Becoming “One Who Treats”: A Case Study of a Luo Healer and Her Grandson in Western Kenya

Using a case study of a healer and her grandson, this article shows how learning to heal is embedded in the close relationship of reciprocity and care between grandmother and grandchild in Luo society. Through shared daily life with his grandmother, the child develops social sense, respect, and compassion for people, as well as practical skills. By showing that learning to heal is not only embedded in everyday practice and in social relations, but is also a moral and emotional process, this article contributes to sociocultural theories of learning and to ethnographic accounts of childhood in Africa.