Taboos, or fady, play a large role in many Malagasy communities. They are derived from an animistic belief system. Daily life is a dance between survival and appeasing the spirits who take the form of their ancestors. Each community has a set of taboos or actions to avoid that would anger the spirits and bring calamity down on the individual or community. This system creates an atmosphere of fear that can be quite paralyzing. Some of these taboos in and of themselves are harmless. One such taboo I learned about while in southeastern Madagascar is wearing red on the beach. This was easy to avoid and does not limit daily life for the most part. Other taboos can be devastating to a community such as having twins, a taboo in the southeast region. The tragic outcome is that one or both of the twins are abandoned, thrown in the river, or left in a hole to die. If a couple tries to keep their twins, they are ostracized from society and survival for the whole family can be almost impossible.

Several years ago I visited an orphanage near Mananjary that has functioned to save the lives of these twins. It was tragic to see these children living with the emotional and physical scars of their abandonment. The difficult challenge is to provide an escape from this practice while keeping intact the cultural integrity of the community. This is going to require a multifaceted approach. Education and health care will be important to show the possibilities of life with twins. Along this line, the government of Madagascar is promoting an educational initiative in this region in an attempt to change some of this practice. Even more important, is the need to break the cycle of fear that is griping these communities. Some local Malagasy pastors have been sharing the love of Christ in this region which has begun to have some dramatic impacts on healing this cultural wound.

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear… We love, because He first loved us.”( 1 John 4:18-19)