Madagascar: Traditional Healers and Modern Medicine in Madagascar

1 August 2016
analysis

Ambondro, Madagascar - In Ambondro village in the remote south of Madagascar, it is said that the man whom people seek out to cure their sickness was trained by a ghost. Sixty-year-old Mbola Tohamana is a traditional healer and claims his potions and spells can treat diseases and psychiatric disorders - and even make people fall in love.

He is the sole inhabitant of a wooden house - a rare luxury in a region where many families cram a dozen people into one small living space. Inside, a brown and yellow tapestry emblazoned with depictions of butterflies and vines hangs across a wall. Pinned to it is a 2016 calendar and a weekly timetable. Tools, boxes and a bicycle are neatly stacked around a sizeable bed.

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