Antall József szerk.: Orvostörténeti közlemények 97-99. (Budapest, 1982)

KISEBB KÖZLEMÉNYEK - ELŐADÁSOK - Müller Mária: Népi gyógymódok, hiedelmek az algériai kabilok között (angol nyelven)

KISEBB KÖZLEMÉNYEK — ELŐADÁSOK POPULAR THERAPIES AND BELIEFS AMONG THE KABYLES OF ALGERIA MÁRIA MÜLLER In the north of Algeria, east from Algir, there lives a people of Europoid type, the Kabyles. They are usually fair-haired and light-skinned. Many of them are red-haired with blue eyes and rather would pass for Irish or English. Their language is totally different from Arabic. Latin loanwords are still recognizable in the Kabyle language, recalling the memory of the ancient Roman province together with Kabyle earthenware and homespun. The Kabyle villages, probably in view of defence, had been settled on the top of the mountains. The plainer tops are covered cap-like with the tiny villages. Kabyle village houses are usually less closed outside than the Arabian ones. The settlements have a ancient character, the street system is rather primitive in certain places. The remnants of tribal organization still survive among the Kabyles. They live in big families under the direction of the head of the family who generally prescribes the material, religious and cultural ways of life. The head is the eldest male member of the family, after his senility or death the eldest son takes over his role. 1 spent four years in the town Bejaia in Little-Kabylia. 1 worked at the pediatric ward of 36 beds in the municipal hospital and provided pediatric consultation for the county. Patients came from an area of about 200 000 habitiants and for nearly two years I had been the only pediatrician in the county. 60% of the population being under the age of 14, it is easy to imagine the health conditions of children. As far as 1 know, presently there are three pediatricians in Bejaia county. Since January 1, 1974 medical care is free in Algeria. The Algerian state has brought forth many measures to improve on medical care. A new hospital is being built in Beajai, the foundation-stone has been layed already. The children's ward of 36 beds is insufficient even to attend the most serious cases. The survival of colonial past is still perceivable especially in the fields of infant care and prevention. Medical attendance is made difficult by the low number of doctors, the great geographical distances, superstitions, and the survival of the tribal system. For the Kabyles the marabu is the first person to be turned to with a sick child. The marabu is the quack of the Kabyle villages and towns to whom supernatural powers are attributed. People still believe in the miraculous effect of amulets. The amulet is wrapped in a small bag or a piece of cloth and pinned to the clothes of the sick child. These amulets show a wide variety. I saw wear as amulet vegetable seed, broken piece of pottery, tooth of some animal, old French coin with a hole. The small bag of cloth is fixed on the front of the sick child's frock or cap. They fix it with a safety pin or the so-called Fatma's hand, which latter has a curative effect in itself. The Fatma's hand is a stylized right hand made of silver or for the rich of gold. The picture of Fatma's hand