Browsing by Author "Kamanga, Chrispine Nthezemu"

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    A critical evaluation of the involvement of pastors with mental patients : a case study of Saint John of God Mental Hospital in Mzuzu, Malawi
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04) Kamanga, Chrispine Nthezemu; Thesnaar, C. H.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Practical Theology and Missiology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study critically evaluates pastors’ involvement in the treatment of people suffering from mental illness at Saint John of God Mental Hospital, a community based mental health mission run by the Roman Catholic Church, in Mzuzu, Malawi. The problem that this study investigates is the exclusion of non-Catholic pastors from the healing ministry of people with mental illness. This exclusion often leads to the relapse of mentally ill people when they (or their guardians) seek the services of pastors once they are discharged from hospital and are advised to stop medication in favor of healing through faith and prayer. This study draws inspiration from my experience as the Pastoral Care Coordinator at Saint John of God Mental Hospital, which has led me to discover that most patients, once they are discharged, turn to pastors who have no experience in the treatment of mental illness, a decision which often has tragic results. The patients are instructed to stop medication after the pastors pray for them. Such instructions led to patients’ relapse and readmission to the hospital or in worse scenarios, their suicide. This study considers the possibility of including pastors of other denominations in caring for patients at Saint John of God Mental Hospital. To conduct the evaluation, the study utilizes a practical theological methodology as proposed by Richard Osmer (2008) and the chapters are structured and aligned with the four tasks of practical theology that he identifies. It also makes use of related literature in theology, health and other social sciences. As such, the first chapter focuses on the African epistemology on illness and healing. It further discusses the African Synod’s endorsement of inculturation as a vital component of evangelisation. Chapter One presents a discussion of liberation (feminist) theology with the aim of giving a voice to patients suffering from mental illness. The second chapter evaluates the Curia, Provincial and the Malawian Pastoral Care policy documents in order to discuss the burden of relapse as a result of the exclusion of pastors from other denominations from the healing ministry. Chapter Three is a historical discussion of the contribution made by pastors to the healing of patients in hospital. Following on from that, Chapter Four proposes possible ways in which to include pastors from other denominations in mental health healing at St. John of God Mental Hospital. Overall, the evaluation of the policy documents indicates that the Malawian policy on pastoral care is inconsistent with the African understanding of illness and healing, the Roman Catholic Church’s view on inculturation and the overarching Curia and Provincial policy documents. The study furthermore argues that the exclusion of pastors from other denominations adds to the burden carried by mentally ill patients and their guardians. For this reason, it establishes the need for a holistic and multifaceted approach that can respond to the needs of mental patients in the hospital. Ultimately, it recommends that Saint John of God Mental Hospital finds a way to responsibly involve pastors from other denominations in its healing ministry in order to achieve sustainable and holistic healing.
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    A pastoral perspective of Vimbuza ritual among people suffering from mental illness in the Rumphi district of northern Malawi
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2024-03 ) Kamanga, Chrispine Nthezemu; Thesnaar, C. H.; Vähäkangas, Mika; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Practical Theology and Missiology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The study explores a pastoral perspective of Vimbuza ritual performance among people suffering from mental illness in the district of Rumphi of northern of Malawi. Through the teaching of the mainstream churches on inculturation and the theorisation of Dialogical Intergenerational Pastoral Process (DIPP) of Nagy, the study considers the Pastoral Care ministry of the church as an important institution to provide a direction among people involved in the performance of Vimbuza ritual as a therapy for mental illness. This is against a background of ostracising people involved in Vimbuza cultural practice by the church, colonial masters, and the hospital. It is understood that the cosmology of the Tumbuka people, their cultural upbringing, and their conceptualisation of mental illness influences their health seeking behaviour. Methodologically, this is an empirical qualitative study which involved interviews and focus group discussions with selected Vimbuza ritual practitioners, relatives or guardians of mentally ill people and the patients themselves. The study uses the DIPP theory not only to navigate, understand and appreciate the attitudes, values, norms, and beliefs of the Tumbuka people who engage in the practise of Vimbuza but also to suggest church’s reasonable pr oposals that will provide resolutions from the perspective of Pastoral Care. The chapters are structured around the proposed Richard Osmer’s tasks of practical theology. Chapter one introduces the study and makes a huge claim that the people of Rumphi resort to Vimbuza ritual practice as a remedy to their mental problems. The claim is based on a backdrop of their cosmological understanding of mental illness that it is an “African religious” disease requiring a religious approach. Chapter two discusses Vimbuza as a cultural performance with different aspects: a sickness, an entertainment, a form of healing and a medium of morality which has survived antagonism from the church and state machinery. Chapter three examines the empirical data which indicate that hospital-based care for mentally ill people does not meet all the needs of the Tumbuka people under study. The discussion in chapter four reveals the histories of relations among the patients and ritual performers, cyclic nature of mental illness, community involvement in the performance of Vimbuza ritual, flexibility of payment and the confusion brought by the white person among the people practicing Vimbuza ritual in Rumphi. In the final analysis, Chapter four claims that Vimbuza ritual performance remains a big pulling factor among people with mental illness in Rumphi district and will continue to influence the lives of people. Chapter five normatively suggest a pastoral perspective of Vimbuza ritual among people with mental illness. The chapter uses the core concepts of DIPP to discuss themes and findings of this study. Pragmatically, Chapter six recommends that the Pastoral Care ministry of the church should take a postcolonial ecumenical approach to engage with Vimbuza ritual practitioners to achieve sustainable mental health healing, an integration of prayer in the treatment of mental illness, psychoeducation, integration of traditional medicine into healthcare system, collaboration and TCM policy formulation, adaptation, and ratification.