Changing traditions
Our African tradition demands a total separation from sexual relations for husbands and wives after the birth of a child, until the child is weaned at between one and two years of age. But alas! We husbands cannot abandon our wives for such a long time. AIDS is rife. It is stupid for husbands to be tempted to fall into immoral ways because their wives are breast-feeding. In most cases, all that is needed is for a six-week rest after childbirth to allow the uterus to go back to normal. Dear readers, this is an issue we need to bring into the open.
Ghislain Somba Byombo, Educator – OWR/EPULU-RDC, c/o Karl Ruf, PO Box 27557, Kampala, Uganda.
EDITOR:
Though raising a good point, this letter does not include the reasons for this tradition developing. If a wife becomes pregnant again too soon and stops breast-feeding (due to another tradition), this may result in malnutrition in the older child if adequate weaning foods are not provided. This issue does not simply concern the well-being of men, but also of women and young children. Changing traditions is rarely simple and often raises many other issues.
Promoting soya beans
The Okapis wild life reserve is a protected inhabited area in DRC, managed by the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN). The population in the reserve only lives from agriculture and game hunting. However, meat is becoming more and more difficult to find because of poaching. Soya beans have therefore been introduced in the area, since soya contains high levels of vegetable protein, which can therefore directly improve people’s lives.
Our education programme includes making useful agricultural techniques more popular and raising the awareness of the population about the sustainable use of natural resources. This is why we are trying to make the soya bean crop more popular in order to protect the game and wildlife, which is now so rare due to poaching. We also teach people the different ways of processing soya beans into soup, flour, cakes and coffee.
Pataule Boniface, Educator and agroforestry worker, c/o Karl Ruf, PO Box 27557, Kampala, Uganda.
Pig epidemic
I work with rural communities as an extension worker here in western Cameroon. The business of raising pigs provides an important part of people’s income.
However, in recent years we have had a great problem with a new kind of disease. The pigs usually start by refusing food, then their ears and belly redden and within four days the animal is dead. There is no particular time of year or area where the disease is worse – it happens all over. We know it is not African swine fever because just two or three of the pigs in any pen will die. Can anyone help us with information about this deadly disease?
Ngwana P Joseph, PO Box 62, Santa, Santa Sub-Division,, NW Province, Cameroon.
Experimenting with plants
I find Footsteps a training material of huge importance for learning and sharing new technologies. My work involves experimenting and growing new varieties of legume plants and fruit trees, and also producing seeds and vegetables for the small farmers in the area who visit our centre for training. Here is a photo of part of our nursery with spice plants such as cinnamon and pepper.
Martin Orozco Sandoval, Sector No 2, Frente a los Servicios Publicos, San Carlos, Rio San Juan, Nicaragua.