Unreported World Shorts: The worst place on Earth to be a twin?

7 May 2014

In a country where the dead make the rules, families with twins are torn between displeasing the ancestors and bringing illness and misfortune on themselves and their villages…or giving up their children.

In some rural communities in Madagascar it is taboo to have twins, resulting in parents abandoning their newly born babies in the world's only children's homes set up to look after twins.

The story of The Cursed Twins is available to watch and share: Unreported World Shorts: The Cursed Twins – http://ow.ly/wxUHJ

From what to eat, how to dress, when to work and how to behave, Fady (pronounced fa-dee) influences every aspect of life in rural Madagascar. In Madagalese the word ‘please’ literally means ‘may it not be taboo to me.’

No one is sure how the taboo against twins, and the belief that they bring bad luck arose, but most stories talk about an ancient battle that was lost after a mother returned to look for a missing twin baby. 

Cecile gave birth to twins.  One died at birth but Cecile and her husband Adreobert were so afraid of the taboo that they gave up their surviving daughter. But whilst the younger generations are starting to question these beliefs, even the Mayor of Mananjary cannot convince the tribal chiefs to lift the taboo and allow them to keep their child.

Unreported World Shorts Outline

Unreported World Shorts offer bite sized views of the lives of people in some of the fastest-changing areas of the world. Hard hitting stats and infographics allow viewers to get to the heart of the issues.

Unreported World: The Cursed Twins, Channel 4, 7.30pm, Friday 9 May

Reporter Kiki King and Director David visit Madagascar, where the dead make the rules and a set of taboos, handed down from long-dead ancestors, controls what you eat, when you work and every aspect of how you live and behave.

Website: www.channel4.com/unreportedworld