African Village Research Articles

Moolaadé (review)

Reviewed by: Moolaadé Bonny Ibhawoh (bio) Moolaadé, Director: Ousmane Sembène (2004). The fact that scholars and practitioners cannot agree on how best to describe a certain practice is an indication of the controversy and impassioned debates that the topic generates. "Female circumcision," "female genital mutilation," and "female genital cutting" are all used to describe the practice, common in some African and Muslim communities, of removing varying amounts of the female genitalia, usually in adolescent girls. It is a [End Page 1058] procedure that causes the death of many girls and women, adversely affects their sexual wellbeing, and makes childbirth hazardous. For many decades, attempts to stop the practice were framed in terms of women's health and addressed as such by the World Health Organization and other advocacy groups but with limited success. With the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1979, the practice began to be framed more as a women's rights issue. Apart from the human rights dimension, female genital cutting is a topic on which several other themes intersect—religion, culture, health, sexuality, gender relations, generational tensions, and even local politics. These are all issues that veteran Senegalese novelist and film director Ousmane Sembène tackles in the engaging and provocative film Moolaadé. Set in a remote Muslim village in Burkina Faso, Moolaadé is the story of Collé, a defiant and strong-willed second wife of an elder in a West African village who refuses to allow four little girls to undergo the traditional circumcision ceremony. After losing two daughters in childbirth due to her own circumcision, Collé had refused to allow her surviving daughter, Amasatou, to face the ordeal of being cut. She is thrust into an unfolding drama of village politics when she offers Moolaadé (protection) to the girls who escape the circumcision ceremony. Moolaadé is the mystical protection which in the local custom can be invoked to provide asylum. Collé's interference draws the ire of her deeply patriarchal community which sees her action as an affront to its culture and Islamic religion. Collé can lift the Moolaadé with a single word and comes under the intense pressure of the male elders, her husband, and some fellow women to do so. Her resolute refusal to lift the Moolaadé draws other women and girls to her cause and sets the stage for a standoff with the village elders that erupts in the center of the village and shatters the tranquility of the community. Unlike many recent films made in Hollywood about Africa, Moolaadé is a story about Africa made by Africans from a distinctly local perspective. Yet, it speaks to universal themes of power, oppression, and emancipation. In depicting one woman's struggle to protect others from an oppressive and inhibiting tradition, Sembène brings great sensitivity and nuance to a topic that is often discussed from simplistic, patronizing, and polarizing standpoints. He deftly explores not only the conflict between local traditional values and the influence of modern ideas, but also the gender and generational tensions within a community largely isolated from the outside world. Although the film obviously seeks to challenge the practice of female genital cutting and raise questions about its legitimacy, it does so with sensitivity to underlying social complexities. It provides a glimpse into the perspective of local African tribesmen who see the practice of female genital cutting as a process of "purification" and older women who see it as a necessary rite of passage for their daughters. However disagreeable their positions may appear, Sembène brings their voices to the story in a way that is neither condescending nor patronizing. Beyond its message, Moolaadé is a cinematic delight. Sembène assembles a group of colorful characters that add depth to his portrayal of rural African life and make for a more compelling storyline. Although this film is essentially about the local tribulations of an African village, it still manages to engage the outside world through two intriguing characters—a local itinerant vendor, [End Page 1059] nicknamed Mercenaire, who previously worked as an aid worker, and a favored son of the village Chief, Ibrahima, who returns home...

Efficacy of local neem extracts for sustainable malaria vector control in an African village

