Ruaha: Not a new source...

Many historians before me have worked on this file, and Lorne Larson has even cited it. Still it is an interesting document: A.T.Culwick the District Officer at Mahenge commented to the Provincial Commissioner on a letter by Archbishop Edgar Maranta on the Ngope movement in Ruaha.
Culwick writes: "I note that the Mission 'absolutely forbids any kind of magic practices', to quote Bishop Edgar, but what is religion and faith to one is a magic and superstition to another, a situation raising questions of value on which it is undesirable that Government should pronounce."

I decided to blog this source as a comment to some of the things i heard in the past days at my guesthouse in Dar es Salaam, from other guests nota bene. It had taken a slightly too missionary lean in the sense of religious superiority feelings (nicely packed in a development discourse). Very oldfashioned, indeed! And quite unlike much of what I heard from long-serving missionaries who had learned much about religious tolerance in this country.

catch of the day...

...1935 and the first petition in Ifakara by the Indian merchants for better health services! Later they would repeat this petition together with the African Association (click on the images to blow them up).

Another day in the archive: the beauty of the source

For today I give you two snapshots from my research at the Tanzanian National Archives. The first one reflects the sheer beauty of an archival collection. The second one a testimony to the fact that it the mission was also the most able and powerful building company in Ulanga. Not more than 500 meters from the small hospital of Sr. Arnolda, the mission was employed to build another 'hospital' which was in fact a dispensary of the "Native Authorities".

Dar es Salaam and sources on Ifakara 'hospital' in the 1950s

I am back in Dar es Salaam and have already spent a couple of hours in traffic jams. The reward for this is the time I can spend in the National Archives. I found some new documentes on the government support to Capuchin medical work in the 1950s. These documents prove the case that - especially if compared to the other mission societies - the Capuchins were, at that time, really a small outfit in the medical dimension. Furthermore their services were not considered to be of a particularly high quality by the administration - rather the contrary. For example this document shows that the old Ifakara hospital in 1953 "was not a good unit as regards building and accommodation". At that time, Ifakara hospital really was more like an old stable than like a modern hospital building.

Among other things I found this interesting map from the end of the 1920s (which includes leprosy care centres in the area - click the image to enlarge).

Ifakara, goodbye and thank you!

Tomorrow I will be leaving Ifakara and travel to Dar es Salaam. I hope to be back here in Ifakara in November.
I thank all the people who have made this fieldresearch phase a very productive one.

still a mystery: the expression "giving birth the European way"

For two years now i am vexed by the expression used by Sister Arnolda in the mid 1940s (in Ifakara 1927-1962) that women in Ifakara now said, they "wished to give birth the European way". I have been asking around whether people remember this or similar expressions that were in common use that time. There is as yet no conclusive answer, 'modern', 'mission'/'at the mission', 'new' all seem to fall into the same category, but there seems to have been no 'trademark' naming. If anybody has a suggestion, I would be very happy to hear it.

Interesting people: Dresser Mkope

This man, Fred Mkope (here on the picture with his first born daughter) has worked as a dresser and dispensary in-charge in mission and Church dispensaries for decades. Born and trained in Ifakara, in the early 1950s he has worked in Ruaha for three years and is still very much remembered by the old people in Ruaha.

Privat: Der Regen ist zurück in Ifakara

So siehts aus, wo ich sonst meine Emails verfasse. Grüsse an alle, die den Snakepit anders kennen!

popo?

or similar are these animals called. They are very unpopular with the people who live under the trees where these colonies settle about twice a year for some months. They are said to be coming from the Uzungwa mountains. Obviously I like the very much, but here the destroy the palmtrees (they break their leaves and the tree eventually dies), the eat all the nice fruits (especially embe) and the shit, literally on peoples heads (I witnessed personally, on my skin...), and are made responsible for diseases affecting the children in that place.

Back with Interviews in Ifakara

I am back for interviews in Ifakara. Today an old man and an old lady told us about the changes of circumcision techniques and a lot of other interesting things.

I am looking for people who can transcribe the interviews from spoken to written Kiswahili, in case you know of somebody?

