PHOTO: Laura Meek
This photo was taken Oct 3, 2015 at a wedding in Iringa, Tanzania. This little girl, Karen, is the niece of the groom, and is not that happy about all the commotion! Karen is also the grand-daughter of the Shoos, with whom I lived for over two years during my fieldwork in Tanzania. She has a very serious heart condition and her medical treatments became an important component of my fieldwork research. She must take pharmaceuticals every day and the family often debates the efficacy of this, due to serious side-effects, the high potential that the drugs could be counterfeits, and what some view as the better outcomes of traditional healing.