“The Sangoma who sold his toyota”

Theres never a dull day in the psychiatric wards. During my psychiatry rotation i relied soley on the patients for my daily dose of entertainment.

If anyone of you have read the book “The monk who sold his Ferrari” by Robin Sharma, you will definitely be able to puzzle together the title. A south African adapration of course.

I once came across a middle aged gentleman who frequented the psychiatric wards at least monthly. He was intelligent, energetic , vibrant, constantly happy, unsaturated and manic.however Despite the odd behaviour he displayed like praying to a valpre bottle religiously that he kept at his bedside or refusing to wear his left shoe on Monday’s as it was bad luck,

He had a real knack for story telling. And he loved to read. Id like to think he was captured by the stories he read, forced by his mind into the plot.

I’d often find myself peering over the wooden desks far beyond my daily notes, intrigued by the new material he had to tell. It was always accompanied by generous hand actions and to my liking, accents.

The ward staff, patients included, would huddle up around his bed all peering over each other, hoping to get a glimpse into his eclectic mind. He would begin with a setting, a mood, and transform it into a performance of pure talent.

Needless to say I was always impressed. Before beginning the morning rounds I would scan the previous nights admission list hoping to see his name pop up knowing we would be in for a real treat of a show.

One story in particular stood out. He once whipped out the abovementioned book by Robin Sharma and began the tale while we peeled our oranges. We stared wide eyed and ready for action

“The world must know this man is a liar and a thief!  He has stolen a story from my home land. From my father. He has changed the story to fit his liking in order to rob people of their money. Let it be known, Robin Sharma is a liar and a thief!”

“My father, a sangoma (religious healer) had toiled year after year , selling herbs and bought a toyota Corolla. After the Gods had called upon him, he sold his toyota and began his life in the mountains where he lives today as a powerful ancestor”

We all giggled at his seriousness.

We were enthralled. He went on to pulling out pieces of apples from his pocket and instructed us to eat one for a sound mind!?

Needless to say we all politely declined.