Beweis, dass es nicht heiss ist

Back from Ruaha

My parachuting research trip to Ruaha has been highly interesting and has produced a good number of oral information, from health workers who have been working in Mission dispensaries in the 1960s and later, from users of these services and many more.
Thanks to Fr. Godfrey Haiduru and Fr. Abdu Mkope, Dr. Chitalula and all the people from Ruaha, Chirombola and Mwaya, which I have met.

Here, as pars pro toto, Mzee Halala and two of his wives (and Dr. Chitalula) and a shot from the walk towards Sali.

Genauere Erzählungen gibt es dann in der Schweiz.

On the way to Ruaha

I am about to leave for Ruaha and Mahenge for a week, there will be no updates nor any emails during that time.
Ab heute abend bin ich für eine Woche in Ruaha und Mahenge. Es wird in dieser Zeit keine updates geben und auch keine Antworten auf Emails.

als abschlussgrüssli aus ifakara, hier noch ein blick auf den berühmten swimmingpool. heute ist er ziemlich gelb, was nicht an mir liegt, denn ich war noch nie drin.

lots of greetings to you all, m

Interesting people: Faruz Hassan Njohole, and George Mwambeta

The man on the right of the picture is a son of the former chiefu Hassani Njohole, who had supported the medical work of the mission back in colonial times. Faruz Njohole had been posted as a sub-chief in Lupiro and was elected, after independence, to serve as a local administrator by the people in Lupiro.

The man to the left of Njohole is George Mwambeta, who moderated my meeting with Njohole. He has been working with the entomology unit at STIFL in former years and has done field researcher for many researchers here in the area, amongst them Jamie Monson. A thank you goes to Jamie, who has been linking me up with George.

Jagdspinnen

Eine solche hilft mir, die Ameisen von meinem Computer fern zu halten. Ich suche Partner für ein "start-up Unternehmen" zur Distribution von I-ANTS.

Chief Mbinji of Sali and Ruaha, early 1940s

from „Missionsbote der Schweizer Kapuziner, 1942, No. 1 p. 14 „Sultan Mbinji. Ruaha und Sali Gebiet“ [Sultan Mbinji. Ruaha and Sali area].

P.S. the History Department has just acquired a new ‚book scanner‘. Poor scaning like this will hopefully be a thing of the past...

Kiswahili

Kiswahili kurs für anfängerInnen

Wer das Tier auf dem Bild erkennt, kann auch seinen Namen richtig in Kiswahili übersetzen...

Tipp: Die schiere Grösse macht die Gefährlichkeit eindringlich sichtbar. Hier in Ifakara werden die Tiere im sog. "semi-field" erforscht. Vom Konzept her ist das wie Forschung im Zoo, aber praktisch ohne Zuschauer...

Asanteni sana! And care for Wazee!

These 5 men* not only remembered a lot about the history of mission health care in Ifakara, they also insisted that I tell, back in Switzerland, how much there was a need for Switzerland to assist with health care, especially for the elderly.

Our senior research team member, Piet van Eeuwijk has an interesting research project that looks exactly at the question of the care for elderly people in Tanzania.
Klick the title of this post for more information on Piet's project.

* Saidi Chamamba, Saidi Mfalimbena, Casian Msaraka, Clarence Mikaeli Mfeite, and
Saidi Lumbanga, the Mwenyekti Vitongoni V/60 in Ifakara (from left to right)

interesting people: Susanna Ngomaholo

Susanna Ngomaholo was the first professionally trained African nurse (she trained in Sumvi/Mwanza Region for 3 years) who worked at Saint Francis Hospital (from 1959).

interesting people: Adam Lihimba

Diese Nachricht als Gruss für alle, die diesen blog verfolgen und schon von Adam Lihimba gehört haben, oder ihn gar aus dem OP kennen.




Adam Lihimba worked for half a century in the operation theatres of St. Francis Hospital. He has been an assistant to Surgeons doing big operations, and he has done a fair share of smaller operations himself.

Ifakara: old men know a lot of things!

