Rada Smallpox Prevention?

More research, more library visits reveal the following:

There was a smallpox epidemic in the 19^th century and millions of people around the world died. The disease reached Trinidad in 1871-72 and the Belmont Rada community performed a ceremony to prevent the disease according to the Chronicle newspaper.  The newspaper editor T.W. Carr (any relation to Andrew Carr, author of A Rada Community in Trinidad?) described a sacrifice of fowls and goats in the morning with a feast about midday or afternoon, followed by singing and dancing into the night.

According to the article, during the feast, we sat in a circle around a big bowl containing the blood from the animals sacrificed. The bowl was covered with a white cloth. Around the bowl were large dishes with the meat from the animals as well as dishes with vegetables. Each person took a small amount of food and said some words in “Rada”. This was supposed to be a “peace offering to Mumbo Jumbo, or whatever the name of their particular jumby or deity.”

One must read this with a healthy dose of scepticism especially after the Chronicle editor mentioned the deity Mumbo Jumbo.  Nonetheless, we are not sure if the community was successfully protected against smallpox. But we are grateful that small has been eradiate from the world and we longer have to make a peace offering to Mumbo Jumbo J.