ALBANIA: He is a toilet cleaner with a fondness for alcohol yet the residents of Berat in southern Albania call Kujtim Selami the 'doctor' because he claims to heal with the power of leeches
Record ID:
344334
ALBANIA: He is a toilet cleaner with a fondness for alcohol yet the residents of Berat in southern Albania call Kujtim Selami the 'doctor' because he claims to heal with the power of leeches
- Title: ALBANIA: He is a toilet cleaner with a fondness for alcohol yet the residents of Berat in southern Albania call Kujtim Selami the 'doctor' because he claims to heal with the power of leeches
- Date: 7th October 2002
- Summary: (L!1) BERAT, ALBANIA (RECENT - SEPTEMBER 30, 2002)(REUTERS) LV OF BERAT TOWN/MCU PEOPLE SITTING IN CAFE (2 SHOTS) SLV/SV OF LEECH MAN, KUJTIM SELAMI, GOING TO HARVEST LEECHES (5 SHOTS) SV/CU SELAMI PUTTING ON WATERPROOF BOOTS (4 SHOTS) SLV/SV/CU OF SELAMI COLLECTING LEECHES (12 SHOTS) CU LEECHES IN JAR SLV SELAMI SELLING LEECHES ON STREET SLV BUTCHER SHOP (2 SHOTS) PAN OF STREET SCENE TO SELAMI SELLING LEECHES SLV/CU SELAMI SELLING LEECHES IN STREET (7 SHOTS) CU OF SELAMI TREATING PATIENT WITH LEECHES (5 SHOTS) CU OF LEECHES IN JAR SV SELAMI RETURNING HOME CU LEECHES IN JAR IN HIS HOME
- Embargoed: 22nd October 2002 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BERAT, ALBANIA
- Country: Albania
- Topics: Health,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVA9T4GIEJ7KC7EJGN0L7EWFZR14
- Story Text: He is a toilet cleaner with a fondness for alcohol yet the residents of Berat in southern Albania call Kujtim Selami the 'doctor' because he claims to heal with the power of leeches.
The man they call "the doctor" is illiterate. He cleans the public toilet and can afford only salads in the summer, beans in the winter and vodka throughout the year.
But come May or August, Kujtim Selami and the leeches he catches for a living, are a fashionable commodity in the southern town of Berat, the oldest settlement in poverty-stricken Albania.
Townspeople and outlying villagers alike knock at his door to have leeches applied where their bodies ache, hoping the worm-like creatures will suck out the "bad blood".
Selami refers to the leeches he catches in the marshes near Berat as "pills". He sells them for a pittance on which he ekes out the most meagre of existences.
Selami claims his job is just like changing the oil and filters of a car -- in an attempt at a scientific explanation.
He says the leeches suck the bad blood out of the body -- not far from the truth as leeches are often described as beneficial bloodsuckers.
The leech is a parasite the size of a little finger which clamps itself to the flesh of its host and sucks out blood, injecting a foamy anti-coagulant at the same time.
The backs of the ones Selami sells in Berat are covered in black, red and blue dots and their bellies are a deep green colour. On a feast of blood they can grow to the size of an adult's middle finger and drop away from the body.
Then Selami says, they should be disposed of carefully "not to let the bad blood spill out". They should then be buried.
Leeches were a popular form of medical treatment for centuries throughout Europe, believed to be a cure for anything from headaches to gout., but the belief was discarded with the advent of 20th century medicine.
Now, they are back in vogue as a clean, effective treatment for wounds. Since the 1970s surgeons have regained respect for the little bloodsuckers, whose bodies were seemingly tailor-made for establishing and maintaining blood flow to damaged limbs.
Hospitals need them so much that leeches are being farmed.
Only in Albania, however, can you see them in the market.
When Selami sits by the sidewalk exhibiting his writhing leeches in glass jars, his thoughts are on sales.
He used to sell leeches at about 100 leks each, but competition from two other leech-catchers from Berat forced him to cut the price to 30 or even 20 leks.
Selami splits the work and the proceeds with Shame Karavolli, a broad featured man whose job is to sell the leeches on the market when Selami is out hunting in the marshes.
In Berat, people apply leeches for illnesses such as high blood pressure, haemorrhoids, skin afflictions and boils. A local engineer even took the treatment in addition to mainstream medicine to lower his cholesterol level.
Selami says elderly people take his cure regularly even when they are in good form.
Selami is a master at digging out the worms. He reaches the leech marshes through a field full of oil well pumps. His hand stops trembling, his lost look focuses on the pond and he starts stirring the water with his legs and hands.
A few minutes later, his fist comes out full of what looks like thick, writhing worms which he detaches with difficulty.
After a long day of digging through the marsh, he returns to his bare room, a bed and a table decorated with plastic and glass containers. He bottles his catch in plain water, no more than twenty at a time - claiming they might eat each other.
Despite being the only respectable leech man in town, Selami has not yet achieved the status of his teacher "Sadik the Leech", who died 30 years ago.
But while Sadik is enshrined only in memory, an Albanian national daily has devoted a small story to Selami, which he cut out and keeps in his jacket pocket.
"This is about me, but I cannot read it," Selami said. "I have had it read to me, but I guess that is nothing compared to reading it myself." - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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