My second group interview was as interesting as the first one. These old Wazee remembered a lot about the history of St. Francis and other health institutions in the area. Even Dr. Alois Gabathuler, who was in Mahenge from 1939 to 1946 was remembered well.
So I thank the Wazee: Athumani Mohammedi Timbanga, Abdu Mohammedi Lubiki, Ramadhani Omari Mpalangondo, Aido Raffaeli Mng'etu, and Juma Lifulana. Also I would like to thank the Mwenyekiti wa kitongoja Ifakara mjini, Michael p. Ngalyoma; and the shule ya msingi Mtoni, Ifakara for their support.

Again, the old men were singing a song to praise doctors and nurses (I joined just a small little bit, since I should not be spoiling the tapes).

Asante Wabibi! Asante Phemy!

These lovely ladies have helped me a great deal today: they have shared their view about the history of SFH with me, and even sang a song related to the moment when Dr. Calo Schöpf left Ifakara (not translated yet). Thank you: Amina Mtengela, 70
Mariam Ngonimtela, Brandina Ngalyoma, Miriam Liseki, and Hadjia Mwitende, 67.
Phemy is the lady who has done a great job organising and moderating. Great!

Privat: zwergenvelos

Was soll man sagen, sogar die kurbeln sind höchstens 165er. Kaum fahrbar für mich ohne grössere Schäden an den Knien zu riskieren. Inzwischen habe ich gewechselt und Lukas ehemalige Schrottkiste erhalten, deren Gabel nicht unbedingt dem Geradeausfahren dient.

Miss Kilombero and Kipogoro

This poster says it all. The candidates have visited here yesterday to have a look at mosquitos and labs. I don't know yet whether they have also greeted the patients at the hospital.

I wrote yesterday on being made fun of. Now, I know I was. What I ruled out most, the fact that I was being teased in Kipogoro, was what actually happened. Haha!

Since we are loughing here is a joke (told to me by a cleric): Hier wurde mal ein Kind gefragt, ob es wisse, warum man in der Kirche still sein soll. "Ha, klar! Weil die Leute doch schlafen." I'll go to witness the service at the church here in Ifakara tomorrow.

Nimefika Ifakara

I have arrived in Ifakara for the second and longer leg of this field-research phase. The notoriously flood-susceptible parts of Ifakara were flooded yesterday, when the Lumemo River left its basin. I have witnessed this in 2008 and it is a very unfortunate situation for the vicitims of the floods. It also means electricity cuts and difficult transportation and communication.
While I am waiting I can do other things, like updating this blog (and more research related activities as well). The paper on Ruaha is not yet uploaded but advances quick under these conditions (thank you IHI,TTCIH and SFH for generated electricity).

While my Kiswahili is ridiculous, i just made a very funny experience: somebody spoke to me in 'English', however I understood much more from the Kiswahili translation given by his friend, than from the 'English' original. Now, there are two explanations for this: a) I guess that is similiar to most people here when they experience my Kiswahili, and ask themselves what language I am using. b) What is really interesting is that a similar story was reported to me yesterday. Therefore I am left with the suspicion that this is the latest joke to be played on Wazungus in Ifakara.(There is a small chance that the language was Kipogoro).

Update: fieldwork in Ifakara and Ruaha

Having been caught up in Dar es Salaam, where the rains of yesterday and today, together with the flooded roads (and houses) are giving everybody a hard time, I travel tomorrow to Ifakara. Later in the month Ruaha will be my destination.

I thank everyone who supported my stay here in Dar, especially all the lovely staff at passionist fathers, Richard Sambaiga from UDSM, the staff at East African, especially the director P.D.Mwaimu. The Capuchins in San Damiano and the Baldegg sisters shared their food and their stories with me. I appreciate very much. And my fellow researchers from Basel, Jana, Stefan, and Lukas were raising my research motivation a great deal.

