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Shopping in Mali is fun!
Mali Market shops
Shopping in Mali is fun – most of the time. In the markets are many little shops. They are usually grouped together in sections, so you’ll find all the material sellers together, and all the household goods together. Not always, but mostly.
My favourite market was Medina Coura which is a huge sprawling market on the northern outskirts of Bamako. The backdrop of hills behind and the multitude of winding paths through the market make this an unforgettable experience. Few tourists go there, and if you go wearing local dress you will be welcomed with open arms. I think it is one of the friendliest markets I have ever been in. Don’t be surprised to get lost though ….
In Sevare there is a tourist shop called Farafina Tigne (http://www.farafina-tigne.com/) you will find all sorts of things on sale here, all made by local artisans, but of particular interest are the beads. There is one big section in the shop which is all lengths of beads strung on string. Other items include Bogolan cloth (mudcloth), carvings, bags and some clothes. If you go up the stairs in the shop you’ll find the Bead Museum. It is quite fascinating.
- Farafina Tigne shop in Sevare Mali
[Photo credit: cdntraveller (used with permission)]
As you drive around Bamako you’ll see lots of things by the side of the road for sale. Artisans tend to group together, so for example in one section of road you’ll find beds for sale.
In the centre of Bamako there is an Artisanat which sells goods from all over Mali. It’s really for tourists but you can buy all sorts of nice stuff, leather, jewellery etc without much hassle and at good prices. There is an extensive jewellery section with gold and silver jewellery being made and sold. The price is by weight.
Suggested Books
Nigeria : Patrimony, memory and identity in West Africa Conference 2012
Patrimony, Memory and Identity in West Africa, International Conference, IFRA-Nigeria, July 3-5, 2012
IFRA is launching a new multi-annual research programme on Patrimony, Memory and Identity in West Africa with a particular -but not exclusive- focus on Nigeria. An international conference will take place at the University of Ibadan from July 3-5, 2012. This project is intended to link up Nigerian and West African Scholars to the many international research teams that are currently working on the concepts of patrimonialisation and identity.
Presentation
For some times, the concept of patrimony, interpreted in a variety of subfields within the Social Sciences and the Humanities, has occupied a significant place in research programs on Africa. The making of patrimonies and the way they interact with the present  the process of patrimonialisation  studied in a time-sensitive perspective, may provide alternative understanding of contemporary Africa. Studies on Africa have focused on violence, armed conflicts, rebellions, religious and ethnic extremisms, corruption etc. Such analyses have not taken into consideration the complex and multidimensional nature of such events From the local to transnational spaces including the physical ,inner and mental territories, processes of patrimonialisation, on the other hand, are windows in the making of a collective memory, imaginary, identities, and trajectories of nation- building. Several Œcase studies¹ abound that call for deeper analysis. This project intends to promote a collective, international effort to explore some of the many processes of patrimonialisation that occur in West Africa, with Nigeria as a center- point of the investigation. The programme aims at studying processes of patrimonialisation that would provide alternative understandings of the way national, sub-national and transnational identities are being built in contemporary Nigeria and West Africa.
axes structuring this programme:
1. Processes of patrimonialisation in Africa:
Review of achievements and theoretical implications for the study of contemporary Africa. This axis aims at reviewing current trends in research on processes of patrimonialisation in Africa. Scholars will explore the concept of patrimony from global and comparative perspectives. They will look at theoretical implications of the study of patrimonies and processes of patrimonialisation in the understanding of contemporary Africa, especially with regards to the understanding of the dynamics of identity. They will identify and explore an array of specific processes of patrimonialisation of particular interest to understand contemporary Nigerian society.
2. Contested patrimonies and memories:
History, Culture and Politics in post-colonial West Africa Processes of Patrimonialisation are anchored in history but deeply informed by present experiences. In fact, patrimonies are defined in such ways as to serve the interest of those who lay claims to them. As such, various stakeholders with conflicting interests struggle over the meaning of the same categories of patrimony. Such is the case with the question of repatriation of artifacts looted in the capital of coastal African States by European colonial expeditionary forces in the last decade of the 19th century and kept today in various Western public and private collections. Scholars are invited to revisit, in a comparative way, the historical trajectories of these collections, their shifting meanings, and interpretations and to question the legal and political context of these contestations. Researchers are also encouraged to document other instances of contested patrimonies such as festivals, masquerades, social practices, artworks, trade guilds, sacred spaces or objects, traditions, archaeological sites, and to look at the role of museums and cultural authorities resolving or reinforcing contestations, etc
3. Environment as patrimony: from local practice to global concern.
The patrimonialisation of the tropical environment has been the subject of several recent studies looking mainly at francophone Africa, but little has been written about similar processes in Nigeria. In a country characterized by its dense, largely built up urban environment consisting of colossal infrastructural and developmental projects, can the natural environment still be considered a form of patrimony by government and communities? How do local practices of management of the environment cooperate with or struggle against governmental and international conservational policies in an era of concern regarding global warming or threatened biodiversity? Has natural patrimony been sacrificed in the name of industrial development? Has environmental thematic entered the field of Nigerian politics? Scholars are also invited to produce original papers looking at the issues of oil spillage and mismanagement of natural patrimony, conservation of sacred natural spaces and spiritual evolution in the perception of the natural environment related to the spread of Islam and Christianity, tourism policies, change and continuities in the management of national parks and reserves from the colonial period, etc.
