Three Generations of Healers

Abstract

For eons, traditional medicine was the dominant medical system for millions of people in Africa. It plays an important role in health care for the majority of rural folk in Africa, who often do not have access to modern medicine. The high cost of modern health care systems has prompted the integration of traditional African medicine into the continent’s national health care systems. In Swaziland, a small kingdom located in Southern Africa, 85% of the people rely on traditional medicine for their primary health care. For Swazis, traditional medicine is anchored in their cultural and religious beliefs. In traditional African medicine, it is believed that illness is caused through spiritual or social imbalance and diagnosis is reached through spiritual means.