When our stories are told by outsiders

…Trauma triggering piece, please exercise caution, self-care, and mindfulness as you read

This piece is written from a borrowed perspective, one that Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie calls, “The danger of a single side story.” Based on my publicly declared interests in use of culturally responsive approaches, I have been tagged multiple times on my social media platforms about a film.

This film is supposedly about Lesotho. I say supposedly because the only time Lesotho is mentioned in the film is once. I am refraining from spoiling it for my fellow movie lovers. Rather, I will talk about the central piece of the film, which is muti. Specifically, the use of muti for power, financial gain, good luck, and just being generally liked by other people.

The movie showcases one of the longest standing traditions in Africa; the use of muti. I cannot say this enough, I am not big on dictionary definitions as they sometimes do an injustice to cultural meaning of words. Then again, it is the standard so let me not be too much of a rebel. The Merriam Webster definition of muti is that it is medicine [Africa], Zulu umuti tree, shrub, herb, medicine.

My lived experience of being an African finds this definition lacking or incomplete. Which leads to what I really wanted to discuss with self and readers. The film captures muti as a practice characterised by ritual killings of specific individuals for their unique identities or strengths if you will. In the film, this is a group of teenagers (intelligent, pure, virgins, with pretty eyes).

As I was watching, I was reminded of the brutal killings of people that live with albinism in different African countries. In one of their statements, the UN describes this practice as, “There are superstitions in some parts of Africa that albino body parts bring wealth, power, or sexual conquest, and that having sex with a person living with albinism cures HIV and AIDS.”

The big question from my colleagues abroad is/was; for real this happens in Lesotho? Uhm, I do not know how to respond to this one. It is a Yes and No answer. We grow up hearing of such, there are stories in the news about deceased bodies recovered without certain body parts. The local/cultural understanding of this is that the deceased was likely killed for rituals such as the ones that the movie portrays.

The missing body parts are to be used [as part of muti] for the benefits aforementioned. This is the part that I usually attribute to meaning making in a given context at a given time. My non-African colleague is likely to not regard a decapitated corpse and missing body parts as potentially being ingredients in a medicine or muti.

The reason I borrowed from Adichie’s insightful presentation about “The danger of a single-side story” is because there is another perspective [not captured] in the film about muti, which is that muti heals, eases suffering and trust that in Sesotho culture when someone has toothache, they can use herbs and have the pain go away.

When I consulted with the elders, this is called “ho momela” whereby medicines like “mothapo oa perekisi/mothapo oa lekhala/mothapo oa hlabahlabane e putsoa” can be used. For stomach discomfort, popularly known as “nyooko” there tends to be “hloenya” and many other herbs that saves Basotho trips to the ER, which can be 2-3 days away by horse ride.

I recalled a story of my parents telling me that when I was an infant, I was colic and deprived them of sleep. This was until my grandma that I am named after, put on her superpower cape. I am told she instructed my dad to go searching for marijuana seeds, locally known as matekoane. In her remarks, they are usually green and brown seeds. Brown seeds are good for this experiment, they are boiled with water for a decent amount of minutes and the baby is given a teaspoon amount.

Indeed, the baby in the form of a wide awake crying me, fell asleep from the compound(s) in the special tea as my granny called it. According to the elders, brown seeds of marijuana when used cautiously, can calm individuals down. In Sesotho, li theola bohale/pelo e halefileng, which means they calm one’s heart.

Ours as indigenous and tribal communities is a story half told. I foresee a Mosotho reader somewhere going; oh but marijuana is illegal, don’t even say it out loud! Guaranteed it is. Ask yourself this as well, why do we have such an influx of First World investors investing in marijuana growing in Lesotho?

Yes, it is for monetary gain and a ton other reasons that are recreational, and treatment based. As some of you know, I have the advantage of having experienced multiple cultures, with one of them being American culture at the current moment. On this side of the world various blends of THC are used for multiple purposes including management of mental health disorders.

Want to know why a single side story is sad? We will buy our own product in nice container bags, with a thank you for being a valued customer card from international suppliers. The whole time we will be having the product grown in our backyards.

This is not a story about the effects of marijuana on mental health, I urge readers to go on their own search for this one too. This is a story about what happens when we do not tell our stories from our lived experience. Movie goers will call the storyline in The Ritual Killer fictious, Africans should know better.

It is as much fiction as it is truth, with a major concern being that only one side of the fictious truth is portrayed. As the global movements shift towards use of culture appropriate interventions, my wish is for Africans to answer the call. With my chest out, I can safely say the Africans that were consulted (if any) in the making of the film omitted important details about the use of muti. I invite readers to reflect on these issues. Ask yourself how you would represent your culture and/or cultural practices if you were tasked to do so.

In her famous TEDTalk, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie phrased it beautifully when she said, “The risk of a single story, the one perspective, is that it can lead us to default assumptions, conclusions and decisions that may be incomplete, and may lead to misunderstanding. Operating from the context of a single story can prevent us from a more complex, nuanced view of a situation.” I enjoyed the movie. Professor Mackles character played by Morgan Freeman could have enlisted my help in practising how to pronounce Lesotho.

Until Next Time!!!

‘Makamohelo Malimabe  works as a Psychotherapist. She holds a Master’s in Counseling Psychology. She has certifications in Global Health Delivery, Policy Development & Advocacy in Global Health, Leadership & Management in Health, as well as Fundamentals in Implementation Science. Her views are independent and not representative of her professional roles. She is ambitious about equitable health delivery, health policy and decolonised mental health approaches.