Why Poor People are Gullible

I was born to a single mother in a very poor setting.   My mother tells me that she delivered me at a Traditional Birth Attendant’s place. Reasons for this were mainly two fold.  First, my mother had gone through a bitter separation from my father and she was broke to the bone.  She couldn’t afford the hospital dues and she was so proud to beg.   Secondly and the most important reason her choosing to deliver me at a TBA’s place was because she believed or had been told that someone who didn’t wish her well had decided that she will not deliver me and if she tries, we would both die.  She believes to this day that she carried me in her womb for almost 12 months.  

I am a firm believer in science, I am sure that there are so many explanations for my mothers belief, chief of which could be the fact that she miscounted the months.    On the other, I being the fourth and last child of my mother, I sometimes cut her some slack.  A woman of that experience cannot have made such a grave error in calculating the term of her pregnancy.  The jury is still out on that one.

Recently, I went to my country home and found that neighbor’s daughter had lost her 2-day old baby.   A heart rending story was narrated to me how she had failed to give birth at a nearby government facility.  The health workers at the facility recommended that she should be transferred to a larger health facility like Mulago National Referral Hospital.   This local facility doesn’t have an ambulance, so the relatives had to find money to hire one or even an ordinary car.   My country home is about 25km from the city and they were asked for Ugx 100,000 to hire an ordinary car.   They couldn’t afford this amount.  In the meantime, some witchcraft story was picking up speed.   Apparently one of the family members had found a dead cock in the compound a few days ago and someone was bewitching the family.   Someone does not want this young gal to deliver this baby safely.  After a high level family meeting, it was agreed that it is better they find a traditional birth attendant with some powers to deal with the witchcraft.   It was even cheaper to get there on a bodaboda –only Ugx  20,000 was required – as compared to Ugx 100,000 for a trip to a modern hospital in Kampala.  Long story short she was delivered to the shrine and 24 hrs later she delivered a beautiful girl.   She was discharged on the afternoon of that Thursday and sadly by Saturday morning the baby was gone.  The bewitching story was now even believed by more people.  By the time, I arrived at my country home, the entire village was telling this story with anger and passion.   I went and visited with my neighbours and consoled them, my doubts about witchcraft not withstanding.  I think that the death of this beautiful baby was probably something to do with the mother spending a long time in labour.  

The most likely reason why health professionals had referred this young lady to a larger and better facility was because she probably required a caesarian section.   This was a very unpopular explanation and I did not bother offering it as an alternative cause of death.  My neighbours will never understand that, even if the health professionals had taken a lot of time and care to explain.  Not with some dead chicken in the compound.  Never mind that the chicken may have succumbed to its own health problems.  Poor people are gullible and can believe anything.  By believing such stories, they easily have a way out of these horrible situations.  They can convince themselves and not feel guilty.  It was not due to their inaction or inability that brought about this misfortune.  If I had ended up that way on birth, my mother would have had something to clutch on.  Someone did not wish her well.  It had nothing to do with her poverty or the lack of proper care in nearby hospitals.  When you are poor, it is very easy to accept and take any explanation that takes the responsibility away from you.  Poor people are most likely to believe in miracles from some money minting pastors instead of working hard to attain what they desire.