4. Patrimony and Identity in Nigeria.
As we enter in the second decade of the twenty-first century, more than fifty years after the independence of Nigeria, are there forms of patrimony that emerged as crucial parts of the Nigerian identity? Here, we invite scholars to reflect on patrimonialisation as a tool to create national identities in a postcolonial context. For instance, we would welcome essays dealing with the evolution and spread of foodways and cuisines in the sub-region, in a historical perspective, and their role in forging or contesting national identities. Recent studies suggest that patrimonies can be thought of as by-products of consumption. Indeed, luxury or culturally valued items can become part of national patrimony and identity-building processes. We welcome scholarly, interdisciplinary reflections on the emergence of categories of material culture, brands, local or imported items that have become deeply intertwined with the Nigerian identity. Scholars are also invited to reflect on the video and the music industries as patrimony and their role in creating popular cultures and youth sub-cultures, propagating and exporting values and imaginaries that have contributed to the making of the modern Nigerian person. Other relevant studies on patrimonies and identity in Nigeria will be welcome.
Besides the above questions, we welcome papers on patrimony and policy making, on the question of the patrimonial status of land and its reform, as well as innovative papers on the emergence of new forms of identity-related forms of patrimonies in West Africa and Nigeria in particular.
The deadline for submitting paper proposals is October 30, 2011.
Proposals should include:
1 A 600-word abstract and title,
2 The author’s name (with Last name underlined),
3 Postal Address,
4 Telephone number,
5 Email address,
6 Institutional affiliation.
Please submit all abstracts to:
Gérard Chouin: patrimony2012@ifra-nigeria.org with copy to Mr. Martin Mbella: admin@ifra-nigeria.org
Updates about the conference will be regularly posted on our website and facebook page: www.ifra-nigeria.org
IFRA-Nigeria page on facebook
Gerard Chouin
IFRA-Nigeria
Institute of African Studies
University of Ibadan
Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
+2347060581845
Email:Â patrimony2012@ifra-nigeria.org
Visit the website at http://www.ifra-nigeria.org
Contact:Â patrimony2012@ifra-nigeria.org
URL:Â www.ifra-nigeria.org
Announcement ID: 186868
http://www.h-net.org/announce/show.cgi?ID=186868
Suggested books
- Marvels of the African World: African Cultural Patrimony, New World Connections, and Identities
- African Archaeology: A Critical Introduction (Blackwell Studies in Global Archaeology)
Butterfly by Chinua Achebe
photo credit: johncooke (Rwanda)
Speed is violence
Power is violence
Weight is violence
The butterly seeks safety in lightness
In weightless, undulating flight
But at a crossroads where mottled light
From trees falls on a brash new highway
Our convergent territories meet
I come power-packed enough for two
And the gentle butterfly offers
Itself in bright yellow sacrifice
Upon my hard silicon shield.
Related articles
- Chinua Achebe – The African Trilogy (thebrotha.wordpress.com)
Rwanda : Partners in health guide to chronic care integration for endemic NCDs
photo credit: www.fearghalonuallain.ie
Partners in health guide to chronic care integration for endemic NCDs – Rwanda edition
Authors: Bukhman,Gene
Produced by: Partners in Health (2011)
This guide, published by Partners in Health, is written for district-level health care providers and policy makers dealing with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in rural Rwanda or similar settings.
The guide is focused mainly on ambulatory care performed by advance nurses, clinical officers, and generalist physicians. It describes protocols focused on the essential internventions often deemed too complex to be delivered to the rural poor as well as comprehensive technical strategies shown to be both effective and efficient for managing chronic disease.
Based on the experiences and collaboration between Rwandan and international health specialists over four years, this guide covers the following topics:
- integration of chronic care services in Rwanda.
- palliative care and chronic care.
- role of community health workers, family planning, mental health, and social services in the treatment of chronic disease.
- heart failure.
- cardiac surgery screening, referral, anticoagulation, and postoperative management.
- chronic kidney disease.
- diabetes.
- hypertension.
- rheumatic heart disease prevention.
- chronic respiratory disease.
- epilepsy.
According to the authors, this manual offers a starting point for the creation of a system of care for non-communicable diseases: one blueprint for fulfilling , in Rwanda, an essential part of a fundamental human right.
PDF available online at:Â Partners in health guide to chronic care integration for endemic NCDs – Rwanda edition
 Suggested Books
African Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies, Call for articles
University of Ibadan, Nigeria photo credit: gallagher.michaelsean
The following call for articles is for the African Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies,  Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Ibadan
CALL FOR ARTICLES
African Journal for Peace and Conflict Studies, the official journal of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Ibadan,
Nigeria, hereby invites well-researched articles, book reviews, and research notes in various aspects of peacework, conflict management, refugee crisis, diplomacy, identity politics, etc for publication in its next issue, Volume 2, Number 1, which is expected to be in print in December 2011.
