Re: [xmca] moral life of babies

[mike cole <lchcmike@gmail.com>]

Yes, the phenomenon is certainly world wide. A part of the discourse of
modernity and consumerism in 3rd world, and not only 3rd world countries.
Note morbid, just realistic.
mike

On Sun, May 16, 2010 at 10:33 AM, Carol Macdonald <carolmacdon@gmail.com>wrote:

> Mike
> In other 3rd world countries, there were big billboards of happy families
> (with a baby) celebrating Coca Cola.  Mothers thought this meant that Coke
> was good for babies, and fed them this ... .
>
> In SA schools girls are taught that formula is good for babies, but it is
> very expensive, so they dilute it and their children fail to thrive. They
> also don't sterilise the bottles properly, which brings in infection. There
> is however information on how to deal with diarrhoea.  HIV/Aids has also
> complicated the picture, with mother-child transmission. In SA there is
> still high mortality between 0-5 years, varying of course across different
> communities. But we don't have the custom (such as in Malawi) of having lots
> of children because about half of them are going to die.
>
> Sorry to be so morbid on a Sunday evening.
>
> Carol
>
> On 16 May 2010 18:54, mike cole <lchcmike@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> In Liberia infant mortality rate was particularly high around schools.
>> Why?
>> The girls were convinced to use similac instead of breastfeeding. Lacking
>> money, but seeking to "do right by their babies" they substituted the
>> water
>> used to rinse rice for similac and bottle fed their babies. The water,
>> being
>> contaminated, increased already prevalent diarrhea and dehydration and
>> death.
>>
>> Some call it progress.
>> mike
>>
>> On Sat, May 15, 2010 at 7:52 PM, Martin Packer <packer@duq.edu> wrote:
>>
>> > On May 15, 2010, at 6:22 PM, mike cole wrote:
>> >
>> > Any idea of the infant mortality rate among the Kogi? Seems like it
>> might
>> > be a little difficult to make it past a couple of months! (Among the
>> Kpelle
>> > when i worked in Liberia it was about 50%, but that owing to high levels
>> of
>> > malaria and nasty water, and of course, no money to buy prophylactic
>> > medicines. Extreme poverty makes for very different imaginaries.
>> > mike
>> >
>> >
>> > I don't know the infant mortality rate, but it would be interesting to
>> know
>> > how such events are understood. I have heard the infant malnutrition
>> rate is
>> > high. But the cause of that seems to be not poverty of the life style
>> per
>> > se, but accommodations forced on the Kogi. Their territory has been
>> reduced
>> > so that now they have only high mountain terrain to farm. And they have
>> been
>> > somehow convinced to consume foodstuffs that are not part of their
>> > traditional cultivation, and which have lower nutritional value.
>> >
>> > Martin
>> >
>> _______________________________________________
>> xmca mailing list
>> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
>> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
>>
>
>
>
> --
> WORK:
> Visiting Researcher
> Wits School of Education
> HOME
> 6 Andover Road
> Westdene
> Johannesburg 2092
> 011 673 9265  082 562 1050
>
>
_______________________________________________
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca