It's odd how something so common seems out of place.
I decided to indulge in a little
afternoon luxury...a cup of tea and the newspaper. The good type...made
of paper and where the ink still stains your hands. It was the cover story that intrigued me as
the photo was taken at the hospital where I volunteer. After reading the
article about a local political leader who had been kidnapped an assaulted, I
flipped pages looking, eager to find out what else had been happening in the
"neighborhood". I listed the highlights below...a stark reminder
that my current "home" is much different...
"13 people killed by hippos".
"13 people killed by hippos".
It appears that in 2013, while
attempting to earn a living fishing, thirteen unlucky young men were victims to
Africa’s deadliest creature – the hippo.
The statistic itself is entirely believable as hippos are notoriously
territorial and grumpy, the article expands to say that, just last week 3 more
people succumbed in hippo attacks with a further 2 being severely injured. I do believe that the article did use a tad
of dramatic licence when stating that these individuals were "killed and
devoured" by hippos as hippos tend to prefer grasses to human flesh but nonetheless,
the point is solidified that whether it be in the crabbing in the Bearing Sea
or perch fishing in Lake Victoria – fishing is a dangerous profession.
Wildlife officer in trouble over two guns, flamingos”
It was a Good Samaritan that tipped off
local police in the Singida region that a Wildlife Officer was in possession of
2 guns – a rifle and a shotgun. A search
of the man’s home revealed additional contraband in the form of 3 bullets and a
dozen flamingos. The man is now in
prison.
“Police advise public to shun witchcraft
beliefs”
Apparently when reviewing the homicides
from 2013, police in the Mbeya region discovered that 10% of the killings were
related to superstitious beliefs. This
seems like a small number considering that 56% of the murders were related to
motorbike theft. No further explanation
into the rationale for the witchcraft killings was provided – apparently it was
obvious to everyone reading the paper but me.
“Two people reported dead, one killed
by angry mob”
It looks like the Musoma region also
elected to weigh in on their recent deaths.
The first, the headline grabber, was beaten to death after allegedly being
caught stealing cassava from a local farm.
(Side note: 1. Cassava is a root that
makes up a large part of the carbohydrate diet here. 2. It
is very common for thieves to be beaten to death.).
The second and apparently less
interesting, bottom of the article death was a man gulped down by a
crocodile.
“Three found dead in Iringa”
Absolutely unrelated incidents but
reported in the same article. The first
was a 25 year old woman found hanging – her husband is in custody. The second is a 50 year old man who died
after committing suicide by taking a poison named “Thonex” (I have no idea what
this is and an internet search revealed it to be an area of Geneva Switzerland). And the third, and my personal favourite, a
woman aged 105 died when her home caught fire (NB. it’s not my favourite that
the women burnt to death but that she managed to live to 105 and did not die of
natural causes. Just to clarify).
It would behoove me to note that the
paper did have other articles pertaining to elephant poaching, illegal
immigrants, foreign trade and diplomatic relations. There is also large sports section that seems
devoted to soccer with a few random articles about rugby and, surprisingly,
golf.
Overall my impression is that the news
in many areas has replaced the North American obituary pages. This, if my mother is any indication, is what
most people seem to read first and foremost anyway....
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