'Witch children' in Africa

Children being branded as "witch children" and being abandoned or killed at birth is a problem in much of West Africa. Today we focus on Togo, one of a number of African countries where we tackle all root causes of abandonment. We explain background to the current problem and give a case study of a child we have helped.

We want to do more for so called witch children. Already the problem of "witch children" comes within our remit as the world's largest orphan and abandoned child charity, since it is a major cause of abandonment. But of course often it is far worse than this.

This text is from an internal funding request recently filed by SOS Togo asking if there were funding countries in a position to help.

Plans for more programs for "witch children"

The ritual regarding pregnancy and birth in the ethnic group of Baribas is a major problem. Parents who want to be considered socially valuable and with children accepted  (by the living and the dead) live in ritual fear. Being born doesn’t mean that the child is automatically integrated in the community. In fact, the birth is only the first step for a child. The acquisition of a real identity and social status in the ethnic group will only be effective after a succession of ordeals that will transform the child in an entire human being.

For this ethnic group, a well-born child is the one who didn’t come in the world:

-        after 08 months of pregnancy (according to the Baribas, the number 8 brings bad luck),

-        by presenting the seat, the face or the shoulder,

-        with teeth germs,

-        with visible malformation.

If a child is born in such conditions, he or she is called a “witch child” and sentenced to death. As soon as he or she is born, she or he is abandoned on the ground and every body flies away, even the mother of the child. An executioner is then called to take and sacrifice the “witch child”. For a child who succeeds in escaping these ordeals, the troubles are far from over. The teething is another ordeal. If the child teethes first of all by the upper jaw, this child will be considered as “witch” and must be killed.

The crime of these children consists in having come in the world with an eight-month’s pregnancy and not with the nine which is accepted by the society or to teethe by the upper jaw at first. The tooth of the upper jaw coming towards earth is considered as evil, whereas those of lower jaw going towards the sky are considered as accepted by ancestors.

The extermination methods are various: the victims can be left or exposed at a temple or at a busy cross-road, neglected, starved, reported missing, i.e., eliminated indirectly, either drowned, suffocated or killed violently. The child is permanently in abandon or death danger or victim of any kind of mistreatment.

The murder of an innocent child is thus considered as a normal thing, because according to them, this tradition tends to avoid that the “witch” child brings a curse for the family or the community.  The ritual confers the murder a sacred character. The death sentence is collective. Nobody is guilty, the individual didn’t decide; he followed the ethnic group and the rules of the community.

Fostering as a first approach

The fight against ritual infanticide, which was considered as a taboo matter, is being engaged. After carrying out a carefully analysis, the idea of a foster system where birth conditions will be survived with anonymity had risen and was put in practice in 1994. The system of foster homes was identified as an alternative to infanticide and consequently a means to fight efficiently against the phenomenon. The start of the foster system has contributed to reduce significantly infanticide, but a lot of things must be done so that this bad practice disappears completely.  Today, this foster system lacks the resources to efficiently play its role but we try to help where we can. The need for funding is the reason why this additional funding request has been raised.

Case study: "witch child" or disabled boy?

We tackle abandonment with what we call "Family strengthening programs". In three years of activities, the Family Strengthening Programme in Lome, Togo. has been able to prevent numerous families from disintegrating and to restore hope to those who thought to have lost everything. Martin* is a striking example. The boy was born in 2000 with a health malformation which heavily disrupted his growth. He could not speak and could not play like other children of his age, and of course he could not attend school. He fainted frequently, and people from his village perceived him as a 'witch child'. He was abandoned by his parents and found a home in a foster family. Soon after that, Martin was struck down by a chronic marasmus and was taken to a hospital about 150 km from Lomé. After having received treatment there, he temporarily recovered some level of health.

Martin became part of the Family Strengthening Programme immediately after he had left the hospital, at the age of four. The programme tried to address his medical needs, but his health became dramatically worse again so that he urgently needed a special operation which could not be done in Togo. Thanks to the co-operation with a partner NGO, the boy went to Switzerland in December 2005, where he successfully had a heart operation. He returned to Togo in April 2006 and joined his foster parents again, 180 km from Lomé. He continuously receives assistance from the programme.

The two children of his foster mother are supported by the programme through foodstuff supplies, payment of school fees, purchase of school stationeries and a medical insurance. Martin's foster mother received a micro credit from the programme, which allowed her to start a small business so that she can cater for her children's needs. Today, Martin is seven and suffers less than before. He is progressively recovering his growth and might even be registered to school next year.

*For privacy reasons, we have changed the name of the child