Healing Powers - Neima Demessie

In the deep wet tropical place of Gambella, Ethiopia a tale of a man who had the power to heal his people is told from generation to generation. The village people called this man “Nuka” because it was believed that he was sent down to them by their god “Awaka” to help the poor who suffered from the harsh environmental diseases. Nuka lived in the deep woods of Gambella, in a village called Souka. By day Nuka healed his people; fed the poor, and taught the uneducated, and by night it was told that he fed the animals, like the hyena’s and the bears. The village people would some times wondered where he gets the medications that had the power to cure people in instant, and he would tell his people he gets it from the leaves of the tropical tree that grew so tall behind his little place he called home.

One day a girl at the age of twelve came to her home ill and in need of help. She had just become pregnant. Her mother took her to the local clinic where they could not help her with the medicines they had. It was concluded that she was going to die in the following weeks. Coming from the uptown of Gambella, the young girl’s mother had never herd about Nuka before, until a friend told her about him. In hopes of saving her beloved daughter her mother took her to see Nuka. Assessing the girl's conditions, he gave the girl water that he had gotten from a natural spring in his back yard. He told the mother that she would get better within one week, and that the young girl would give birth to a healthy baby girl. The mother was in disbelief that he didn’t do anything else for her daughter; she was convinced that her daughter was going to die. In the flowing weeks, the girl was healed and gave birth to a healthy baby girl, just as Nuka had predicted.

The mother praised Nuka, and told him that he truly had the power of god’s hands. The baby was named after Nuka, and was called the miracle baby of Nuka. As days grow into months and as months grew into years. Nuka grow old, and the village people did not notice. The night that Nuka fell ill, the animal cried all night, and the village people were in inquiry of what was going on. The next morning the Nuka was found dead.

As the tale was later on told, it was said that the girls baby that was healed by Nuka was had inherited his healing powers and later on carried on his legacy of helping the people of her village. Nuka was never dead to the village people, but was celebrated for his power to give his people a new chance at life.