An interesting article I wrote

Interview with a Beninese traditional healer (Le guérisseur)
By Sara Birkenholz
January 8, 2008


I’m talking with 43 year old traditional healer Benoît Kpodjinou Wachinou in Benin, West Africa. My good friend Tanté Julienne has been laid up on the couch for about 5 months now, with a flesh eating infection that has torn up her foot and swollen her lower leg. Because the family believes someone put a spell on her with the help of evil spirits, she is forbidden to go to a hospital for proper medical care. So that is what brings us here – to a nearby village called Djomon that consists of a cluster of huts and the traditional healer who doesn’t speak a word of French, the country’s official language. There are no drugs, no injections. Just twice a week he cleans and reapplies the traditional balm on the open wound. Mr. Wachinou is equipped with business cards that his children make for him, informational brochures on what he works with, and much traditional medicine and knowledge. In this SE corner of Benin, these traditional healers are very popular, taking more patients than regional clinics. There are numerous reasons why— they’re less expensive, more accessible and certain ancient beliefs prohibit visits to modern medical facilities.

Mr. Wachinou was very happy to have me there once again with my friend, this time taking photos and asking questions about his practice and life in general. With the others translating, I fired away. I made it clear that any question he was uncomfortable with would be dismissed and we would simply move on to the next. First question: how many wives and children he has. “3 wives and….and….” and after about 5 seconds of his heavy pondering, I grinned and said, “more or less”. He said 18 or 20. And there are no signs of him slowing down.

He started his job training at age 10, observing his father and doing ‘apprentice work.’ The first task he learned and practiced was male circumcision. He has no formal education whatsoever, not even primary school; therefore, he is illiterate and speaks no French. Yet he has built an empire in Djomon. The family is well-known. He does quite well financially and is able to support all his many wives and kids.

Mr. Wachinou is Catholic, and, like me, doesn’t believe in the true power of voodoo and spirits, yet respects that others do. For that, he treats certain maladies according to those beliefs. He says he does not have the power to send evil spirits, but believes my friend when she says she can’t go to the hospital because someone sent them upon her.

I was very curious as to where he gets his medicines and supplies. I received a vague answer. The traditional medicines and basic supplies mostly come from the different regional markets where they are sold. If something is rare and not sold, he himself will go out into the forest and search for a particular tree or plant to pick from. Most are natural Beninese products.

When asked how many patients he treats, he ball parked the number at around 15 visits a week. There is no real system of appointments. He is at the house three days out of five, depending on the market days, when he is then busy selling goods such as bananas and manioc that they grow on their land. Patients are aware of his schedule, and will usually just show up expecting to maybe wait a while.

When asked about the relationship between his work and local hospitals, he didn’t say much. There isn’t much of a relationship. Simply, if a villager has a serious problem or a bad accident, requiring say, surgery, then obviously they must receive proper medical care in a hospital. On the other hand, there are instances where the hospitals refer patients on to the traditional healers: if the patient doesn’t have the means to pay the hospital bills and the problem can be treated by the traditional doctor; sometimes traditional ‘bush’ medicine and practices are required that hospitals don’t/can’t use; or if the problem is non-serious and voodoo is involved, the hospitals are not available to intervene unless it is immediately life-threatening.

Among his stock of traditional medicine, he has both preventatives and remedies. Here is the wide range of problems, according to his informational sheet, that he works with:

Asthma, muscle and stomach aches, ulcers, chronic headaches, diabetes, severe flesh infections, difficult births, breastfeeding troubles, cancer, epilepsy, and sexual problems – prostate problems, impotence, and STD’s.

According to him, the most difficult cases are those like my friend has- flesh-eating infections and non-healing wounds that are dangerous if not controlled and take a long time to heal.

A few weeks ago, Benin was abuzz with news of a possible cure for the AIDS virus. Another traditional healer nearby had claimed he had evidence and the media made a big fuss. But since then, I have heard nothing, and can’t say I’m truly surprised. Mr. Wachinou said he had also heard the claim, but, like me, can’t believe it until it is recognized by the international community. In the midst of my HIV/AIDS awareness programs which I conduct in the schools, I wish more Beninese would questions things the way Mr. Benoît does.

Speaking of HIV/AIDS, he does in fact have patients that are confirmed with the disease that come to him for treatments, but he refuses to work with them as he isn’t familiar with the disease and doesn’t have the correct treatments as we do in the west. What I like about Mr. Wachinou is his sincerity. He said if he doesn’t know something as fact, he says just that. Many people here and all over the world hear myths and spread dangerous rumors, because they aren’t sure of the facts, so they would rather make something up that seems close to the truth. I have heard the following during my time here: HIV/AIDS doesn’t really exist at all– it’s a fabrication by westerners to increase condom sales; condoms from the western countries contain the AIDS virus to exterminate the African race; AIDS originated in ‘white countries’ and was brought over by them.

Finally, it was he who was curious about me. He gently asked my friends if he could ask me some questions. I said I would be delighted. He was mostly curious about AIDS and sexual relations in the US. I gave him the basic facts and the reasons we have fewer cases percentage-wise. He asked about condom usage and birth control, and my personal experience with all that. Next, he moved on to polygamy in the US. I said it is virtually non-existent and is outlawed, but gave him my views on it, how I don’t agree that it should be illegal. He, and the Beninese I speak with, are extremely interested in hearing this from me. I just said frankly that even though I personally wouldn’t accept it, it should not be outlawed completely. After we finished, he said he wishes to help with my furthering the AIDS program in the schools. What an interesting story.


Sara Birkenholz, of Newton, Iowa, is currently a Peace Corps volunteer serving in Benin, West Africa for two years. She has documented this story with the help of friends and translators Tanté and Emmanuel.