As a writer, you read about some weird stuff. It’s all about where the research rabbit holes take you. For me, those rabbit holes can provide a plethora of writing and plotting gold. The deeper you go into the internet, the more incredible the results. This week, I am going to take a moment to share with you one of the most disturbing facts I have learned about this week from my rampant and wanton internet search rabbit hole: Ghana’s Witch Camps.
Now I haven’t done a whole lot of research into this, but it is enough to catch my attention and give me an unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach.
Ghana is a country in West Africa and it is the home to six Witch Camps (or has been- I am not 100% sure of the current status of these places as the most recent reporting I can find is from 2016). These places aren’t some twist on Hogwarts- they aren’t a magical summer retreat for African kids. No, think of them more of a cross between refugee camps and internment camps.
There is a lot of superstition and beliefs surrounding the concept of witches in the African continent. Depending on where you are, they can range from powerful religious leaders such as the Isangoma of the Zulu peoples, to innocent children labeled as witches to be ostracized and shunned by their communities as a scapegoat for whatever ill befalls someone (common practice in Nigeria). It broke my heart to learn that the accused are children are different- either mentally or physically- and left to essentially fend for themselves or die as a scapegoat and labeled as a witch. This is another rabbit hole to go down as the situation with the church and witch doctors can exacerbate this particular issue. But back to the original topic. In Sierra Leone, the elderly are typically accused of witchcraft. As per tradition, they are gathered together and taken care of so that their life as a witch is often times more comfortable and happier than if they were not accused. It’s an odd form of senior care.
It’s important to note that often times being accused of witchcraft has nothing to do with magic at all. Instead one could be accused of black magic by having a successful crop while your neighbor does not, or if you are not protected by a male figure (family, husband, etc), or if you are deemed mentally unfit or undesirable to have around the village, then you are considered weak and a good candidate for witchcraft accusations.
In Ghana, if you are accused of witchcraft, your community will turn against you, you will be shunned and you will suffer greatly for many years. You’ll probably be banished or have the ever present threat of violence against you via mob justice. Many banished women go to one of the six Witch Camps open in Ghana, which, from their perspective, is the only life-saving choice.
Witch Camps are run by local chieftains. The women who flee to them are given meager rations, small, under ventilated huts, and jobs working the land or doing menial labor. Depending on which camp, there could be dozens to hundreds of women in the same situation. Food is scarce, health care isn’t an option, and while there are many outside aid/relief charities, the number of women fleeing to the camps is growing.
At the Gambaga camp, the Gambarana (Chief) has an ancestral talent for determining if you are actually the witch you are accused of being. If you are cleared, then that could be your way to go back to your family and your community with a clean slate. There’s some sort of ritual involved, but I am not sure what precisely it is.
However, reintegration with one’s family and community is often difficult and still incredibly dangerous. Once there are suspicions of witchcraft thrown about, it’s hard to get back to a normal way of life and many end up dead after trying to go back. Many women therefore opt to stay in the camps despite the harsh and difficult life they provide.
The Ghana government is in the process of shutting down these camps as they are seen to be a human rights violation. The women who are there are being re-integrated into their communities with limited success. This tends to be problematic as while the camps aren’t exactly the best place, they are better than the situations these women have fled from.
This is definitely a topic I intend on researching a bit more, but I wanted to share what my rabbit hole research has uncovered.
Smiles,
Kira