August 2, 2010

Today I went to the Edumfa prayer camp, largely considered the most well known prayer camp in all of Ghana.  Edumfa was about 30 minutes away from Cape Coast.  On first view, the camp looked like a typical Ghanaian village. 

We met with the administrator, who told us all about the camp.  The administrator was extremely open about the practises that go on at the camp, seemingly because she believes what is done in the camp is right and she wants to spread the word. The camp holds about 6000 people.  People suffering from “psychiatric” illness or physical illness are admitted.  People of all religions are accepted.  Admitted people are called “inmates”.   Inmates can be admitted on their own or by family members.  Apparently, inmates pay a 5 Cedi “registration fee” and are not required to make any more payment.  Inmates can be admitted against their will, if others judge them to show psychotic symptoms.  People of any age can be admitted, even very young children.  Upon admittance the family members or the inmate must sign a consent form.

Common symptoms leading to admittance include: quiet behaviour, cold limbs, or a general change in demeanour.   No matter the symptoms for which a person is admitted, it is believed the symptoms stem from “demonic forces”.  If one is not Christian, they can be “worked against” by demonic forces.  It is believed demons may strike if a person is stressed, envious, or engaging in bad behaviour, such as alcohol or marijuana abuse.  As an example the administrator explained that if I was not a child of Christ and was envious of another person who was a child of Christ, whatever bad things I wished to happen to the child of Christ would instead happen to me because of demonic forces.

We were shown the housing areas for inmates and allowed to talk to the inmates. Inmates were housed in common areas with small foam mattresses to sleep on.  The housing was at least clean, which I was not expecting (though perhaps I should have because “cleanliness is next to Godliness”).   

All inmates, regardless of their camp-diagnosed illness, are treated with fasting and prayer.  The administrator says that fasting and prayer are the only effective treatment because modern medicinal drugs do not work. New inmates are made to fast (no food or water) for 3 days.  If inmates are uncooperative, they are chained inside to the floor or outside to a tree (Figure 26). 

Figure 26. Young man chained during fast at Edumfa prayer camp.

On the 4^th day, inmates are given tea made from the bark of a tree called Nyame-Dua (God’s tree).  I am not sure if the Nyame-Dua tree is a specific type of tree, or a tree that has been blessed in some way. The administrator claims God’s tree bark is a miracle drug that cures cancer, bareness (infertility), headaches, and any other illness.  The tea can be taken as a drink, or poured in the eyes or nose (to allow it to get to the head faster). Inmates are also given light food, and health tonics (yellow to treat fever, and red which creates more blood to improve strength).  

If the inmate does not improve after 10 days, fasting starts again.  An inmate is kept for a maximum of 21 days, after which, they are sent to Ankful Psychiatric hospital, where Dorota works (if they can pay).  At Ankful, anti-psychotic drugs are given (no matter the patient’s symptoms) along with a continued prayer regimen.  A person filters between the prayer camp and psychiatric hospital until they are deemed to be cured.

We were taken to a prayer service given for the inmates.  The service was given by the camp founder , “Aunt Gracie”.   Aunt Gracie told how she had started the camp 50 years ago after God instructed her to do so in a dream. She asked me if we would support their ministry when we got back home.  To be diplomatic and avoid an uncomfortable situation I replied we would try.  We were then brought to the front of the congregation to recieve blessings (Figure 27).

Figure 27. Being blessed at Edumfa prayer camp.

Overall, the experience was extremely disturbing.   The site of young children and adults chained to the floor and made to fast was probably the most immediately disturbing experience at the camp.  Also very disturbing was how strongly the workers, and even most inmates, believed what they were doing was right.

In my time so far in Ghana, and especially after visiting Edumfa, it has become very apparent that traditional views of witchcraft are still very prominent in Ghana (and likely most of Africa, as prayer camps are reportedly all over Africa).  Because modern information and communication tools (phones, internet, TV, radio, etc.) are fairly common in Ghana, I expected that Ghanaians would be more aware of up to date scientific information, which would dispel belief in witchcraft, as witchcraft goes against most scientific information.  Overwhelmingly, however, this is not the case.   

Even two nurses who work with Dorota at the psychiatric hospital and are in their final year of a BSc in psychology at UCC were very much in support of the prayer camp.  I was very surpised by this because the universities teach only legitimate science, and refute any belief in witchcraft and the practises of the prayer camps.  Consequently, the fact that both nurses were in support of the prayer camp, even after there scientific training, spoke very loudly for the deep root of traditional cultural practises in Ghana.

For anyone who is interested, Edumfa Prayer Camp has a website with much of this same information, which I highly recommend visiting:

http://edumfaprayercamp.com/index.html