The articles, which should not exceed 25 A4 pages of Word and are written in English, should not be previously published or accepted for publication elsewhere. All articles published in the journal go through the process of blind peer-review and so contributors are
advised to avoid identifiable self-referencing in their articles. Contributors should also avoid rigid formatting of their articles and
provide tables, graphs, and plates on separate pages. The current version of APA reference style is preferred by the journal. Contributors should please visit the APA website (www.apastyle.org) or as shown at: http://library.nmu.edu/guides/
All submissions, which must include a 200-word abstract, should be sent by email attachment to: ajpcs@cepacs.org.ng and
o.oha@mail.ui.edu.ng or on a readable CD to: The Editor, African Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies, Centre for Peace and Conflict
Studies, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Contributors shall be notified about the status of their submissions through email.
*Obododimma Oha*
http://udude.wordpress.com/
(*Associate Professor of Cultural Semiotics & Stylistics*) Dept. of English University of Ibadan Nigeria & *Fellow*, Centre for Peace & Conflict Studies University of Ibadan
Phone: +234 803 333 1330;
+234 805 350 6604;
+234 808 264 8060.
Book: Constructing African Art Histories for the Lagoons of Côte D’ivoire
Monica Blackmun Visonà .  Constructing African Art Histories for the Lagoons of Côte D’ivoire.  Surrey  Ashgate, 2010.  200 pp.  $99.95 (cloth), ISBN 978-1-4094-0440-8.
From Amazon: Constructing African Art Histories for the Lagoons of Côte d’Ivoire
Reviewed by Peter Mark (Wesleyan University-Art History Department)
Published on H-AfrArts (April, 2011)
Commissioned by Jean M. Borgatti
The Fruits of Old-Fashioned Fieldwork: Making Sense of Lagunaire Arts
Monica Blackmun Visonà ’s book on the arts of the lagunaire region, ’Constructing African Art Histories for the Lagoons of Côte D’Ivoire,’ showcases the author’s unusual strength of understanding, summarizing, and (where appropriate) insightfully critiquing the research of her colleagues. This quality, which gives the book intellectual breadth, is abetted by the clarity of her prose. Together, these factors make her work highly accessible not only to specialists but also, potentially, to undergraduate students in the field of art history.
Visonà belongs to the generation of Africanist scholars who began their careers with substantial fieldwork. Due to financial
constraints, sometimes dicey political situations, and the appeal of (infinitely easier) archival/museum dissertations, the kind of fieldwork that we did in the 1970s and 1980s, living among the subjects of our study–remote from telephone and electricity–is no longer common practice. Visonà ’s work, however, shows a sensitivity to local lagunaire culture that can only come from the experience of long-term fieldwork. This is an important strength undergirding her scholarship.
Solidly grounded in fieldwork, this monograph provides the first comprehensive study of the arts of the lagoon region. The
bibliographical references to secondary sources are comprehensive, and the use of late nineteenth- and twentieth-century missionary archival records is also impressive. The history of this region cannot be written with significant chronological depth, given the relatively late (mid-nineteenth-century) arrival of European observers. One does wonder whether a careful study of oral traditions might have yielded a somewhat greater chronological depth, particularly if the author spoke at least one of the dozen distinct languages of the lagoon region. A few more primary documents might have been ferreted out of European collections as well. For example, I believe that a visit to the collections of the Société de Géographie in Paris might uncover some original materials from the explorer Parfait-Louis Monteil (1898).
I was particularly impressed by Visonà ’s discovery of the significant role played by women in age-grade initiation ceremonies. This is part of her careful coverage of the role of gender in lagoon arts. As she demonstrates, female authority plays a significant role underlying male action in an ostensibly male domain. This is a fundamental discovery. Her understanding of local concepts of time as a sort of braided rope is also masterful and praiseworthy. Likewise, I applaud her observation that local lagunaire peoples have distinct epistemological categories (sacred or not) that differ from Western categories (shape, form). I would also single out for praise the author’s coverage of other media besides wood, including the ivory carvings surrounded by oval faces that served as pommels. These ivories suggest, as she rightly hypothesizes, nineteenth-century, or even earlier, prototypes.
I have only one criticism: for the earliest travel accounts, such as Jean/John Barbot’s early eighteenth-century travel narrative, which was published in English in 1730, she should have gone to the original source, rather than simply referring to secondary citations. A fine annotated version exists (Barbot on Guinea: The Writings of Jean Barbot on West Africa, 1678-1712 [1992], edited by P. E. H. Hair, Adam Jones, and Robin Law).
To my mind, next to her rich field data, the crowning jewel of this book is the manner in which she incorporates herself into the discussion of methodology. And this strength is further heightened by her trenchant and concise critique of poststructuralist/postcolonial theory. As she writes: “I was dismayed by [Michel] Foucault’s underlying assertion that truth is mutable and by [Jean] Baudrillard’s challenges to the notion of reality itself. If I had espoused these basic tenets of post-structuralism, why should I have traveled to Africa to gather ‘truths’ about Lagoon arts from artists and patrons?” (p. 128). To which I say: Bravo!
