scholarly journals Examining the current value of indigenous plant material culture in Limpopo Province, South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 790-797
Author(s):  
Sejabaledi A. Rankoana
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Plant Material ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Cultural Significance ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
House Construction ◽  
Indigenous Plant ◽  
Current Value ◽  
Production Preparation ◽  
And Storage

Indigenous plant-derived material culture dominates many of the tools and utensils manufactured and used by communities that depended on the natural resources for their livelihoods. Endemic plants provide humans with essential materials for construction purposes and for the design of household utensils. The goal of this study was to describe the current value of indigenous plant material culture. Semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 127 respondents provide 13 native plants as sources of fibre, timber, culms, oil and dye used to make household utensils, huts, brooms, mats and baskets. The cultural significance of these materials includes the production, preparation, serving and storage of food; house construction; protection of courtyards; and cleaning. These materials are still valued in the culture of the studied community, and represent the tangible heritage of the community.

“My Roommates Would Laugh at me”: Young Males Reveal Embarrassment over Lack of Food Skills

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Kristen Simonds ◽  
Lucy Yixuan Zhang ◽  
June I. Matthews
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Food Safety ◽  
Parental Influence ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Food Selection ◽  
Young Men ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Young Males ◽  
Solid Foundation ◽  
And Storage

Purpose: This descriptive qualitative study explored young males’ perceptions of food skills in 3 domains: food selection and planning, food preparation, and food safety and storage. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method. Results: Forty-four young men (aged 17–35) reported varying levels of food skills, from little/no confidence to very confident and skilled. Most participants learned food skills from their mothers. Greater involvement in food selection and planning at a young age appeared to be related to parental influence and encouragement, exposure to food skills at school, and interest in food-related activities, which, in turn, provided a solid foundation for being confident cooks as young adults. Most notable was the lack of knowledge about, or confidence in, food safety and storage. Young men with low self-perceived food skills were deeply embarrassed about this deficiency in front of peers who had higher levels of confidence and skills. Conclusions: Future interventions or curricula should emphasize food safety and storage. This research also illustrates the importance of the home environment in teaching food skills to youth and ensuring that food skills are taught well before young adults begin living independently.

Materialities of Political Commitment?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Fearn
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Lyric Poetry ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Commitment ◽  
Cultural Significance ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives

Eschewing historicist certainties, this chapter reassesses the political salience of Alcaeus’ lyric poetry by investigating his literary contribution to sympotic culture. Placing Alcaeus’ politically engaged voices within recent theoretical perspectives on deixis, ecphrasis, and the distinctiveness of lyric as a literary mode, the chapter argues that Alcaeus makes a systematic issue of the question of the accessibility of the contexts gestured towards, and in so doing opens up as an alluring prospect the idea of political engagement through literature. The literary and cultural significance of proverbial statements in Alcaeus is also discussed. Alcaeus’ lyric claims are felt across time and space via their special foregrounding of both material culture and political engagement, through performance and reception.

scholarly journals Efficiency of Health Care Risk Waste Management in Rural Healthcare Facilities of South Africa: An Assessment of Selected Facilities in Vhembe District, Limpopo Province

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. 2199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Foluke C. Olaniyi ◽  
Jason S. Ogola ◽  
Takalani G. Tshitangano
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Healthcare Facility ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Healthcare Facilities ◽  
The Public ◽  
Efficient Management ◽  
The Social ◽  
Vhembe District ◽  
And Storage

Waste generated form healthcare facilities is a potential source of health risks to the public, if it is not properly handled from the point of generation to disposal. This study was conducted to assess the efficiency of healthcare risk waste (HCRW) management in Vhembe District of Limpopo Province, South Africa. Fifteen healthcare facilities were selected in Vhembe District for this study. Data were obtained through in-depth interviews, semi-structured questionnaires, observation and pictures. Qualitative data were thematically analyzed, while the quantitative data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 25. In all the healthcare facilities; mismanagement of HCRW was noted at different points along the management chain. Poor segregation, overfilling of waste bins, inappropriate transportation and storage of waste in substandard storage rooms were observed in the facilities. All the waste from the district are transported to a private-owned treatment facility outside the district, where they are mainly incinerated. Enforcement of healthcare risk waste guidelines, provision of standardized equipment for temporary storage, empowerment of each healthcare facility to treat at least some of the waste, and employment of non-burn techniques for treatment of waste are recommended for more efficient management of healthcare risk waste in Vhembe District.