Interesting people: Margunn Bech and Deodatus Massai

Here in Dar I have met a team of researchers who do a most interesting research project working on themes and topics similar to HHSA. Also this is another project that looks at post-colonial health history in Tanzania.
http://www.haydom.no/bech_margunn_m.aspx

Not least, Mbulu district, where research of Margunn Bech and Deodatus Massai is based, is also under the same Catholic Diocese (Mbulu Diocese) as the parish of Endamariek and the dispensary in Rhotia, where Swiss Capuchins and Sisters from Baldegg have been active in the from the 1980s.

Dar es Salaam, Hafen des Friedens oder eher Hölle

Dar es Salaam soll ja Hafen des Friedens heissen. Nur so ein Name kann trügerisch sein, wie die meisten hier nur zu gut wissen. So war heute wieder einer der glücklichen Tage, wo aus einem Behördengang ein übler Trip wird. Nicht nur hat sich die Immigrationsbehörde bisher wenig um mein Dossier gekümmert (immerhin wurden die einzelnen Blätter in den vergangenen zwei Wochen in einen Dossierumschlag eingefädelt) und will mich nun nochmals empfangen, aber leider erst nach 4 Arbeitstagen, wobei - nota bene - der nächste Montag ein Feiertag ist. Während ich da also bedient wurde, füllte der Regen draussen die Strassen rund um Posta mit Bächen und Flüssen. So gab es dann kein leichtes nach Hause rauschen vor der Stosszeit. Vielmehr bestieg ich, sobald die Flutwellen einen Bordsteintanz zwecks einigermassener Trockenhaltung der Fussgelenke erlaubten, ein super DallaDalla (Mit Klimaanlage, die dann allerdings sogleich den Dienst einstellte). Sitzplatz, Schattenseite, und in den Getränkehaltern war sogar noch der Transportschutz. Wenn man denkt, dass es hier meist etwas länger geht, bis Waren den Hafen verlassen können, dann war der Bus sicher erst vor einem halben Jahr eingekauft worden. Aber dann ging nix mehr. Eine dieser Fahrten wo man nach 45 minuten am selber Ort ist, wo man loslegte (allerdings immerhin mit der Busnase in die richtige Fahrtrichtung ausgerichtet). Erstaunlich ist das alles nicht, denn die Fahrer legen sich hier mit ihrem egoistischen Gedränge selber lahm, indem sie es schaffen, jede Kreuzung durch das ungeordnete Aufstellen von Autos langfristig zu blockieren, mit schneller Rückwirkung auf die nächste Kreuzung. Da nützt dann Hupen nichts. So wurde aus dem Behördengang nicht nur ein Frust, sondern auch ein vertaner Tag. Darauf stosse ich heute abend mit einem Bier an.

Privat: alles gut in Ifakara

Hier in Ifakara ist alles gut im Moment. Ich habe grossen Spass hier zu sein. Andererseits ist die Lust, über die hiesigen kleinen Erlebnisse und Bekanntschaften zu erzählen, gar nicht so gross. Schlecht, wenn man wenig Neuigkeiten produziert, daran bin aber auch nicht nur ich schuld, sondern auch das Leben hier. Kein Wunder an einem Ort, wo man zwar immer nach den "Neuigkeiten" fragt und die Antwort doch immer nur ein zwar emotional manchmal erstaunlich ernsthaftes, aber doch inhaltlich bescheiden aussagekräftiges (und newswertiges) "gut" oder "sehr gut" ist. Die Forschung selber befindet sich noch immer in der Vorbereitung und was sich nicht schlecht anlässt, wäre doch zu früh zum kommunizieren. Ifakara und die Menschen hier zeigen sich wirklich sonnig. Ein grosses Dankeschön geht an Karin Gross, die mir hier einen ganz wichtigen Kontakt vermittelt hat. Auch ein Dankeschön in der gleichen Kategorie an Elisabeth Rotzetter von Solidarmed. An Lukas geht ein Dankeschön für den regen Austausch. Gefreut habe ich mich auch über Jamie Monson, einer ausgezeichneten Historikerin und an Maia Green, einer ausgezeichneten Ethnologin über diese Region, die beide auf eine Email von mir nicht nur rasch, sondern auch sehr konkret und weiterführend geantwortet haben.

