Attorney calls for end to discrimination against Orisa

In recognition of Human Rights Day on Saturday, attorney-at-law Tempu Nefertari-Moheni made a call for systems to be put in place to educate teachers about the faith, as they have contributed to the discrimination of child members of the faith in their schools.

Nefertari-Moheni cited several incidences of discrimination against Ifa/Orisa children in schools dating as far back as the 1970s all the way up to October, 2015. Last year, 13 year old Form Three student’s Geography teacher forcibly removed his “eleke” and his “ide” in front of his classmates.

The eleke is a string of beads worn around the neck, the ide is worn around the wrist and both carry immense spiritual significance for members of the faith. The ide is supposed to be worn for life.

“She called him to the front of the class and told him to take it off in front of the other students,” said the boy’s father. “He explained to her that it is for religious reasons, but she said she didn’t care.” he said after his son refused to take it off, the teacher ripped it off of him herself.

He found the encounter curious, because a boy wearing a rosary around his neck was allowed to continue doing so after it was pointed out by other students in the classroom.

The father said he later visited his son’s school to speak with the principal and to retrieve the eleke and ide. The principal, he said, made it clear that the teacher’s behaviour was not a school policy and reprimanded the teacher for her actions.

However, a conversation between the father, his wife, and the teacher in the hallway showed that she had no intentions of changing her attitude.

“We met with the teacher in the hall after the meeting with the Principal. I asked her, ‘Do you respect our traditions?’ She said, ‘yes.’ ‘Well if so, why do you disrespect it in this way?’ She said, ‘Allyuh need the blood of Jesus on allyuh.’” He said that for a while after the incident, teachers often referred to his son as “the boy with the spiritual thing” and this behaviour was transferred to his peers who would mock him and by extension his faith.

Nefertari-Moheni detailed other stories where students were asked to take off their elekes and ides, some threatened with non-graduation if they failed to comply. One parent said that the discrimination was such that children often chose to convert to other religions “just to ease the weight of isolation and to be accepted.” Nefertari-Moheni went on to highlight Section 4 of the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago which recognises the rights of the people without discrimination on many bases, including that of religion.

Newsday reached out to Eintou Pearl Springer, long time cultural activist for comment. She said that discrimination against the Ifa/Orisa faith is part of a long history of discrimination against all expressions of African spirituality.