Tanzania's Zanzibar begins to register traditional healers

Tanzania's Zanzibar begins to register traditional healers

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Zanzibar's traditional healers with their toolkits of herbs, holy scriptures and massages are being registered by authorities keen to regulate the practitioners who treat everything from depression to hernias.

About 340 healers have been registered since Zanzibar, a region of the east African country of Tanzania, passed the Traditional and Alternative Medicine Act in 2009.

. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo
Mwanahija Mzee massages three-month-old infant, Abduli Juma. Abduli's mom, Semeni, brought him to the healer because he is very lethargic and can't hold his head up. Mwanahija Mzee believes that the baby is possessed by supernatural sprits like djinns. However hospital doctors say he has an incurable brain issue.

There are an estimated 2,000 more healers, or mgangas, hoping to register, said Hassan Combo, the government registrar at the council that records them.

Traditional healer Bi Mwanahija Mzee has already registered. She tends to patients at her busy clinic where women line up in the early morning sun cradling their sick children.

. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo
Nadra took her eight-month-old child Muhammad Ali to Mwanahija Mzee to seek relief for him suffering from an umbilical hernia.

One family seeks relief for a child suffering from an umbilical hernia, scared that if they bring the child to hospital for surgery he will die. A pregnant woman who has repeatedly miscarried comes for reassurance, herbs and prayers that this baby will survive.

“People come here because I actually help them. I met many patients that went to hospital first and got no help or the medicine didn’t work,” said Mwanahija Mzee, 56.

. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo
Mwanahija Mzee prays in her bedroom.

“This is my job six days a week for more than 20 years so I do better, know more than them. Patients that come to me don’t die."

Mwanahija Mzee's parents were also traditional healers in Zanzibar, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean.

. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo
Traditional healer, Sahihi Mrisho, 67, grows and forages most of the medicines he uses in his practice and was trained by his parents who were both healers.

To be registered, mgangas must be aged at least 18, have at least three years of experience and have a recommendation letter from a trained mganga. A council of 11 members that can include birth attendants, respected healers, village elders and lawyers approve the applications each month.

While the government does not try to dictate healers' methods, it tries to work with them on quality control, government registrar Combo said, for example ensuring plants used in medicines are of the same standard.

. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo
A sheik tries to rouse a woman who believes she is possessed by supernatural spirits like djinns, by pouring water on her neck.

A group facilitated by the registrars office links doctors with traditional healers to give them some medical education on specific diseases like hypertension, diabetes and pregnancy. The mgangas share information with the doctors about patient statistics and needs, he said.

. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo
Worn pages of the Koran used in bestowing blessings.

Some healers use herbs. Others use scriptures from the Muslim holy book, the Koran. Most use both. Belief in supernatural sprits like djinns features strongly.

. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo
Traditional healer, Haji Mrisho, speaks with pregnant patient Hidaya Rayabu, 22. Mrisho mainly gives blessings to pregnant women to protect their unborn babies from what they believe is possession by supernatural sprits like djinns.

Some healers, like Haji Mrisho, mainly give blessings to pregnant women to prevent their unborn babies being possessed by djinns. Others, like sheikhs at the Shifaa Herbal clinic, read the Koran to cast out the djinns blamed for many maladies.

Mwanahija Mzee uses a mix of massages, medicines from roots, herbs and leaves and Koranic verses, which may be written on a plate in red food colouring. The plate is then rinsed, and the water ingested as part of the medicinal regimen.

. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo
Roots and herbs sit on a table waiting to be cut into smaller pieces to be given as medicine to patients at Mwanahija Mzee's clinic.

Some patients like Fatma Hamad say they trust traditional healers over the overcrowded, underfunded public hospitals where many feel their ailments are not treated properly.

. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo
Haji Hafidh poses for a photograph.