BackgroundLarval control of malaria vectors has been historically successful in reducing malaria transmission, but largely fell out of favour with the introduction of synthetic insecticides and bed nets. However, an integrated approach to malaria control, including larval control methods, continues to be the best chance for success, in view of insecticide resistance, the behavioural adaptation of the vectors to changing environments and the difficulties of reaching the poorest populations most at risk,. Laboratory studies investigating the effects of neem seed (Azadirachta indica) extracts on Anopheles larvae have shown high rates of larval mortality and reductions in adult longevity, as well as low potential for resistance development.MethodsThis paper describes a method whereby seeds of the neem tree can be used to reduce adult Anopheles gambiae s.l. abundance in a way that is low cost and can be implemented by residents of rural villages in western Niger. The study was conducted in Banizoumbou village, western Niger. Neem seeds were collected from around the village. Dried seeds were ground into a coarse powder, which was then sprinkled onto known Anopheles larvae breeding habitats twice weekly during the rainy season 2007. Adult mosquitoes were captured on a weekly basis in the village and captures compared to those from 2005 and 2006 over the same period. Adult mosquitoes were also captured in a nearby village, Zindarou, as a control data set and compared to those from Banizoumbou.ResultsIt was found that twice-weekly applications of the powder to known breeding habitats of Anopheles larvae in 2007 resulted in 49% fewer adult female Anopheles gambiae s.l. mosquitoes in Banizoumbou, compared with previous captures under similar environmental conditions and with similar habitat characteristics in 2005 and 2006. The productivity of the system in 2007 was found to be suppressed compared to the mean behaviour of 2005 and 2006 in Banizoumbou, whereas no change was found in Zindarou.ConclusionWith a high abundance of neem plants in many villages in this area, the results of this study suggest that larval control using neem seed powder offers a sustainable additional tool for malaria vector control in the Sahel region of Niger.

Miriam Were: bringing health care to African villages

Miriam Were: bringing health care to African villages

An analysis of genetic diversity and inbreeding in Wuchereria bancrofti: implications for the spread and detection of drug resistance.

Estimates of genetic diversity in helminth infections of humans often have to rely on genotyping (immature) parasite transmission stages instead of adult worms. Here we analyse the results of one such study investigating a single polymorphic locus (a change at position 200 of the β-tubulin gene) in microfilariae of the lymphatic filarial parasite Wuchereria bancrofti. The presence of this genetic change has been implicated in benzimidazole resistance in parasitic nematodes of farmed ruminants. Microfilariae were obtained from patients of three West African villages, two of which were sampled prior to the introduction of mass drug administration. An individual-based stochastic model was developed showing that a wide range of allele frequencies in the adult worm populations could have generated the observed microfilarial genetic diversity. This suggests that appropriate theoretical null models are required in order to interpret studies that genotype transmission stages. Wright's hierarchical F-statistic was used to investigate the population structure in W. bancrofti microfilariae and showed significant deficiency of heterozygotes compared to the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium; this may be partially caused by a high degree of parasite genetic differentiation between hosts. Studies seeking to quantify accurately the genetic diversity of helminth populations by analysing transmission stages should increase their sample size to account for the variability in allele frequency between different parasite life-stages. Helminth genetic differentiation between hosts and non-random mating will also increase the number of hosts (and the number of samples per host) that need to be genotyped, and could enhance the rate of spread of anthelmintic resistance.

Egg rejection behavior in a population exposed to parasitism: Village Weavers on Hispaniola

In contrast to African Village Weavers (Ploceus cucullatus) that are parasitized by Diederik Cuckoos (Chrysococcyx caprius), introduced weavers on Hispaniola existed without parasitism for at least 2 centuries until the arrival of the Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) in the 1970s. Cruz and Wiley (1989) found that Hispaniolan weavers had a lower rejection rate of foreign eggs than African populations. Subsequently, Robert and Sorci (1999) and Lahti (2005, 2006) found that acceptance of dissimilar eggs is not characteristic of the species throughout its Hispaniolan range. In 1999-2002, we studied egg rejection in Hispaniolan weavers on a broad regional scale. Rejection increased as experimental eggs became increasingly different from the host eggs. Rejection rates for mimetic eggs, different color eggs, different-spotting eggs, and cowbird eggs was 23.2%, 33.3%, 61.5%, and 85.3%, respectively, with higher rejection of cowbird eggs in areas where cowbirds were observed. Although rejection is likely to have a genetic component, the differences could be due to phenotypic plasticity. Plasticity in egg rejection may be expected, given the potential cost of rejection and the spatiotemporal distribution of cowbirds. Thus, egg rejection has not necessarily decreased in Hispaniolan weavers, but it may act in a plastic manner, increasing where cowbirds are present.

Report on the D32 CCR5 variant in the Sudanese Shagia tribe

The focus on small isolated populations provides important insights into the factors affecting the distribution of inheritable traits. Here, we present a report on the distribution of the CCR5 Δ32 mutation in the so far unstudied innate Sudanese population of Shagia people. The genetic material (buccal swabs) was collected from 125 individuals living in three African villages, Abu Haraz, Shibabit and El Higiena. The DNA was extracted, the polymorphic site PCR-amplified with a pair of specific primers flanking the Δ32 CCR5 mutation and reaction products electrophoretically separated in agarose gel. In the Abu Haraz and Shibabit villages, all investigated individuals were found to be homozygous for the wildtype of the receptor, while in El Higiena village one wt/D32 homozygote was identified with the remaining individuals homozygous for non-mutated CCR5. The frequency for the Δ32 CCR5 allele was 0,4%, with Δ32/wt genotype frequency of 0,8%. This is the first report on the presence of the Δ32 CCR5 allele not only in the genetically isolated Shagia tribe but also in the region of the Sudan.

