Dancing Skeletons Life and Death in West Africa - 1701 Words

Although the !Kung San of southern Africa differ greatly from the people in the west African nation of Mali, both areas share similar problems. Both suffer from diseases, illnesses, malnutrition, and having to adapt to the ever changing and advancing cultures around them. What I found to be the most significant problem that is shared between both areas is that the people suffered from a lack of education. In the book Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa by Katherine A. Dettwyler, there is a lack of education in proper nutritional practices, taking care of children and newborns, and basic medical knowledge and practices. The Dobe Ju/’hoansi have recently started putting in schools to help children receive an education to help†¦show more content†¦Also in the very first chapter of her book, Dettwyler describes one of the children she treated, kid #104, whose mother left him in the house all day with a bowl of rice and sauce. He was not able to talk or move because he suffered from extreme malnutrition. After the mother had weaned him, she left him alone in the house all day, hoping that he would decide for himself when he was ready to eat. The mother had no basic knowledge of how to take care of her child, leaving him all alone to take care of himself (Dettwyler 1994: 2). When it came to differing views between western beliefs and the native point of view, one of the bigger problems was the conflict about contraception and stopping the spread of HIV and AIDS. Southern Africa, were the Dobe Ju’/hoansi subside, has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the world. â€Å"[T] he world U/N. figures for June 2000 show a seropositive rate among adults of 19.54 percent in Namibia, 19.94 percent in South Africa, and a staggering 35.8 percent in Botswana (Lee 2003: 190).† Because of the epidemic the life expectancy in the area has also drastically dropped. Western medical professionals have made clear to most communities that c ondoms are the most effective protection from HIV/AIDs. Because of this many western clinics and organizations in Africa distribute condoms to the local people. Regardless of theShow MoreRelatedEssay about Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa1383 Words   |  6 Pagesdownfall to all of the â€Å"good† things in life: we think our way of life is better than everyone else’s, and we often judge other countries, especially Africa, for their way of living. We often ask the questions, â€Å"What if we go to help them?† or â€Å"How can we help them?† when the real question is: â€Å"What can we learn from them†? Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa is a non-fiction book written by Katherine Dettwyler, who traveled to the countries of West Africa for her field research for her PhRead MoreDancing Skeletons : Life And Death Throughout West Africa By Katherine Dettwyler, All You Can Think2334 Words   |  10 PagesMarbaugh Anthropology 105 S. Home Hogue October 13, 2014 â€Å"Dancing Skeleton† While reading Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa by Katherine Dettwyler, all you can think is â€Å"what if I had had to live in a culture like this?† Katherine Dettwyler is an ethnography that primarily study how children feeding and weaning customs, and continuing malnutrition directs to a higher likely hood of children being more likely to perish from life threatening childhood illnesses, for example: malariaRead MoreDancing Skeletons : Life And Death1239 Words   |  5 PagesIn the book Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death In West Africa (published in 1994), the core argument is best shown when the author, Katherine A. Dettwyler, says on page 142, â€Å" What is wrong with this picture?† Suddenly, it dawned on me. The children- dancing with abandon, smiles on their faces looked like dancing skeletons. They were the living embodiment of Camille Saint-Saen’s â€Å"Dance Macabre. â€Å"They were the warrior skeletons from Ray Harryhausenâ€℠¢s film Jason and the Argonauts-dancing, instead ofRead MoreDancing Skeletons : Life And Death1470 Words   |  6 PagesIn West Africa, Dettwyler s story of malnutrition takes place and is shown in her book, Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa. She addresses important issues such as ignorance in nutrition. She also addresses some of how Islam has become part of there culture as time has gone on and as the country becomes more civilized. Muslims in Mali did were not perfect Muslims and did not do everything they were supposed to but their deepest roots came from Islam. Dettwyler addressed some very difficultRead MoreDancing Skeletons Essay2599 Words   |  11 PagesMeagan Conrad ANT-103 Rough Draft March 16, 2012 Transfixed by Dancing Skeletons Katherine Dettwyler’s work in the field while she was in West Africa was exciting, filled with humor and even terrifying at times. She dealt with seeing various life-threatening diseases that affected the lives of children her daughter’s age, as well as adults. Dettwyler found that almost all of the people she came in contact with were completely oblivious and uninformed of the ways to prevent diseases such asRead MoreComparing The Endicotts And Dettwylers Ethnographies1773 Words   |  8 PagesWas a Woman (collaboratively written by both Kirk M. Endicott and Karen L. Endicott) and Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa (written by Katherine A. Dettwyler) both have anthropological focuses on the cultures and practices of various tribes from different countries, however, their accounts and approaches in their situations differ greatly from one another. The former studies the ways of life of a certain people, while the later targets the health issues of anoth er. In The HeadmanRead MoreCultural Diversty within Healthcare1031 Words   |  5 Pagesworld can open up anybody’s eyes to see that culture makes a huge impact on the understanding and practices of healthcare that seem to be so common to other areas of the world. When a person lives in one country their whole life, that person may not realize how different the life they live is from someone in a foreign country. If a person is going to receive treatment from someone with a different cultural background, they should be expected to get treatment to respects their own culture. MassachusettsRead MoreThe Black Death : The Bubonic Plague Of The Thirteen Thousands Swept Through Europe Essay1298 Words   |  6 PagesTaylor Hurst Dr. Reedy College English 13 October 2016 The Black Death The bubonic plague of the thirteen hundreds swept through Europe, claiming the lives of one-third of its population in merely three years. This was the most horrific epidemic the world has seen to date. Poor sanitation practices, improper burial of corpses, and insufficient systems for waste removal were important factors in allowing the plague to manifest (Byrne 31). Infected fleas and rats, brought by trade ships and theRead MoreMandinka Empire21578 Words   |  87 PagesBound to Africa: the Mandinka Legacy in the New World Schaffer, Matt. History in Africa, Volume 32, 2005, pp. 321-369 (Article) Published by African Studies Association DOI: 10.1353/hia.2005.0021 For additional information about this article http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/hia/summary/v032/32.1schaffer.html Access Provided by your local institution at 03/10/13 1:43PM GMT BOUND TO AFRICA: THE MANDINKA LEGACY IN THE NEW WORLD MATT SCHAFFER I I offer here a theory of â€Å"cultural convergenceRead More The Facade of Civilization Explored in Heart of Darkness and Heart of the Matter2703 Words   |  11 Pagesconcentrates on a few main characters. Also the setting, though somewhat similar, is still quite distinguishable, allowing for the development of different themes; Conrads is set in a wild outpost deep in the center of Africa and Greenes occurs in a well-colonized port somewhere in West Africa. The natural forces of depravity are rampant, in fact infective, in the steamy, dense jungles in which Kurtz dwells. Scobie, on the other hand, is allowed a more physically peaceful existence, struggling not with