Another Tragedy (2003)

An excerpt from "Courage in the Congo: A Doctor's Fight to Save the Pygmies"

Sometimes, it seems like another week, another tragedy. An Ekonda girl in junior high school collapsed and died. I believed she had a cardiac arrest as a result of congenital heart disease. I had treated her older brother for heart disease for the past five years. The students were upset and believed she died due to sorcery. Then, a third-grade student died of cerebral malaria. His parents were a nurse-midwife and a high school teacher. Everyone became upset because two students had passed away within ten days.

I found a letter the interns slid under my door. They wrote, "Brother, last week, we buried one student, and another this week. The Bantu, who know how to reason well, told us they had a dream that a storekeeper from Kiri buried a fetish on the school grounds. As a result, five male Botoa interns, five female Botoa interns, four male Bantu students, and four female Bantu students will die. Brother, do not think we are lying because it's true. The Bantu told us so. If you want to do good, go to Kiri and bring Father Ngongo here to remove the fetish. If not, we are going to die. If you doubt us and one intern dies, we will all quit school."

Usually, I laughed at this silliness, but, this time I could not. I did not take the student's beliefs and fears lightly. So, I went and talked to the principal. He and the teachers agreed that they also wanted Father Ngongo to come. I promised to speak with Father Yves. After evening prayers, I gave the letter to Father Yves. We agreed we should celebrate a Mass on the school grounds and bless the classrooms to dispel the fear that existed in the two schools.