Rijk & Carola
Framed silver gelatine baryta darkroom fibre print, 30×40 cm, Family Files series.

Pelle
Framed silver gelatine baryta darkroom fibre print, 30?40 cm, Family Files series.

Rijk

Framed silver gelatine baryta darkroom fibre print, 30?40 cm, Family Files series.

Pelle

Framed silver gelatine baryta darkroom fibre print, 30?40 cm, Family Files series.

Carola
Framed silver gelatine baryta darkroom fibre print, 30×40 cm, Family Files series.

Rijk

Framed silver gelatine baryta darkroom fibre print, 30×40 cm, Family Files series.

Pelle
Framed silver gelatine baryta darkroom fibre print, 30×40 cm, Family Files series.

Rijk
Framed silver gelatine baryta darkroom fibre print, 30×40 cm, Family Files series.

Rijk & Pelle
Film is dead. Long life film! Framed silver gelatine baryta darkroom fibre print, 30×40 cm, Family Files series.

Every Saturday morning on the streets around Soweto’s giant cemeteries, the heart-breaking impact of AIDS on South Africa becomes visible.
Countless processions of the dead fill the streets. Inside some of the overcrowded graveyards, space beneath thesoil is running out.
In Soweto and across South Africa, no other killer comes close to HIV/Aids. Related illnesses claim an estimated 1,000 lives every day.

A sangoma is a practitioner of ngoma, a philosophy based on a belief in ancestral spirits and the practice of traditional African medicine. Sangoma perform a holistic and symbolic form of healing by drawing on the embedded beliefs of the Nguni culture who believe that ancestors in the afterlife guide and protect the living. Sangomas are called to heal, and through them it is believed that ancestors from the spirit world can give instruction and advice to heal illness, social disharmony and spiritual difficulties.

A trainee sangoma (or ithwasa) trains formally under another sangoma for a period of anywhere between a number of months and many years. The training involves learning humility to the ancestors, purification through steaming, washing in the blood of sacrificed animals, and the use of muti, medicines with spiritual significance.The ithwasa may not see their families during training and must abstain from sexual contact and often live under harsh and strict conditions.This is part of the cleansing process to prepare the healer for a life’s work of dedication to healing and the intense experiences of training tend to earn a deeply entrenched place in the sangoma’s memory.

At the end of thwasa and during initiation, a goat is sacrificed to call to the ancestors and appease them. The local community, friends and family are all invited to the initiation to witness and celebrate the completion of training. The ithwasa is also tested by the local elder sangomas to determine whether they have the skills and insight necessary to heal. The climactic initiation test is to ensure the ithwasa has the ability to “see” things hidden from view. This is signified and proved when other sangomas hide the ithwasa’s sacred objects, including the gall bladder of the goat that was sacrificed and the ithwasa must, in front of the community, call upon their ancestors, find the hidden objects and return them back to the sangomas that hid them, thus proving they have the ability to “see” beyond the physical world.

I was fortunate to witness this rare initiation rite and get invited to the celebrations. In the photograph chickens are prepared, one of the ceremonials.

The singing and dancing was so intense it made my chest vibrate. In a moment of silence the priest asked me;
when a child is born does it inherit the sins of its parents?

Tabo lives with his brother Boy in Dube township Soweto. They live together in a very small room. Tabo was a very promising soccer player who played in the South African National Team for Youth. In his early twenties he got paralyzed from the waist down due to a viral infection. Although he had to give up some of his dreams, he is strong and bright and with a positive attitude towards life. I met Tabo one night, he was quiet, waiting in his wheelchair on the sidewalk. I said hello and asked him if he was all right. He simply asked if I could help him get inside. His brother returned late. I said sure and I dragged him up a pair of steps and tried to open the front door with my shoulder. I peeked in the small room and the first thing I noticed were some medals on the wall and a big rat walking on a closet. I learned a lot from Tabo’s character that night. His brother Boy has a dream of visiting Scotland. Although he had never been there, he spoke full of excitement about the majestical purple glow of the hills.