Correction for Sanchez et al. , Poverty and Hunger Special Feature: The African Millennium Villages

Correction for Sanchez <i>et al.</i> , Poverty and Hunger Special Feature: The African Millennium Villages

The Village Borehole

In the dry dusty African village, Morogoro, there was only one borehole. It provided water to around 100 families. Women gathered there daily to fetch water. With empty containers balanced on their...

Long-Term Clinical Protection from Falciparum Malaria Is Strongly Associated with IgG3 Antibodies to Merozoite Surface Protein 3

BackgroundSurrogate markers of protective immunity to malaria in humans are needed to rationalize malaria vaccine discovery and development. In an effort to identify such markers, and thereby provide a clue to the complex equation malaria vaccine development is facing, we investigated the relationship between protection acquired through exposure in the field with naturally occurring immune responses (i.e., induced by the parasite) to molecules that are considered as valuable vaccine candidates.Methods and FindingsWe analyzed, under comparative conditions, the antibody responses of each of six isotypes to five leading malaria vaccine candidates in relation to protection acquired by exposure to natural challenges in 217 of the 247 inhabitants of the African village of Dielmo, Senegal (96 children and 121 older adolescents and adults). The status of susceptibility or resistance to malaria was determined by active case detection performed daily by medical doctors over 6 y from a unique follow-up study of this village. Of the 30 immune responses measured, only one, antibodies of the IgG3 isotype directed to merozoite surface protein 3 (MSP3), was strongly associated with clinical protection against malaria in all age groups, i.e., independently of age. This immunological parameter had a higher statistical significance than the sickle cell trait, the strongest factor of protection known against Plasmodium falciparum. A single determination of antibody was significantly associated with the clinical outcome over six consecutive years in children submitted to massive natural parasite challenges by mosquitoes (over three parasite inoculations per week). Finally, the target epitopes of these antibodies were found to be fully conserved.ConclusionsSince anti-MSP3 IgG3 antibodies can naturally develop along with protection against P. falciparum infection in young children, our results provide the encouraging indication that these antibodies should be possible to elicit by vaccination early in life. Since these antibodies have been found to achieve parasite killing under in vitro and in vivo conditions, and since they can be readily elicited by immunisation in naïve volunteers, our immunoepidemiological findings support the further development of MSP3-based vaccine formulations.

The African Millennium Villages

We describe the concept, strategy, and initial results of the Millennium Villages Project and implications regarding sustainability and scalability. Our underlying hypothesis is that the interacting crises of agriculture, health, and infrastructure in rural Africa can be overcome through targeted public-sector investments to raise rural productivity and, thereby, to increased private-sector saving and investments. This is carried out by empowering impoverished communities with science-based interventions. Seventy-eight Millennium Villages have been initiated in 12 sites in 10 African countries, each representing a major agro-ecological zone. In early results, the research villages in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Malawi have reduced malaria prevalence, met caloric requirements, generated crop surpluses, enabled school feeding programs, and provided cash earnings for farm families.

Confronting HIV/AIDS in a South African village: The impact of health-seeking behaviour 1

Much social science research on HIV/AIDS focuses on its impact within affected communities and how people try to cope with its consequences. Based on fieldwork in rural South Africa, this article shows ways in which the inhabitants of a village react to illness, in general, and the role their reactions play in facilitating the spread of communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS. There is potentially a strong connection between the manner in which people respond to illness in general, and actual transmission of infection. By influencing the way villagers react to episodes of ill health, folk beliefs about illness and illness causation may create avenues for more people to become infected. This suggests that efforts to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic cannot succeed without tackling the effects of folk beliefs. Therefore, in addressing the problem of HIV/AIDS, experts should focus on more than disseminating information about cause and transmission, and promoting abstinence, safe sex, and other technocratic fixes. Our findings suggest that people need information to facilitate not only decision-making about how to self-protect against infection, but also appropriate responses when infection has already occurred.