Her critique of decontextualized, postcolonial theory as (mis)applied to lagunaire arts, which she knows in context, is also to be applauded. And finally, her knowledge from the field enables her to deconstruct and dismiss a misguided attempt by one contemporary museum curator to argue that a particular sculpture spoke to “the rising empowerment of Ivoirien women” (p. 176). In fact, it spoke more to the desires of certain wealthy men to possess erotic sculpture. As she says, in a worthy epitaph for such poststructuralist interpretations, “this assessment would be considered ludicrous by the men who commission sculptural groups from the artist” (p. 176).
In sum, for its clear writing style and its comprehensive treatment, based on extensive fieldwork and many years of experience, of the wide range of lagunaire art forms, and its succinct articulation of the various methodologies engaged by other scholars who have dealt with the arts of West Africa, Visonà ’s monograph is to be strongly recommended.
Citation: Peter Mark. Review of Visonà , Monica Blackmun, Constructing African Art Histories for the Lagoons of Côte D’ivoire. H-AfrArts, H-Net Reviews. April, 2011.
URL:Â https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=32633
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Conference: Assessing 50 Years of Scholarship and Development in Africa, June 2012, Nairobi
Urban Jungle Safari
photo credit: Robbert van der Steeg
(Can you see what the buildings spell? This is real! A tourism idea by Joseph Macharia in the 1970s)
Call for papers for the 1st International Interdisciplinary Annual Conference, Theme: Africa’s Golden Jubilee: Assessing 50 Years of Scholarship and Development in Africa, at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) to be held on 27th to 31st June 2012.
General conference theme: Africa’s Golden Jubilee: Assessing 50 Years of Scholarship and Development in Africa, When: June 27-31, 2012
Conference venue: The Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) Main Campus, Langata, Nairobi
During this decade (2010s), many African countries are celebrating 50 years of independence. The Catholic University of Eastern Africa would like to take this opportunity to celebrate accomplishments in scholarship and development with scholars, researchers, academics, students and leaders in Africa, and other parts of the world. This is an interdisciplinary international conference that seeks to highlight achievements for the last 50 years and lessons for the future.
Organized and hosted by the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA), this International Academic Conference (IAC) will be held on 27-31 June 2012 at the CUEA Main Campus, Langata, Nairobi, Kenya. The focus of the conference will be Africa’s accomplishments in the past 50 years in various disciplines, from science, technology and engineering to education, health, arts, humanities and social sciences. Papers are invited from experienced scholars and researchers as well as graduate students. The conference organizers will also accept relevant panels, and poster sessions.
Submission of abstracts: Send abstracts of between 300 and 500 words, including This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to vfull contact details (title, name, address, email-address, and telephone) as well as institutional affiliation. Papers presented at the conference will be published in edited volumes and CUEA journals.
Send abstracts to:
Rev. Dr. John Lukwata or Prof. Maurice N. Amutabi (PhD)
The Catholic University of Eastern Africa,
P.O. Box 62157 – 00200 City Square
Nairobi, Kenya
E-mail address: Lukwata@cuea.edu or Amutabi@yahoo.com or Amutabi@cuea.edu
The conference will consist of seven symposia organized by CUEA’s six faculties and an interdisciplinary panel as follows:
Symposium I: Faculty of arts and social sciences
Sub-theme: The Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences in Research and Development in Africa: Fifty Years Later
Symposium II: Faculty of Commerce
Sub-theme: Management of Resources and Development in Africa: Fifty Years of Shifting Paradigms and Strategies
Symposium III: Faculty of Education
Sub-theme: Education: Growth and Development in the Past Fifty Years
Symposium IV: Faculty of Law
Sub-theme: Law and Development in Africa
Symposium V: Faculty of science
Sub-theme: Science, Technology and Development in Africa: Five Decades of Experiments, Innovations and Inventions
Symposium VI: Faculty of Theology
Sub-theme: The Church and Development in Africa: Fifty Years of Under African Hands
Symposium VII: Research and Development in Africa
Sub-theme: Research and Development in Africa
Symposium VIII: Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary themes
Sub-theme: Five Decades of Interdisciplinary Research in Africa
We welcome abstracts on any relevant topic. Poster presentations, panel proposals and roundtables are welcome.
There will be field excursions to some national parks and places of interest in Kenya organized separately, whose cost will be different from conference registration.
