The Concept of Botho and HIV/AIDS in Botswana

Chapter Four - The Significance of Cultural and Religious Understanding in the Fight against HIV/AIDS in Botswana

CHAPTER FOUR The Significance of Cultural and Religious Understanding in the Fight against HIV&AIDS in Botswana Abel B. Tabalaka Introduction E ver since the first cases of HIV&AIDS were reported in Botswana in the 1980’s, there have been certain notions that people maintained in their interpretation of the HIV&AIDS problem. Most of these ideas were culturally and religiously-based.Examplesofsuchnotionsincludethefollowing:ƒ AIDS is boswagadi (The result of having sexual intercourse with the spouse of a dead person before a purification ritual) (Botswana Traditional Religion)ƒ AIDS can be cured by traditional doctors (Botswana Traditional Religion) and through prayer (Christianity)ƒ HIV&AIDS is a punishment from God (Both BTR and Christianity)ƒ AIDS is a result of a spell or witchcraft (Botswana Traditional Religion) Unfortunately, the believers of these cultural understandings were not given a platform to express themselves. They were instead lampooned and labelled as simply “mythical” and untrue. In their The Concept of Botho and HIV&AIDS in Botswana book, Exploring Moral Issues in Botswana, Kgathi G.L. et al (2000:31) classified the notions above under “Myths about HIV&AIDS.” Kgathi and all who share her view continue to point out, “Because people are frightened of HIV&AIDS and do not know enough about it, they believe in stories about it which are not true (myths).” Thapelo et al (1999:16) also maintain this drift of considering the above notions as myths. It should be noted that the above sources are just a few examples from the pool of writers who have simply labelled these cultural notions as “mythical”. It is of course very troubling to note that these sources did very little, if not nothing at all, to adequately study these understandings, their sources, and actually how these could help us in the fight against HIV&AIDS. The concept of Botho, which includes elements of rationality and morality, demands that we acknowledge the rationality in any given culture, despite how we may differ with its observations. Unfortunately, this was not the case with Batswana’s cultural and religious understandings regarding HIV&AIDS. This chapter seeks to explore this problem and relate it to the Batswana’s concept of Botho. Religio-Cultural Understandings, a Stumbling Block in the Fight Against HIV&AIDS Much has been written to demonstrate how cultural and religious misconceptions are actually a block in the fight against HIV&AIDS. Commenting on the contribution of African religion and culture on the spread of HIV&AIDS, Jon Lacey (2001) pointed out that culture and tradition can support certain extended relationship patterns and practices that may present risks of HIV&AIDS transmission. Lacey gives examples such as: • early intercourse for males to demonstrate “manhood” (during and after initiation rites), • genital mutilation (sometimes called female circumcision), and • purification rites involving intercourse after the death of a husband. 62 In Botswana, this will be close to what is called seantlo (A Setswana practice where a widow marries her dead husband’s brother or a widower marries his dead wife’s sister). These, he argues may have some contribution on the spread of HIV&AIDS. On the same note, Lesedi Mothibamele, who was the chairman of a Parliament’s Select Committee on AIDS, said there was a need for cultural change, given the fact thatAIDS threatens to wipe out the population of Botswana. This, he pointed out during the WorldAIDS day commemoration in Moshupa in 2000. Mothibamele argued that, “We are in a war situation where we have to make many tough decisions and forget about some of our cultural beliefs in order to save millions of lives,” He said traditions such as “seantlo” must be discarded because they contributed to the spread of the disease (Daily News Online 5th December 2000). The problem that arises here is on the possibility of “forgetting” or “discarding” these cultural notions, as the minister suggests. Is it possible to discard these without affecting other important foundational concepts of the people such as Botho? In other words, is it Botho to ask people to forget or discard their culture? Myths versus Misconceptions It is probably pertinent that before dealing with these notions, one should observe that a lot of injustice has been done not only against the ideas of the people, but even to the field of mythology. In other words, if for argument’s sake we tentatively agree that the above statements made by Batswana were misconceptions; would we be doing justice to the field of mythology and anthropology by labeling misconceptions as myths?Are myths tantamount to misconceptions or nonsense statements? Probably this should be the...