Global migration and the world economy: two centuries of policy and performance

World mass migration began in the early nineteenth century, when advances in transportation technology and industrial revolutions at home enabled increasing numbers of people to set off for other parts of the globe in search of a better life. Two centuries later, there is no distant African, Asian, or Latin American village that is not within reach of some high-wage OECD labor market. This book is the first comprehensive economic assessment of world mass migration taking a long-run historical perspective, including north-north, south-south, and south-north migrations. Timothy Hatton and Jeffrey Williamson, both economists and economic historians, consider two centuries of global mobility, assessing its impact on the migrants themselves as well as on the sending and receiving countries. Global Migration and the World Economy covers two great migration waves: the first, from the 1820s to the beginning of World War I, when immigration was largely unrestricted; the second, beginning in 1950, when mass migration continued to grow despite policy restrictions. The book also explores the period between these two global centuries when world migration shrank sharply because of two world wars, immigration quotas, and the Great Depression. The authors assess the economic performance of these world migrations, the policy reactions to deal with them, and the political economy that connected one with the other. The last third of Global Migration and the World Economy focuses on modern experience and shows how contemporary debates about migration performance and policy can be informed by a comprehensive historical perspective.

One Big Family

Liz Rhodes shows how this big book can be used with year 2 children to teach literacy, geography and PSHE. The book gives an insight into African village life and the tradition of ogbo

Beyond belief? Play, scepticism, and religion in a West African village*

L'A. explore un aspect peu etudie du changement religieux dans ce qu'il a ete convenu d'appeler des pratiques traditionnelles africaines incorporant le scepticisme. Chez les Manjaco, les jeunes imitent de maniere ludique les usages religieux locaux et ne se privent pas de critiquer les ritualisations et les croyances de leurs aines. Cette jeunesse sceptique est a l'avant-garde de la revolution religieuse au village, incitant la communaute dans son ensemble a modifier ou rendre illegales certaines coutumes religieuses et se debarrasser de certains sanctuaires aux esprits. La litterature interprete souvent ce doute juvenile comme un symptome de modernisation lie au fait que les jeunes, plus cosmopolites, sont exposes a d'autres formes d'explication du monde et perdent ainsi la foi dans les anciennes manieres de faire et de croire. L'A. critique cette interpretation, en considerant les manieres de faire quelquefois paradoxales dont la pratique rituelle accompagne ou remet en cause le systeme des croyances.

The African Village Borehole

The African Village Borehole

Rape perpetration by young, rural South African men: Prevalence, patterns and risk factors

Sexual violence is a well-recognised global health problem, but there has been remarkably little research on men as perpetrators. The objectives of this paper are to describe the prevalence, patterns and factors associated with rape of an intimate partner and a woman who was not a partner with men aged 15–26 years in rural South Africa. The analysis presented here is of data collected during a baseline survey of participants in a cluster randomised controlled trial of an HIV behavioural intervention. A total of 1370 male volunteers were recruited from 70 rural South African villages. They completed a questionnaire asking about background, sexual practices and perpetration of rape and intimate partner violence. Among these men 16.3% had raped a non-partner, or participated in a form of gang rape; 8.4% had been sexually violent towards an intimate partner; and 79.1% had done neither. The mean age of first rape was 17 years. There was overlap between rape of a non-partner and partner, in that 44.3% of men who raped an intimate partner had also raped a non-partner, but overall the great majority of men who raped did not disclose both types of rape. The factors associated with rape of an intimate partner and non-partner had similarities and differences. After adjusting for the other variables, both forms of rape were strongly associated with ever having been physically violent to a partner, having had transactional sex with a casual partner and more sexual partners. Non-partner rape was also associated with peer-related variables, including gang membership and peer pressure to have sex, and also drug use. Non-partner rape was more common among wealthier and relatively more socially advantaged men. Both types of rape were associated with having more adverse childhood experiences. There was considerable overlap between rape-associated factors and known HIV risk factors, suggesting a need for further research on the interface of rape and HIV, and integrated prevention programming.