Registration Fees
Staff from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) and affiliate campuses and universities : KShs.2,500.00
Staff from other universities in Kenya : KShs.5,000.00
Students of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) and affiliate campuses : KShs.500.00
Students from other Universities in Kenya : KShs.1,000.00
Staff from East African Universities and Organizations :Â KShs.5,000.00
Rest of Africa : US$ 150.00
Rest of the World Europe, America, Asia, etc : US$ 200.00
Registration fee payments to: The Catholic University of Eastern Africa (Attn: 1st Annual International Conference)
IMPORTANT DEADLINES
Submission of Abstracts 30th March 2012
Submission of full papers 30th May 2012
Send full papers to:
Prof. Maurice Amutabi (Ph.D)
E-mail: amutabi@cuea.edu or amutabi@yahoo.com or Amutabi@gmail.com
Prof. Maurice N. Amutabi (Ph.D),
Department of Social Sciences
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Catholic University of Eastern Africa
P.O BOX 62157-00200 CITY SQUARE
NAIROBI, Kenya
http://www.kessa.org/about_us
Because of Honor
The NGO Factor in Africa: The Case of Arrested Development in Kenya (African Studies)
Book: The Future of African Customary Law
Edited by Jeanmarie Fenrich, Paolo Galizzi & Tracy Higgins
www.cambridge.org/us/law
Buy from Amazon:The Future of African Customary Law
Customary laws and traditional institutions in Africa constitute comprehensive legal systems that regulate the entire spectrum of activities from birth to death. Once the sole source of law, customary rules now exist in the context of pluralist legal systems with competing bodies of domestic constitutional law, statutory law, common law and international human rights treaties. The book promotes discussion and understanding of customary law and explores its continued relevance in sub-Saharan Africa. This volume considers the characteristics of customary law and efforts to ascertain and codify customary law, and how this body of law differs in content, form and status from legislation and common law. It also addresses a number of substantive areas of customary law including the role and power of traditional authorities; customary criminal law; customary land tenure, property rights and intestate succession; and the relationship between customary law, human rights and gender equality.
For More Information Visit www.cambridge.org/9780521118538
www.cambridge.org/us/law
July 2011 | 562 Pages
Hardback | 978-0-521-11853-8
Part I. The Nature and Future of Customary Law
1. A survey of customary laws in Africa in search of lessons for the future, Gordon R. Woodman
2. The living customary law in African legal systems: where to now?, Chuma Himonga
3. The future of customary law in Africa, Abdulmumini Oba
Part II. Ascertainment, Application and Codification of Customary Law
4. The quest for customary law, Janine Ubink
5. The withering province of customary law in Kenya: a case of design or indifference, George O. Otieno Ochich
6. The Œcode of Lerotholi¹: using custom as an instrument of social and political control in Lesotho, Laurence Juma
7. Traditional authorities: custodians of customary law development?, Manfred O. Hinz
8. Engaging legal dualism: paralegal organizations and customary law in Sierra Leone and Liberia, Chi Mgbako and Kristina Scurry Baehr
9. The future of customary law in Ghana, Joseph B. Akamba and Isidore Tufuor
Part III. The Role and Power of Traditional Authorities
10. Traditional courts in the 21st century, Digby Sqhelo Koyana
11. Demise or resilience: customary law and chieftainship in Botswana in the 21st century, Wazha G. Morapedi
12. Traditional leadership and governance in modern Ghana: challenges, problems and opportunities, Ernest Kofi Abotsi and Paolo Galizzi
Part IV. Customary Land, Property Rights and Succession
13. Entrapment or freedom: enforcing customary property rights regimes in common law Africa, Sandra F. Joireman
14. Romancing customary land tenure: the neo-liberal suitor wooing the shadow, Janet Chikaya-Banda
15. Reform of customary law of inheritance and succession: the final nail in the customary law of inheritance and succession coffin?, Willemien du Plessis and Christa Rautenbach
Part V. Customary Criminal Law
16. State systems of criminal justice and customary law crimes, Thomas
Bennett
17. Gacaca in Rwanda: customary law in case of genocide, Roelof H. Haveman
Part VI. Customary Law, Human Rights and Gender Equality
18. Customary law, gender equality, and the family: the promise and limits of a choice paradigm, Tracy E. Higgins and Jeanmarie Fenrich
19. African customary law and women¹s human rights in Uganda, Ben Kiromba Twinomugisha
20. Women¹s rights, customary law and the promise of the protocol on the rights of women in Africa, Johanna Bond
21. From contemporary African customary laws to indigenous African law: identifying ancient African human rights and good governance sensitive principles as a tool to promote culturally meaningful socio-legal reforms, Fatou Kiné Camara
For More Information Visit www.cambridge.org/9780521118538
Call 1.800.872.7423
Africa Health : Ancient wisdom, new knowledge
DAKAR, 11 July (IRIN) – No one can tell 64-year-old Fatoumata Kané anything new about the plants and tree bark around her town of Banamba in western Mali, but the traditional healer recently learned how to measure a child’s upper arm to detect malnutrition.
Scores of families bring ailing children to Kané each week. She is renowned in the region for her healing powers, but now refers suspected malnutrition cases to the public health centre. The collaboration, initiated by local health agent Oumou Sangaré of Helen Keller International (HKI), is an example of how NGOs are tapping into the influence of traditional healers and local elders to fight under-nutrition.
Across sub-Saharan Africa health experts commonly train traditional healers to detect conditions needing something other than indigenous medicine; the fact is that when illness strikes many people’s first move is to go to the local healer.