Privat: alles bestens in Ifakara

Liebe Freunde,

Die Busfahrt hierher war eines dieser nicht aussergewöhnlichen Abenteuer. Eine grossartige Reise, aber auch nicht ganz einfach. Belohnt wurde die Fahrt im Höllenbus mit der grossartigen Landschaft, die sich darbot: hier ist nun alles grün und blüht, dass es eine grosse Freude ist.
Mit meinem Kollegen Lukas sitze ich ausgiebig zusammen und wir diskutieren und parlieren produktiv, wenn auch nicht immer nur bezüglich der Forschungsarbeiten.

Wenn ich noch ein bisschen Werbung machen darf: ich war heute mal wieder in der Solidarmed Support Unit hier in Ifakara. Diese unterstützt eine ganze Reihe von spannenden Projekten im Gesundheitssektor hier in Kilombero und nicht zuletzt in Ulanga. http://www.solidarmed.ch/index.php?id=76

I arrived in Ifakara: staff wanted

I have arrived in Ifakara. Work runs well. I am currently recruiting staff. Moderators for focus group discussions (FGD), cultural brokers. I am also looking for people who are able to transcribe FGD in Kiswahili and students who can translate these from Kiswahili to English.

source: A. Schuster's "Mafundisho ya afya" from 1951

An interesting source for the history of mission medical is this 50 pages training booklet. Amongst other things it teaches how to care emotionally for a sick person, and it testfies to a spiritual approach taken: praying, drinking holy water and more.

German and English language sources on the delivery of health care in Ulanga of that time are remarkably free of such clear statements about such a very concrete spiritual side in healing. All the more this source has its specific value, since at the time of printing, Dr. Schuster worked as a doctor for the Swiss Capuchin Mission in Kwiro.

privat: morgen geht es weiter nach Ifakara

Morgen Sonntag geht die Reise weiter nach Ifakara. Über DSM gibt es nicht so viel zu berichten, es ist "heiss und staubig" wie hier alle sagen.

privat: telefonnummer

+255788468074

HHSA Tanzania Study: Research Clearance Granted by COSTECH

The Tanzanian Commission for Science and Technology has renewed the clearance for the Tanzanian case study within "History of Health Systems in Africa" for another year. Asante sana!

privat

This is a new category, for private - but not too private - news, which will be in German language.

Also ich bin nun in Dar angekommen. Es fühlt sich nicht viel anderst an, als die letzten Male - und hat darum auch noch eindeutiger den Charakter von Arbeit angenommen. Ich bin mal wieder im Gästehaus der Passionist Fathers abgestiegen. Jene, die das kennen, werden auf der Foto auch sehen, dass hier tatsächlich gebaut wird. (Es klappt aber leider hier im moment nicht mit dem hochladen der Bilder).



Wichtig war, dass es mit der Forschungsbewilligung tatsächlich geklappt hat und ich nun eigentlich loslegen könnte. Eigentlich, weil das Archiv wegen Umbau und anderen wichtigen Angelegenheiten in dieser Woche keine Zeit mehr für mich hatte.

Umso mehr ein Grund, nun schnell nach Ifakara zu verreisen. Dort gibt es dann sicher am Sonntag Abend ein feines kaltes Bier aus dem Kühlschrank des TTCIH Guesthouses. Darauf freue ich mich. Danach steht im Zentrum meiner Arbeiten der Versuch, an mündliche Erinnerungen und Erzählungen über die Geschichte des Spitals heran zu kommen.
Ergebnisse gibt es natürlich nach dieser kurzen Zeit noch nicht zu bereichten. Und so bleibt das nun noch stärker ein Gruss an jene, die sich für solch privaten Dinge interessieren.

Auf Kiswahili könnte ich das alles noch nicht schreiben, bin momentan etwas weniger zuversichtlich, was die Geschwindigkeit meiner sprachlichen Integration betrifft. Würde mich aber gerne positiv von mir selbst überraschen lassen!

Research in Tanzania

April, May and June, Marcel Dreier will do research in Tanzania. You can read more about this research here on this blog.

new start

This blog will see a new start in April 2010