If she were still alive, Ibu Rieke (not her real name), a resident of Haulasi village in the western part of Timor island, could testify to an irony. The culture of sifon, believed to have the power dispel misfortune, courts danger and even death, instead. This 50-year-old woman suffered from the raging disease known as hoenke nu. It is strongly suspected she contracted the disease because she performed sifon, a tradition of post-circumci