Commercial Mesh versus Nylon Mosquito Net for Hernia Repair. A Randomized Double‐blind Study in Burkina Faso

The goal of this study was to investigate whether locally available Nylon mosquito net might be a useful alternative to expensive commercial mesh implants for hernia repair, a clinical randomized double-blind study was performed. Over a period of 3 months 35 patients with a total of 40 inguinal hernias were randomized for hernia repair with either a commercial graft (Ultrapro) or a piece of sterilized 100% Nylon mesh available as mosquito net in most African village markets. The surgeons' comfort in handling the meshes, the incidence of complications, and the patients' quality of life before and 30 days after hernia repair were evaluated. In addition, the costs of the two materials were compared. There was no significant difference in the clinical short-term outcome of the hernia treatment or the surgeons' comfort in handling the two different materials. The price of the locally bought Nylon mesh was 0.0043 US dollars as compared to 108 US dollars for the commercial mesh. In situations where superior results of hernia repair depend on the use of a mesh prosthesis but where commercial material is not available or affordable, the use of Nylon mosquito net may be an alternative. Further studies with a larger number of patients and longer follow-up are justified and recommended.

Field Applicability of a Rapid‐Format Anti–Ov‐16 Antibody Test for the Assessment of Onchocerciasis Control Measures in Regions of Endemicity

A previously developed, specific, rapid-format immunochromatographic card test that detects immunoglobulin G4 to the recombinant Onchocerca volvulus antigen Ov-16 was modified to detect antibodies in whole blood. Ov-16 card test results were assessed in 1511 subjects > or =2 years of age in 7 West African villages with varying histories of onchocerciasis control measures. In villages in which control measures had been implemented, anti-Ov-16 antibody prevalence rates ranged from 5.2% to 65.1%. Antibody prevalence rates were close to zero among subjects born after effective control measures had been implemented. In 2 villages without a history of control measures where onchocerciasis was endemic, microfilariae (MF) prevalence rates were 82.8% and 65.1%, and antibody prevalence rates were 73.1% and 62.1%. In these 2 villages, the sensitivity of the Ov-16 card test was 81.1% and 76.5%, the specificity was 100%, and the positive predictive value was 91.8% and 80.5%. MF and antibody prevalence rates were correlated (Spearman's r=0.815; P<.038). The Ov-16 card test is field applicable, exhibits high sensitivity and specificity for O. volvulus infection, and has great potential as a tool for surveillance and for evaluating the success of onchocerciasis control measures.

Problems in comprehension of informed consent in rural and peri-urban Mali, West Africa

Clinical trials undertaken by industrialized nations in undeveloped nations pose several critical ethical dilemmas. One key potential problem concerns misunderstandings of the consent process by participants. Though other reports have begun to explore this area, needs remain to identify specific areas of misunderstanding. To identify deficits in comprehension during consent processes in Mali, West Africa. After obtaining informed consent for participation for a malaria vaccine trial being conducted in two West African villages, we administered to participants a nine-item questionnaire testing their understanding of information relevant for their consent. After testing their ability to understand a multiple choice format, 78 of 100 subjects were administered the questionnaire in one village and 85 of 100 in the other. Participants had difficulty comprehending several concepts relevant to informed consent: 90% of respondents did not understand withdrawal criterion, 93% did not understand the existence of study side effects, and 74% did not understand that they were enrolled in an investigation as opposed to receiving therapy. The response rate and percentage of correct answers was generally much higher in the village nearer an urban center than the more rural village. The percent of correct answers exceeded 50% for five questions in the urban village and for only two question in the more rural setting. Potential limitations of this study are relating to translation, cultural differences in the notion of informed consent, staff differences between each village, the proportion who could not understand the survey instrument and the fact that the study explored participants' understanding of the consent process but did not observe the process itself. This study illustrates potential areas of miscomprehension in the consent process in a developing country. The degree of miscomprehension found in this study appeared to be more than that found in similar studies conducted in industrialized nations. Despite efforts to obtain truly informed consent, several factors make it more challenging in the developing world. This research highlights the need for more comprehensive studies of consent in developing countries. Such studies may eventually aid investigators in identifying, targeting and addressing specific areas of miscomprehension and thereby improve the informed consent process in the developing world.

Margaret Hardiman, Konkonuru: life in a West African village – the impact of socio-economic change on rural communities. Accra: Ghana Universities Press (pb £14.95 – 9964 3 0291 6). 2003, 244 pp. (Distributed by African Books Collective, Oxford)

Margaret Hardiman, Konkonuru: life in a West African village – the impact of socio-economic change on rural communities. Accra: Ghana Universities Press (pb £14.95 – 9964 3 0291 6). 2003, 244 pp. (Distributed by African Books Collective, Oxford) - Volume 76 Issue 2