Black magic Woman

One hundred and three doctors work in a country of more than three million. Odds are that most Liberians will not see a doctor until it is significantly too late for medical intervention. Yet Liberia has a thriving health system designed to diagnose, heal, ,and comfort the sick. The traditional healers or Zoes are women with a calling from the ancestors to treat the ailing bodies of the living. She isn’t scary or extraordinarily mystical. She is exquisitely normal and down to earth.

My partner has a skin infection probably caused by the detritus falling from our ceiling, but without a functioning lab it is impossible to do soil analysis or deep tissue biopsy. Nearly five percent of the Liberian medical doctors have seen his swollen leg and all have shaken their heads in consternation. No one quite knows what it is. Reluctantly, I arranged for the Zoe to come from the bush. I didn’t call, but simply mentioned it to our housekeeper that I needed a herbalist. The next day she and her husband are at our house. She only speaks Kpelle and her husband speaks a broken English. I’ve been here longer and understand the accent better. It was like the episode of I love Lucy when a group of multilingual friends form a translation chain. Standard American English to Liberian colloquial, Liberian colloquial to Kpelle. We offer her a bottle of local rum made from sugar cane and about 400 Liberian Dollars (about $6 US) in exchange for the consultation and company.  She returns Sunday with the leafy herb to take down the swelling. I hope she’ll stay for dinner. I can make country bread.