The "Elephant King" of the Congo: Making a Powerful Ally in the Fight to End Polio

This 3-part series on polio communication tells the "tale of a transformation from resister to advocate", focusing on the work of "PP2", Pastor of the Kitawala Filadelphie sect in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)'s Katanga Province. PP2, who calls himself "The Elephant King", counseled his religious followers (who do not wear western clothes, shoes, belts, or buttons) to refuse vaccination against polio due to suspicion. Now he has begun to change his approach; but, as explained here, the road to acceptance has been neither short nor easy in a place where "40% or more of all unvaccinated children here actually have access to the vaccine, but are exposed to polio anyway by parents who refuse to let them take it. This decision is heavily influenced by local religious leaders who misunderstand, and therefore fear, the vaccine."

1. In addition to introducing us to PP2 and his doctrine and its foundations, Part 1 of the series ("Gaining the Ear of an Elephant King") tells the story of 30-year-old "Papa Mandela". Affected by polio at age 8, he now works as a public advocate encouraging parents to immunise their children. "Megaphone held tightly in his callused hand, Papa Mandela speaks before a crowd. His voice is warm and sad at the same time. His words aim at the greatest fears of his audience: the fear of whites, of outsiders, and of their intentions."

    

   In 2009, UNICEF approached PP2 in an attempt to create an alliance in the fight against polio to clear up mistrust and misunderstanding like that acknowledged - yet challenged - in Papa Mandela's advocacy. PP2 had never before been in contact with health authorities, and, as detailed here, it took many months to gain his confidence and understand why he and his followers were refusing the vaccine. UNICEF learned that the Kitawalas deeply mistrusted a vaccine that was both approved by the Congolese State and produced in Europe. Their fear was fed when mass immunisation teams marked numbers on houses to show how many children had been vaccinated there. Armed with a stronger understanding of the Kitawalas' fears, the local team - made up of a community mobiliser and the area's chief doctor - shared their perspective with PP2. "A Swahili Bible was passed from hand to hand for hours at a time, over the course of months, as PP2 and the community organizers discussed the question. But even as PP2 himself became more open to the idea, he warned of the challenge: Changing the attitudes of thousands of people born into the Kitawala doctrine would never be easy."

    

   Click here to read Part 1 online in English.
   

2. In Part 2, "A Trojan Horse Strategy", the series continues with the question of how to reach people who have for decades, or for their whole lives, followed teachings that rejected all that came from the West. While, in PP2's own mission, people can listen to the radio - and PP2 himself uses a mobile phone to carry out his work - there are other missions in the movement whose pastors are more radical. Using less technology-oriented means, PP2 agreed with UNICEF to identify 3 of his own sons from the mission to receive free training in hygiene and disease prevention. "Being from the community, the boys could return and easily speak to the faithful once they were trained. Three health posts would be created for them. It was a perfect Trojan Horse strategy." The 3 sons selected have now completed 3 years of the 4-year course. In 2013, he proposed that 2 more young Kitawalas, also his sons, be sent for medical training. "[D]uring a vaccination campaign in October, PP2 publicly stated, over the roar of the crowd: 'There are three important things in the life of a human being: Prayer, vaccine and cleanliness'."

    

   Click here to read Part 2 online in English.
   

3. Part 3, "The Owl Approach", organised as a photo essay, describes how, after years of awareness-raising and negotiation with UNICEF-supported social mobilisers, PP2's one caveat is that the vaccination must be carried out by night, so as not to attract attention of those amongst his followers who do not approve of the vaccine - or of anything that comes from the West. The secret routine is described. In the image seen above, a follower of another local religious group refuses the vaccine, despite a long talk with a social mobiliser. She claims her right to die, even as the mobiliser explains that her refusal of the vaccine can affect other people in the community, and that polio is often not lethal but could instead leave her paralysed. "Building dialogue with communities in pockets of resistance like this one is vitally important."

    

   It is noted here that "Vaccination in this Filadelphie Kitawala mission may be carried out by night, for now, but awareness-raising efforts continue. During the launch of the vaccination campaign for the Kabalo health zone, a traditional dancer enacts the innocent surprise of a child who finds himself paralyzed by polio....Step by step, dialogue with communities and influential leaders can help relegate polio to its rightful place, next to small-pox, on the list of diseases that were once devastating - but that humankind has finally overcome."

    

   Click here to read Part 3 online in English.