoza village in Goma sub-county, Mukono district. Local leaders have spent some time mobilising residents, telling them to attend a party to welcome bazungu (Whites) to the village. This does not happen everyday, no, not even every year.
The people have been promised a luncheon; a bull is slaughtered and beers will flow like the Ssezibwa Falls. There is likely to be plenteous music, too, not to mention dancing.
However, for the villagers, this is not where the excitement is. This time round, the real thrill is in receiving these bazungu traditionalists who are opposed to modern science.
But there is a snag. The bazungu do not arrive when they said they would. “You see,†the locals begin to grumble. “We knew there was a trick,†the locals continue. The delay by the visitors to arrive passes for confirmation to the anxious residents of Kirowoza that Jjumba Aligawesa Lubowa, a traditional healer, had tricked them so he could have a big gathering.
“Jjumba simply tricked us that bazungu who believe in traditional spirituality are to visit him. But how can a Muzungu treasure African traditions, herbs and spirits?†wondered Musoke Mayumba, a resident.
But they should not have worried. It seems that if the Bazungu could believe in African spirits, herbs and technology, they could also do with a bit of African time. Eventually, they arrive, to Jjumba’s relief and the enthrallment of the locals. Necks crane and eyes widen in utter bewilderment. It was real, after all!
The delegation, led by Hall and Prof. Lorna Williams goes through all the processes of communing with spirits (okusamira), to overwhelming cheers and sheer consternation of the locals.
They assured their coordinator, Wangoola, that they have to go through all the rituals. “Mpambo African Multi Varsity aims at generating a market of knowledge to show that African culture and science can develop the world,†Wangoola says.
He says Hall’s team wanted to train the uneducated traditional healers as well as forge a partnership for future research and development in African traditional medicine.
“It is our wish that we go through the whole process. We do not want short cuts. It is our day,†Hall says.
The basamize (spirit mediums) give Hall and his entourage pieces of busana (tree species that are said to appease and invite spirits), which they are ordered to cast into Jjumba’s bonfire. They kneel and fling the pieces into the fire. But Lorna acts differently. She reaches for her bag, picks out certain grain-like substances which the locals think are herbs, distributes it to a few people, raises her arms and orders them to put the substances into the bonfire, together with her. Thereafter, the delegation is taken to the main shrine and they are given coffee beans (akatta mukago) to cement the new-found relationship with the spiritualists. Jjumba then gives them bottled water, which they reject because he is not doing it in the traditional way.
“The spirits sip water from these pots (ensumbi) and we share with them but I am serving you bottled water so that you are not worried about its quality,†Jjumba says. The Whites protest, saying they want to go through the whole process. Jjumba yields.
One by one, the Bazungu sip the water from the pot as they chew the coffee beans.
Later, they visit other shrines of spirits that offer children, riches and protection.
Hall, who had spent a week at Isegero, in Namutumba district at the Mpambo Africa Multi Varsity campus, believes that traditional science is the way to forge development in the world and praises black spirituality as powerful.
He says if the world can exploit the old knowledge considered by the whites as wild and wicked, the country can develop at a faster pace than today.
He says the world is having problems because it is built on new white knowledge, which is not good.
“In spite of all the guns and bombs in the airplanes, Americans today are in more fear than ever before. We know that the climate itself is at risk because of the development of petroleum and green house gases that are produced in the industrial north. Take an example of vaccines which are based on very high standards that are proving to be dangerous. There is more interest than ever before in the power of natural remedies that have come from Africa and are well known by the healers in Africa,†he says.
He says that even in America, poor conditions of living and under-development are written all over the wall because they neglected traditional science and spirituality, which would be important for development.
Hall says that even in his home city of Victoria, British Colombia, there are over 1,000 people who are homeless, yet he lives in one of the richest countries in the world.
“So we are looking for stories to build another world. We know that white science is the newest of all the science in the world. It dates back to only 500 or 600 years ago, but because of the coincidence of the discovery of gold in Latin America and elsewhere, white science spread very quickly all over the world,†Hall says.
He says there is need to link white science with traditional African science, indigenous North American science, Indian and Japanese science.
“Americans should know that their science is not the only science and should admit that the new white science is insufficient to ensure the survival of humanity on this planet. We have to team up because African science is very rich and powerful,†Hall said.
From Africa, Hall travelled to India, where they believe marginalised people will be set free by their language and culture. The Indian members are visiting Uganda in August, to cement the collaboration.
The group is, working on a research and publication programme. In 2010, they plan to host an international retreat to popularise their movement.
The entertainment group plays a tune “Sserubwatuka Wanuka Waggulu eriyo Omuliiro†(Arch-thunder, come down with fire), asking spirits to come. The individuals who represent the spirits are possessed and hit the floor like wounded animals. Hall reaches for the shakers (ensaasi) and shakes them with vigour as the residents claim he is possessed. Another muzungu storms the floor and dances vigorously to the tune like she is possessed by spirits.
But Sylvia Namutebi, the national chairperson of the traditional healers, tells Hall she is worried that the adventure may have sinister motives. “I am suspicious that you have a secret plan and I don’t think we can work together because your traditions sharply contradict with ours.
You want to steal our sciences and then dump us. We cannot work with you; but if you want to extend financial assistance, you are welcome,†she said.
As they feasted, the residents toasted to African spirits, saying they were so powerful that even Bazungu respect them.