Ch.+9+Tribal+medicine+and+ogbanjes+-+Grace

= ﻿﻿O b a n j e =

﻿ Background: FACTS:
 * There is an estimation of mortality rate (Death of children under 5 years of age) of about 97 and 120 per thousand births in Nigeria.
 * In Things Fall Apart Ezinma is an Ogbanje
 * "Ogbanje" and cannot be substituted with "Obanje", the "gb" forms a single consonant in Igbo language.
 * Ogbanje is only believed by some ethnic groups in southern Nigeria
 * The main reason of "medicine man" is to protect people from the spirit world, such as the ogbanje for the advantage of their neighborhood.
 * Ogbanje is an evil spirit that would curse a family with bad luck.
 * Sometimes families or medicine men mutilate the child, by cutting them or burying them deeply in a secret place, so that the ogbanje does not come back.
 * Some ogbanje, “the stubborn ones”, come back with the scares from the mutilation.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">It is believed that when a child passes away, the “gatekeeper of heaven” rejects the child driving the child back to earth. Sometimes they would go back to earth through another child’s body. The child would be called an ogbanje. They may die at the age of five or grow up to be an adult, but sooner or later they would have to return to the spirit world again. There is a special day the ogbanje has to return back to the spirit world, called a market-day.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Ogbanje is sometimes the result of females not being circumcised

media type="youtube" key="6vFP3NXHV8o?fs=1" height="307" width="384" align="center"

<span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #ff9c00; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">This is a picture of an Igbo medicine man. <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #ff9c00; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">There is medicine man in each community/ village. <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #ff9c00; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">A medicine man is more than just a doctor, they heal all aspects of life physically, mentally, and spirtually, <span style="background-color: #5cb3fa; color: #808080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px;">﻿Obanje are born as babies and live until their market day comes.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Works Cited

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Asakitikpi, Alex. F. "Born to Die: The Ogbanje Phenomenon and its Implication on." Krepublishers. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2010. [|www.krepublishers.com/02-Journals/T-Anth/Anth-10-0-000-08-Web/Anth-10-1-000-08-Abst-PDF/Anth-10-1-059-08-383-Asakitikpi-A-E/Anth-10-1-059-08-383-Asakitikpi-A-E-Tt.pdf]

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Achebe, Chinua. "Chapter Nine." //Things fall apart//. New York: Anchor Books, 1994. 77-81. Print.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">"NIGERIA: Female circumcision in Igboland." //The Female Genital Cutting Education and Networking Project//. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2010. <fgmnetwork.org/news/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1170937325

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">"Igbo perception of their world -Chp3 - Reincarnation - Codewit! World News." //Codewit World News - Making the News - Codewit! World News//. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2010. [].

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Pictures <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Igbo Medicine Man "Faiths of the Africans - World Religion Day." //World Religion Day//. Spiritual Education Lesson Plans, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2010. [] <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">﻿ Baby "World: Photos Worldwide; Nigerian Police Raid Baby-Selling Hospital; Haiti’s President to U.S.: Stop Deportation! | News You Should Know | BET.com." //BET.com | The Latest Music, Entertainment, and Celebrity News and Fashions, TV Shows and Video | Official Site//. BET network, 9 Oct. 2008. Web. 9 Nov. 2010. <http://blogs.bet.com/news/newsyoushouldknow/world-photos-worldwide-nigerian-police-raid-baby-selling-hospital-haitis-president-to-us-stop-deportation/>.