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.