scholarly journals THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE IN PRESERVING UNIVERSITAS INDONESIA LIBRARY’S MANUSCRIPTS

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Deka Anggawira ◽  
Tamara Adriani Salim
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Direct Observation ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Storage Process ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Traditional Approaches ◽  
Maintenance Process ◽  
And Storage ◽  
Collection Methods

This study discusses the implementation of local wisdom in the preservation of manuscripts at Universitas Indonesia’s library. The purpose of this study is to identify the implementation of local wisdom in the preservation of manuscripts in that library. This research uses a qualitative approach coupled with direct observation and structured interviews as data collection methods. The results of this study indicate that Universitas Indonesia Library has implemented local wisdom in preserving manuscripts. This can be seen from the use of local wisdom in the storage process, including the design of the rooms and storage facilities and the pattern of behavior in its storage process. The maintenance process of local wisdom includes the control of the environment using traditional approaches and the use of traditional materials in the maintenance of manuscripts. Another finding is that the process of capturing or inheriting knowledge from a previous manuscript is based on the manpower manifested in its preservation behavior. Therefore, it can be understood that the implementation of local wisdom in the process of preservation of manuscripts in UI Library is based on the preservation of knowledge from previous manuscript managers or librarians.

scholarly journals A sociological study of children with albinism at a special school in the Limpopo province

Curationis ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
R.J. Gaigher ◽  
P.M. Lund ◽  
E. Makuya
Keyword(s):  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Medical Intervention ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Special School ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Sociological Study ◽  
Social Construct ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
Physical Environments ◽  
The Social

This article maintains that it is the social context, as much as, and sometimes more than the physical condition, that largely structures and limits the lives of people with albinism. It deals with albinism from a sociological, rather than a medical perspective. Viewed as such the problems experiencing by affected people stem primarily not from their physical differences but from the way others respond to those differences and from the social and physical environments they have to cope with. The article is based on a study of 32 children with albinism from a special school in the Limpopo province. Educational, health and social problems, attitudes and perceptions about albinism were tested by way of structured interviews. The data reveal an acute lack of information about the causes and consequences of albinism. It projects it as a condition still deeply immersed in myths and superstition resulting in the stigmatising and rejection of affected people. It also discloses a physical environment which is preventing rather than supporting people with albinism from reaching their potential. It calls for a reorientation in dealing with albinism -away from just medical intervention to treating it as a social construct requiring a holistic approach.

scholarly journals Socio-Economic Benefits Stemming from Bush Clearing and Restoration Projects Conducted in the D’Nyala Nature Reserve and Shongoane Village, Lephalale, South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 5133
Author(s):  
Tshepiso Mangani ◽  
Hendri Coetzee ◽  
Klaus Kellner ◽  
George Chirima
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Nature Reserve ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Indirect Benefit ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Similar Nature ◽  
Thematic Content Analysis ◽  
Grazing Capacity

This study aimed to investigate the socio-economic benefits stemming from bush clearing and restoration projects conducted in the Lephalale municipality, within the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The study was conducted at two sites: the D’Nyala Nature Reserve and a nearby local village, Shongoane. A qualitative thematic content analysis approach and semi-structured interviews were used to gather data from 14 purposively selected participants between the ages of 22 and 55 (male = 9 and female = 5). The results indicated that the nature reserve benefited from the project via the improved visibility of the landscape features and game viewing, which made the reserve more attractive for tourists and resulted in increased revenue. The costs of buying feed for game could also be curbed since the grazing capacity increased. Since the nature reserve sourced temporary labour from the local village to execute the project, the community benefited in terms of members being able to earn a wage, which led to an improvement in their livelihoods. Another indirect benefit was the morale and behavioural changes observed amongst community members. It was obvious that the socio-economic benefits derived from projects such as these far outweigh the negatives and that there is every reason to institute projects of a similar nature elsewhere.

scholarly journals From Smokebush to Spinifex: Indigenous traditional knowledge and the commercialisation of plants

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terri Janke
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Plant Material ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Shared Understanding ◽  
Plant Knowledge ◽  
Australian Plant ◽  
Culturally Based ◽  
Indigenous Plant

Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, have diverse relationships with plants and their seeds. This cultural knowledge has been passed on through the generations, creating a deep history that has produced sophisticated fields of knowledge intimately linked to both diverse cultural geographies and the natural environment across the country. Western scientific, government and private sector commercial institutions have been collecting Australian plant material for over 200 years. Sometimes, such ‘collectors’ obtain the Indigenous knowledge simultaneously with the plant material. On occasions, the culturally-based Indigenous ownership of that knowledge is acknowledged by collectors. However in the majority of instances that has not been the case. Furthermore, different western institutions take different approaches to the collection, management and use of Australian plant material and associated Indigenous plant knowledge. A particular challenge in this arena is the lack of any shared understanding of Indigenous knowledge and intellectual property issues that are involved, and how those might best be addressed. But there is a gathering momentum, from diverse quarters, to face such challenges. This paper aims to contribute to consideration of the issues involved in order to promote more robust inclusion of Indigenous rights, interests and concerns.

scholarly journals The complexity of food for people with multiple long-term health conditions

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Francis ◽  
Jenny Carryer ◽  
Jill Wilkinson
Keyword(s):  
Health Conditions ◽  
Self Management ◽  
Management Support ◽  
Cultural Significance ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Qualitative Case Studies ◽  
Clinical Encounters ◽  
Nutritional Advice ◽  
Primary Care Clinicians

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION The prevalence of long-term health conditions (LTCs) continues to increase and it is normal for people to have several. Lifestyle is a core feature of the self-management support given to people with LTCs, yet it seems to fail to meet their needs. From a larger study exploring the experiences of this group, this paper reports on the role of food and mealtimes, and the effect of the nutritional advice on the lives of people with several LTCs. METHODS The experiences of 16 people with several advanced LTCs were explored using multiple qualitative case studies. Over an 18-month period, contact with participants included monthly conversations, two longer, semi-structured interviews and one interview with their primary care clinicians. The data were analysed inductively using thematic analysis. RESULTS There was profound social, psychological and cultural significance of food to the participants. These aspects of food were then described using the Whare Tapa Wha model of health. The approach to food and nutrition participants experienced in health care was closely associated with conventional weight management. They found this advice largely irrelevant and therefore ineffective. DISCUSSION The pressure people with several LTCs experience during clinical encounters has perverse effects on wellbeing and reinforces an overall sense of failure. This research challenges the assumption that all people have the will, agency and income to follow the advice they receive about nutrition and exercise. Considering people’s needs using the Whare Tapa Wha model of health offers clinicians a framework to re-conceptualise the core features of self-management support and provide realistic, compassionate care that will optimise the quality of life for people with multiple LTCs.

scholarly journals Retail Sugar From One Zambian Community Does Not Meet Statutory Requirements for Vitamin A Fortification

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 594-598 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew D. Greene ◽  
Gladys Kabaghe ◽  
Mofu Musonda ◽  
Amanda C. Palmer
Keyword(s):  
Vitamin A ◽  
Marked Improvement ◽  
Storage Conditions ◽  
Food Fortification ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Fortified Foods ◽  
Vitamin A Status ◽  
Statutory Requirement ◽  
Monitoring And Enforcement ◽  
And Storage

Background: Industrial food fortification is a major strategy to improve dietary micronutrient intakes and prevent deficiencies. Zambia introduced mandatory sugar fortification with vitamin A, at a target of 10 mg/kg, in 1998. Representative surveys conducted since that time do not support marked improvement in vitamin A status. Objective: To describe vitamin A concentrations in retail sugar, as well as vendor practices, perceptions of fortified foods, and sugar use practices. Methods: We conducted a census of sugar vendors in one Zambian community, capturing information on vendors, available brands and packaging options, and storage conditions. We purchased all brands and package types of sugar available at each vendor. In a 15% subsample, we conducted semi-structured interviews with vendor–consumer pairs. We tested 50% of sugar samples at random for vitamin A using an iCheck portable fluorimeter. Results: The distribution of vitamin A in sugar in market samples was highly skewed, with a median of 3.1 mg/kg (25th-75th percentiles: 1.8-5.5) and a range from 0.2 to 29.9 mg/kg. Only 11.3% of samples met the 10 mg/kg statutory requirement. Sugar was primarily repackaged and sold in small quantities, with rapid turnover of stocks. Perceptions of fortification by vendors and consumers were generally positive. Conclusions: Vitamin A in fortified sugar fell well below statutory requirements. Our data point to challenges at regional depot and/or poor adherence to fortification standards at the factory level. A renewed commitment to monitoring and enforcement will be required for Zambia to benefit from a food fortification strategy.

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