Page 24 - Local Voices, Local Choices Excerpt

22 local voices, local choices
with her children to plan and kill the children of others.” Witches are part of the local belief system in many rural Tanzanian villages, hence Mkono’s matter-of-fact tone.
At this point, Mama Fatuma Kifumu, a legendary local character, joins the conversation, wanting to share her initial impressions of Jane Goodall. “I’m 70 years old, I think,” she says. “Maybe I’m older. Yes, I’m between 78 and 80 years old. We moved to Gombe with my husband. He became the leader of all fishermen, which meant he had to be consulted on anything that was happening. We lived there for some time, then a white lady came; I have forgotten her name, Jane? She found us through her search for chimpanzees. She would wake up at six o’clock in the morn- ing and go into the forest until six o’clock in the evening. She would even get rained on in the forest.
A Lake Tanganyika fisherman and his son gathering dried fish for use and trade. The long, physically demanding hours of fishing would often yield few results, prompting local villagers to seek employment as field research assistants in Gombe. 2005.