“It is always people’s first choice here,” said a doctor in Sierra Leone who requested anonymity. “It’s a custom people are addicted to.”
It is custom, but often it is also the only health care people can afford or physically access. In some countries in Africa and Asia 80 percent of people depend on traditional medicine for their primary health care, according to the World Health Organization. [Â http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs134/en/Â ]
Often traditional medicine is the answer. Africa has tens of thousands of plant species, many therapeutic, and the basis for effective remedies. Kouamé Koffi Samuel, a chauffeur in Côte d’Ivoire, said he has first-hand experience of women who are expert at healing closed fractures with massage, herbs and incantations. “I’ve seen it – it’s far more rapid and effective than a cast.”
But child under-nutrition is one of the conditions untreatable by such means, health workers say. If a parent does not understand the signs, symptoms and causes, various conditions could be suspected. The Sierra Leonean doctor said some families think immediately of a spell.
“When a child is malnourished people think it’s a witch. When a child is very anaemic they say a witch has drawn all the blood from the child.”
He added: “We need to do more education on this.”
Health experts say one strong conduit for that education are the traditional healers and elderly women who already have people’s confidence.
“If [Banamba healer Kané] were to tell a woman not to take a child to the health centre, the woman wouldn’t do it, no matter what,” HKI’s Sangaré told IRIN. “Such is the women’s trust in her.”
Sangaré said she first approached Kané when she noticed that too many malnourished children in Banamba were not getting the medical attention they needed.
Collaborating with local healers
She said initially Kané, who makes her living as a healer, was hesitant but then agreed to talk. They met several times to talk about children’s health; Sangaré explained to Kané the role she could have in detecting malnutrition and helping children get the care they need. “Now she’s had training and she’s helping us detect cases of malnutrition.”
Kané, from her home in the Hamdallaye neighbourhood of Banamba, told IRIN traditional and modern medicine can function well together. “I have practiced for more than 20 years now; the gift I have for healing is not going anywhere. But modern medicine can complement it, and vice-versa.”
Vanessa Dickey, senior nutritionist with HKI Mali, said collaborating with local healers means more children who need medical care will get it.
“Targeting just mothers can get us only so far,” Dickey told IRIN. “People are going to listen to a traditional healer or a grandmother.” HKI also has a project in Burkina Faso to boost maternal and child health through the influence of older women, to whom young women invariably turn for advice on pregnancy, motherhood and feeding their families.
“Our object is to screen as many children as we can to see who needs attention,” Dickey said. “And traditional healers and grandmothers are the first-line healers in a community.”
Traditional plus modern
Nurses and doctors told IRIN it is common to see families consult both a traditional practitioner and a doctor.
Soro Awa, holding her nephew whose mother had recently died in childbirth, talked to IRIN at a Côte d’Ivoire nutritional centre in Korhogo: “Without this centre my sister’s son would not be alive,” she said. Still, she plans to see the local healer once she returns to the village “to protect the child from sorcery”.
“Often, people assume someone has cast a spell on a child, not knowing that a child is malnourished or has an illness that can be easily treated at hospital,” said Soro Pènè, from Korhogo’s Waraniené village. “Anyway, I am all for traditional healers because they do have their place in our customs and they are very effective in some cases.”
Salimata Koné, who runs the Korhogo centre, says some parents bring their children in directly without going to a local healer. But as the Sierra Leonean doctor explains, family pressure often weighs in later. “A parent could have a child treated at hospital, then a friend or family member will come round advising that it’s best to also consult the traditional healer.”
“It can be OK if people go to both,” he said. “But only if the traditional healer is competent and knows the limits of his or her capabilities.”
It is not a question of ruling out traditional practitioners, said Dickey. “They can continue to do follow-up. We do urge them not to give malnourished children herbs or teas to consume. The body of a malnourished child is really in chaos; these kinds of plants, which might not harm another person, could be dangerous for a child in this state.”
As in so many circumstances, the hard evidence of a healthier child is the most powerful message, Koné in Korhogo told IRIN. “It’s important not to condemn the practice of going to a traditional healer; we don’t want to frustrate people. But the fact is once a malnourished child regains health after proper diagnosis and treatment, that recovery is concrete proof and has a huge influence on others.”
Recovery is the common objective. “My role is to lighten mothers’ hearts, by helping heal sick children,” said Kané. “When a child is healthy, the mother is relieved and things go better in the household.”
Via IRINÂ http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=93199
© IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis: http://www.irinnews.org/
[This item comes via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States. Reposting or reproduction, with attribution, for non-commercial purposes is permitted. Terms and conditions: http://www.irinnews.org/copyright.aspx]
Innovation in Africa
African ingenuity
One of impressions that remain with me after working in Africa is the ingenuity of African engineers, mechanics and innovators. I have seen welding done with very basic equipment, but with a skill and ingenuity that is truly remarkable.
