Water and Culture by Lori Duff, Grahipla, Côte d'Ivoire Water is
sacred in Côte d'Ivoire. Not only is it the basis of every
ritual greeting, but ponds and streams in many villages are
considered holy. Part of my work as a water and sanitation Peace
Corps Volunteer is to search in the fields for water sources
that may be infested with Guinea worms, which cause a disease of
the same name. As a result, I have come across many of these
ponds. One day, as the local nurse and I were walking, we
stumbled across a group of people "adoring" a sacred spring.
They were sitting in a circle on the ground; a calabash of palm
wine was in the center. They had killed a chicken and had
scattered blood and feathers around the pond. They explained to
us that there was a jinni, or spirit, that lived in the pond.
Because of this, they asked that the pond not be disturbed while
they performed their ritual. We agreed to come back the next day
to work, and then sat down with them to share a gourd of palm
wine. As we drank, they told