Fatawi Haji Hafidh, manager at Makunduchi Hospital, the second-largest government-run hospital on Zanzibar's main island, says overstretched doctors and nurses may not have the time to see patients or the diagnostic equipment.

Patients may also be unable to afford the medicine prescribed, or they may stop taking it before the course is finished, leading them to relapse and adding to their suspicion of government-run facilities, he said.

Many simply believe djinns are the problem.

. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo
Hamad holds her two-year-old daughter, Khadija, at Mnazi Mmoja government hospital.

Fatma Hamad took her 2-year-old daughter to hospital after one of the toddler's legs became paralysed during a high fever. Unable to find the problem through X-rays, the hospital recommended she seek out a traditional healer.

Mwanahija Mzee massages the child and after a few appointments, her mobility is slowly improving. The mother has taken this as proof that the illness was caused by possession, “Must be a djinn, as Bi Mwanhija said," Hamad said.

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Slideshow

Mwanahija Mzee, holds four-week-old patient Mundhir Nasoor. The baby was brought to her because he wouldn't feed. She diagnosed him as having too high an iron intake during gestation as the primary reason for illness.
. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo

Mwanahija Mzee, holds four-week-old patient Mundhir Nasoor. The baby was brought to her because he wouldn't feed. She diagnosed him as having too high an iron intake during gestation as the primary reason for illness.

Murtazha Hamis, 11, brought in after suffering a stroke resulting in partial paralysis, does push-ups at Mwanahija Mzee's clinic. She has been massaging Murtazha and prescribing herbal baths for the past year. The boy's family credits the healer with helping the child regain mobility.
. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo

Murtazha Hamis, 11, brought in after suffering a stroke resulting in partial paralysis, does push-ups at Mwanahija Mzee's clinic. She has been massaging Murtazha and prescribing herbal baths for the past year. The boy's family credits the healer with helping the child regain mobility.

Mwanahija Mzee checks the diaper of a child who was brought in for constipation.
. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo

Mwanahija Mzee checks the diaper of a child who was brought in for constipation.

Thwanaidi Juma sits with her daughter Shaimaa Ahmed, one and a half years old, at Mwanahija Mzee's clinic. Shaimaa can't walk. Her mother went to the hospital but was told that nothing is wrong with the child so she came to the healer.
. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo

Thwanaidi Juma sits with her daughter Shaimaa Ahmed, one and a half years old, at Mwanahija Mzee's clinic. Shaimaa can't walk. Her mother went to the hospital but was told that nothing is wrong with the child so she came to the healer.

Mwanahija Mzee massages pregnant patient, Maryam Juma, 29. This is Maryam's fifth pregnancy after three miscarriages and one was stillborn. Both she and the healer believe the reason is because children were possessed by supernatural sprits like djinns in the uterus. Maryam comes for reassurance, herbs and prayers that this baby will survive.
. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo

Mwanahija Mzee massages pregnant patient, Maryam Juma, 29. This is Maryam's fifth pregnancy after three miscarriages and one was stillborn. Both she and the healer believe the reason is because children were possessed by supernatural sprits like djinns in the uterus. Maryam comes for reassurance, herbs and prayers that this baby will survive.

Hidaya Rayabu, 22, looks at her infant daughter hours after giving birth at Makunduchi Hospital.
. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo

Hidaya Rayabu, 22, looks at her infant daughter hours after giving birth at Makunduchi Hospital.

Hidaya Rayabu, 22, laughs with her husband, Mohammed, who holds their six-day-old daughter Jamillah. Mohammed travels for two hours by bus twice a week to see his wife and baby who are staying with female relatives for the first 30 days after giving birth to reduce the strain of taking care of the household.
. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo

Hidaya Rayabu, 22, laughs with her husband, Mohammed, who holds their six-day-old daughter Jamillah. Mohammed travels for two hours by bus twice a week to see his wife and baby who are staying with female relatives for the first 30 days after giving birth to reduce the strain of taking care of the household.