When we were working in the Gambia 25 years ago the roads on our side of the river were really bad. We lost the tail pipe of the exhaust every month and had to replace the whole exhaust system every 3 months. Our local ‘shady tree mechanic’ recommended that we buy a long piece of bed post. This he cut into sections so we could keep it in the back of our Daihatsu jeep and he used it to fashion the new tail pipe each month. When the front wings of the jeep started to rust a bit he sent us out to get an old oil barrel. The new wings he built were a perfect match for the old ones and were so sturdy that the jeep was built like a tank. He also got the jeep re-painted inside and out. All for less than a major service in the UK!
Afrigadget has to be one of the most innovative websites I have seen. It celebrates African innovation and ingenuity in creating things that people need. Explore it’s pages and I know you will find something interesting.
First Hausa app developed in Ghana
NKYEA RELEASES FIRST HAUSA IPHONE AND IPAD APP DEVELOPED IN GHANA
Nkyea Learning Systems, the African language development startup based in Ghana responsible for several innovative and very well made African language apps, on 30th June 2011 released its latest African language app installment called Basic Hausa, a Universal iOS app for both the iPhone and iPad.
Hausa app
The new app, Basic Hausa is a word and phrase book cum quiz application that includes all the necessary words and phrases that a complete beginner in the Hausa language can use for learning the language. “Being the most spoken language in Nigeria and most countries in West Africa, Hausa did not have a formidable language learning app on the Apple App Store for language learners to use so we had to make one.” said Nana Sarpong, Nkyea’s lead of products. Basic Hausa includes more than 1600 words divided into 18 lessons with Kananci Hausa translations and audio recordings by a professional Hausa language expert. Kananci Hausa is the standard dialect of the language.
Basic Hausa has been designed so that you listen to words and phrases and then you record, play back and compare with the native speaker. When you come to a word or phrase you like, or you want to learn how to say later you can just tap the “Like button” and it is stored in your “Likes” folder. After learning all the phrases and how to say them, then you can take a quiz to reinforce what you learned. “We put a lot of effort into making all the quizzes interesting with text, audio and pictures and even motivation badges as you get better”, said Nana Sarpong.
Basic Hausa is for anybody visiting northern Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso and northern Ghana. If you are taking a Hausa language course in college too, Basic Hausa will be a very good resource. Basic Hausa is live on the Apple App Store at www.bit.ly/basichausa for $2.99.
Nkyea Learning Systems is a 2-year-old bootstrapped startup that develops and sells African language and cultural apps for Mac, PCs and mobile devices.
For more information about Basic Hausa for iPhone and iPad, please visit www.nkyea.com or contact Nana Sarpong at (233)244153566 or send an email to info@nkyea.com.
The European Anti-Aid Lobby And The Threat To West Africa
Guest Post by Denis Tither
West Africa
No matter which country you live in, five subjects have dominated the headlines in the last few years. Natural disasters, terrorism, revolutions, politics and money. If you live in West Africa, when natural disasters, or revolutions or money make the local headlines they attract every bodies attention as any of these three subjects could be announcing problems which will have an immediate impact on your life. And it becomes a source of concern when the headlines indicate that the flow of important money into your country is under threat. The European Anti-Aid Lobby is now hard at work to create this headline and to make the threat become a reality.
The Yoff Express Way Dakar Senegal
According to a wide range of opinion, including impartial international statisticians and research groups, less than fifty percent of West Africa’s population are in conventional employment and the un-employed have a spending power of less than three Euros a day. (1). It is true that in the last decade there has been a big improvement in the standard of living for a fortunate few, but the brutal fact is that tens of thousands of people in West Africa are still locked into degenerating poverty. They are the have not’s, who’s only safety device is a combination of emergency borrowing from neighbours, or receiving family money from abroad or foreign aid. Even in a forward thinking and work orientated country like Senegal, hardship is etched into the face of most of the population, who know from daily experiences, that by any kind of measurement West Africa is a long way from self sufficiency in food production, and legitimate trade and tourism, so for this sector of Senegalese society aid in one form or another is still a vital contributor to the region and to their countries future development.
Dakar street scene
Since the end of the Bush administration in the USA, which was probably the most generous provider of aid to the whole of Africa,(2), there has been a steady increase in the activities of individuals and groups who are presenting arguments supporting a move to have aid to the African Continent, south of the Sahara, changed in radical ways. One of the most persuasive publications presenting these arguments is the multi-author book, “Aid To Africa-Redeemer Or Coloniserâ€. (3). The publication is interesting in many ways, and not least because, besides presenting solid arguments with references and citations it also contains a considerable amount of detailed insider information related to West African Aid which is skilfully written into the text but not referenced as contributed by any individual or organization. These type of inclusions are now becoming more common in other European media presentations, news or otherwise, indicating that supporters of the European Anti-Aid Lobby are targeting West Africa.
