When Francis, a 48-year-old teacher, had the misfortune of becoming mentally ill, his aggressive behaviour as he increasingly lost touch with reality drew him into conflict with his neighbours. Francis’s brother sought help from traditional healers, who performed numerous rituals to try to appease family ancestors for any wrong-doing the family might have committed. When nothing worked, one of the healers pinned Francis’s foot through a heavy length of tree trunk to restrain him.
For two long years Francis remained thus restrained, in an empty windowless room, naked on a bare concrete floor upon which he ate, slept and relieved himself. People lost sight of the intelligent and articulate man who had taught at the local school and saw only his mental imbalance. As Francis remembers: ‘Even though I did not know or care where I was, I really felt I should not be kept in this room. I protested angrily and shouted to be allowed out but that did not help. Either I would be ignored, or they would guard me even more firmly as they feared I may do something untoward.’
