Help Age International II, Tanzania
October 2005
Helpage International works in northern Tanzania to address the growing problem of elderly women who are accused of witchcraft. Traditionally women in the region are not entitled to keep their husbands land or livestock after they die – it is returned to his family or is passed on to his children. Old women are therefore often left destitute with no means of survival.
The growing problem with HIV/ AIDS in the region has also resulted in many people between the ages of 18 – 49 dying. Many elderly people have lost all their children and are now the sole carers of their grandchildren. The HIV epidemic is fueling belief in witchcraft and women who lose children are being accused of conjuring up their deaths. The sickness is being blamed by communities on witchcraft that increases older women’s vulnerability.
Some people have been brutally murdered as a result and others have been left severely disabled or injured. There is little legal redress and many women are too scared to approach the local police.
Left: Beneficiaries of Helpage programs in Karagwe District, Northern Tanzania.
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Help Age International II, Tanzania
October 2005
A beneficiary of Helpage’s program in Karagwe District, Northern Tanzania.
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Help Age International II, Tanzania
October 2005
Diana Iblahim lives in Kagenyi Village and is the sole carer of four grandchildren. The eldest boy is 19 and the youngest, photographed here, is only 2. Two of them are the children of her daughter who married another man after their father died and whose new husband doesn’t want to look after her first children. The other two are the children of her son who died two years ago. Helpage, through their local partner, Sawata, have supported her by donating a goat who is soon to have a baby that she will be able to sell on for a small profit.
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Help Age International II, Tanzania
October 2005
An elderly beneficiary is seen with her Thai Water Jar that was designed and made in response to a needs assessment carried out in 1998 in Karagwe District. The jars have a 1000 litre capacity and have been distributed throughout all three communities to the elderly, who no longer have to walk five kilometers a day to fetch their water. Although the containers are no longer being produced, Helpage, through their local partner, Sawata, helps maintain the containers for the elderly.
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Help Age International II, Tanzania
October 2005
A woman works on the Pineapple Project that was established in 2003 in Iteera Village. At first their were only two members of the project, but in 2004 three new members joined. All work on the project two mornings a week and assist eight other old people in the community who can't care for themselves and take them pineapples and ground nuts they have grown. They also sell pineapples in the market so that they can buy kerosene, and soap. A large Kenyan company is interested in exporting the pineapples to Europe because are one hundred percent organically grown.
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Help Age International II, Tanzania
October 2005
Faustina Augustina is a Helpage/ Sawata beneficiary living in Karagwe District. Widowed, she is the sole carer of three grandchildren.
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Help Age International II, Tanzania
October 2005
In Kagenyi Healthcare Centre an elderly woman looks after her sick grandson. Many elderly people visit the centre with grandchildren because their parents have died, often as a result of HIV/AIDS. Often in rural communities, the child's death is blamed on the parents practicing witchcraft and they are marginalized from the community.
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Help Age International II, Tanzania
October 2005
Limi Nadaki was accused of being a witch by the local community after all of her children and husband died. She was attacked one night while sleeping by a man with a machete and had her arm chopped off. The local police refused to try and find the man responsible. She lives alone, and lives in permanent fear that he man will return to kill her. Helpage has assisted by building a a new and more secure house so she feels safer at night. She is also visited regularly by Helpage social workers to ensure she is not isolated from her community.
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Help Age International II, Tanzania
October 2005
Remy is 90 years old and is the sole carer of her mentally disabled son who is 63 years old. Accused of being a witch by the local community after her husband died, she and her son faced near starvation because nobody would help her harvest her crops or collect food. She has now become part of a program to educate the local community about the dangers of believing in witchcraft.
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Help Age International II, Tanzania
October 2005
A group of young people perform educational songs and plays that warn people of the dangers of listening to traditional healers who promote a belief in witchcraft.
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Help Age International II, Tanzania
October 2005
A group of elderly women watch a play performed by a group of young people that warn people about the dangers of listening to traditional healers who promote a belief in witchcraft.
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