In Europe, if you examine recent media coverage of politically motivated issues, it soon becomes obvious, that on one hand the down side of supplying aid to West Africa, mainly waste, bad management and corruption is being highlighted by the anti-aid lobby to influence public opinion. While on the other hand no mention is being made of a far worse situation in Middle Eastern and Asian Countries. Pakistan stands out in this respect. For example, in the last few months there have been multiple news paper articles and television programmes across Europe publicising squandered aid money for dancing lessons in Burkina Faso, a labour exchange on the edge of the desert in Mali, a road built on a river in Sierra Leone and corruption associated with donated rice aid being sold by organised crime gangs in Senegal. Distorting the real situation is the anti-aid lobbies strategy, as they persuade the media to focus on a few examples of projects that went wrong, but never mention the projects that have been completed successfully and made a significant difference in West Africa in the last twenty years.(4).(5).
The economic downturn in Europe, together with the Arab Spring Scenario, the rise in popularity of nationalistic thinking and the focus on limiting African immigration into European Countries, has made it easy for the anti-aid lobby to influence the output of the popular media. Now, against this backdrop of bad publicity, they are lobbying to achieve substantial cuts in aid to West Africa by face to face contact with the politicians in the corridors of power in London, Berlin, Paris and the ACP-EU Delegation in Brussels. (6). To achieve this objective, the anti-aid lobby have adopted a concept name, “Streamliningâ€. A name first used by President Nixon in the nineteen seventies, and then re-hashed by one of the United Nations Aid Agencies six or seven years ago. In essence, “Streamlining Aid†would mean that aid money for West Africa from the European Union and individual European Governments would be reduced dramatically, and the remaining money would be placed into one fund. This fund would then be managed by a small number of large aid agencies, such as those under the control of the United Nations. The lobbyist’s argument being that, a small group of large aid agencies can achieve better value and delivery of aid with far less money because of efficiency savings.
A typical street in Dakar Senegal
If you can see through the hazy smoke screen of complicated economic arguments related to aid and its delivery, and just concentrate on the principles it is simple to work out the implications for West Africa if the anti-aid lobby successfully influence European public opinion to believe that aid to the region is a waste of money, and then convince the European Politicians to adopt the “Streamlining Conceptâ€. Aid in all its different forms will be dramatically reduced with a few large aid agencies becoming extremely powerful. The fulfilment of both these possibilities would be very bad news for West Africa, and the possibilities become alarming when you contemplate that a substantial part of West Africa’s future could fall into the hands of an organization with a reputation similar to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome. (7).
The problems facing West African Countries vary from country to country. In some countries it is reasonable to describe them as substantial, and in others accurate to describe them as close to critical. Only a foolish person with limited vision, or somebody who has never lived and travelled throughout West Africa would argue differently. However, it’s not all bad news because many people from a cross section of society who do live in West Africa have worked hard, in some cases giving their lives, to put in place the fundamentals which give the region an excellent chance to move forwards to self sufficiency within open democracies over a realistic period of time. Provided of course that these countries carry on receiving the correct amount of aid. But, if aid is radically reduced or “Streamlined†it is hard to find more than three options which will be open to the governments of West African Countries when they start to analyse ways to fill the gap. One could be the issue of Government Bonds which they know will probably never be honoured, or another could be to take out international loans which they also know would probably never be repaid, or as a last resort they could tap into the proceeds of commercial and organised crime which is thriving in West Africa. Obviously, pushing any government into taking up any of these three options by cutting off foreign aid would be an act of international vandalism.
Grand Yoff Dakar
The European Anti-Aid Lobby, (8), is a complex amalgamation of individuals and groups, each with their own agenda who will benefit in different ways if aid to West Africa is radically reduced or “Streamlinedâ€. They are well organized, particularly in Brussels, were my investigations revealed that not all the participants in the lobby are white Europeans, nor are they all resident in European Countries. They are an intercontinental amalgamation with vast potential to indulge in secret deals and profitable intrigue. West Africa is probably the first on their list of targets. Sadly, it looks as though unprofessional behaviour is not unusual in the aid industry, and, if you look at recent history you can soon find people who have tried to expose similar situations before. The resignation letter by Louise Fresco to Jacques Diouf at FAO is a classic example, and will worth reading. (9). Jacques Diouf has an extensive profile in reference, (10).
In a recent Parliamentary Statement, the United Kingdom Government announced that its foreign aid budget was set to rise to a level which would make it the second largest in the world behind the United States. (11). Surprisingly, given the United Kingdom’s long association with the English speaking countries in the region, it appears that only one relatively small project in a West African Country will receive funding. If this reduction in aid is a direct consequence of pressure from the European Anti-Aid Lobby targeting West Africa, it could be an appropriate time for the people who have an interest in the welfare of the have not’s in West Africa, to start asking questions.
Denis Tither. 11th June 2011
http://investigatewestafrica.webs.com
REFERENCES
1.   www.ilo.org
2. Â Â Â www.usaid.gov
3. Â Â Â Rambazuka Press Publication. ISBN-101-906387-38-9
4.    www.oxfam.org
5.    www.oecd.org
6. Â Â Â www.europarl.europa.eu
7. Â Â Â www.fao.org
8. Â Â Â www.alter-eu.org
9.   www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/may/14/foodanddrink
10. http://en.wikipedia/wiki/Jacques_Diouf
11. www.dfid.gov.uk
