ON the porch, three sikerei (witch doctors) were hunkering around a plate of rice mixed with leaves as an offering. Their hands were playing with bells as an accompaniment to the song softly chanted to invite the spirits of ancestors.

The three wore sikerei gear like strings of beads as head ornaments, bird feathers and flowers, necklaces of beads combined with mirrors, beads bracelets and red cloths instead of pants. They were bare-chested, but