Photos from the African Village where Dead Children are Made into Voodoo Dolls

Raising twins is never easy but in Benin, an poor nation on the west coast of Africa, hardship means many die during childhood. Now a stunning new set of photos shows how the families deal with their grief - by creating doll effigies of the lost infants and raising them as if they were still alive.

Taken by French photographer Eric Lafforgue, the photos document the life of the Fon tribe, who say the dolls possess the child's spirit and have the power to bring the family good or bad luck, depending on how well they are treated.

Every day, the dolls are cradled, 'fed', scrubbed clean and put to bed on immaculate linens - all in an effort to keep them from being unhappy and cursing the family with evil magic.

Many of the dolls also attend school with their living siblings and, when their parents are away working, are cared for in huge 'creches' run by the village elders. 

Not every child becomes a doll after they die however - the custom only applies to those born of multiple births, which, in the Fon tribe, occurs in one in every 20 births - one of the highest in the world.

One mother, named Hounyoga (pictured below), who resides in the village of Bopa, took Mr Lafforgue through a day the life of her own dolls.

The 40-year-old, who is married to a voodoo practitioner whose work includes preserving the dead bodies of criminals before using their skulls for rituals has had nine children.
Among them was a set of twins who died just a few months apart at the age of two, and she has also suffered a number of miscarriages.

Hounyoga's dead twins were called Zinsou (the boy) and Zinhoue (the girl), but she talks about them in the present tense. In the morning, like any child, the twins are bathed by their mother, who wipes their faces with a wet glove

They are also given a weekly scrub in the lake, not because they are dirty but to rid them of evil spirits. 'Hounyoga wipes them with a vegetable sponge and soap,' explains Mr Lafforgue.

    'Then she dries them off and sprays perfume on them. The bathing ends. She throws the sponge as far as possible in the lake. It is contaminated. If she brings it home, she will bring the evil spirits with her.'