disappearing genitals

I stopped reading African newspapers about 6 months after arriving in Swaziland. I found the daily articles about child sexual abuse, mutilations, government corruption, and the dissemination of misinformation too draining.. It is difficult enough to do the kind of work we do- HIV outreach, economic development for the very poor, orphan care, etc., without constant reminder of the overall grim picture. And in Swaziland, every paper contains a section, page after page, of obituaries, often with accompanying photos of people in their 20s and 30s who have died; people who shouldn’t have died and who leave small children to be cared for by whomever happens to be left behind. So, like a turtle in her shell, I pull my head in and view my small, sometimes manageable part of the world and leave the rest for those who are better able to assimilate grim reality. But every once in a while, if I am stuck in an office waiting somewhere, or at a restaurant where newspapers are available, I will pick a newspaper up and glance through it. Today, waiting in the Peace Corps office, I picked up the day’s paper and glanced through classic headlines about political corruption and party line disagreements before landing on a couple articles that, while typical, leave me shaking my head. The first was an article about an 11 year old boy who was found with his genitals cut off. Alive, but forever mutilated. Not really every day stuff- enough to get a raised eyebrow or two- but nothing that you haven’t seen plenty of times before here in one form or another. I’m sure there was a reason for it that made sense to the person who committed the act, a reason that perhaps even made sense to a whole village, some ritual act of vengeance or cleansing. Something that might make sense if you were born and raised here. The second story was about a man who was arrested for causing his ex-wife’s genitals to disappear. Yes, indeed. The man was so distraught when his wife divorced him and married someone else that he went to a “witch doctor” who cast a spell on the woman. Now, when the woman tries to have sex with her new husband, they are unable because her genitals disappear. Apparently the witch doctor has since passed away and, consequently, it is unknown whether or not the spell can be removed. So the woman went to the police, reported the matter, and the ex-husband was arrested and jailed. Yes, jailed for causing his ex-wife’s genitals to disappear. Swear to god, you just can’t make this kind of stuff up.