A baby brought to Mwanahija Mzee for help with hair growth pattern.
. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo

A baby brought to Mwanahija Mzee for help with hair growth pattern.

Apprentice healer Salama holds a knife used for cutting herbs at Mwanahija Mzee's clinic.
. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo

Apprentice healer Salama holds a knife used for cutting herbs at Mwanahija Mzee's clinic.

Mwanahija Mzee puts fresh leaves to be boiled as medicine in the purse of Khadija Salum. Salum is a mother of a one-year-old boy, Amar, who was brought in to the healer because he has seizures which started when he had high fever when he was six months old. The baby gets seizures since. The healer is convinced that they are brought on by supernatural sprits like djinns.
. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo

Mwanahija Mzee puts fresh leaves to be boiled as medicine in the purse of Khadija Salum. Salum is a mother of a one-year-old boy, Amar, who was brought in to the healer because he has seizures which started when he had high fever when he was six months old. The baby gets seizures since. The healer is convinced that they are brought on by supernatural sprits like djinns.

An ornate tea service sits in a room recently renovated to film the YouTube channel of sheikh Salum, the founder of Shifaa Herbal clinic. Sheikhs at the Shifaa Herbal clinic read the Koran to cast out what they believe are supernatural sprits like djinns that are blamed for many maladies. 

. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo

An ornate tea service sits in a room recently renovated to film the YouTube channel of sheikh Salum, the founder of Shifaa Herbal clinic. Sheikhs at the Shifaa Herbal clinic read the Koran to cast out what they believe are supernatural sprits like djinns that are blamed for many maladies. 


A woman screams as she is treated for what she believes is possession by supernatural sprits like djinns, while other women pray at the Shifaa Herbal clinic. People who visit the clinic, believe that they can be cured of physical, spiritual and mental illnesses caused by djinn possession while listening to a sheik recite words from the Koran.
. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo

A woman screams as she is treated for what she believes is possession by supernatural sprits like djinns, while other women pray at the Shifaa Herbal clinic. People who visit the clinic, believe that they can be cured of physical, spiritual and mental illnesses caused by djinn possession while listening to a sheik recite words from the Koran.

A sheik at the Shifaa Herbal clinic holds onto a woman who is treated for what she believes is possession by supernatural sprits like djinns. The woman had convulsions and fell to the floor during the process.
. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo

A sheik at the Shifaa Herbal clinic holds onto a woman who is treated for what she believes is possession by supernatural sprits like djinns. The woman had convulsions and fell to the floor during the process.

A sheik tries to rouse a woman who believes she is possessed by supernatural spirits like djinns, by pouring water on her neck.
. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo

A sheik tries to rouse a woman who believes she is possessed by supernatural spirits like djinns, by pouring water on her neck.

Women gather their things in preparation for departure after a Koranic recitation at the Shifaa Herbal clinic.
. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo

Women gather their things in preparation for departure after a Koranic recitation at the Shifaa Herbal clinic.

Parents wait in the waiting room at Jang'ombe vaccination clinic.
. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo

Parents wait in the waiting room at Jang'ombe vaccination clinic.

Patient files lie on shelves at Kidongo Chekundu Hospital, Zanzibar's only psychiatric ward. Some families believe that mental illness is caused being possessed by supernatural sprits like djinns, so rarely bring patients to the hospital until the situation is dire.
. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo

Patient files lie on shelves at Kidongo Chekundu Hospital, Zanzibar's only psychiatric ward. Some families believe that mental illness is caused being possessed by supernatural sprits like djinns, so rarely bring patients to the hospital until the situation is dire.

Nicky Woo was a 2018 Reuters photojournalism grant winner. Click on the names to see the stories by the other grantees, Manuel Seoane, Ekaterina Anchevskaya, Thomas Nicolon and Loren Elliott.

. Zanizbar City, TANZANIA. Reuters/Nicky Woo
Low tide in Jambiani village.