The International Childbirth Initiative: An Applied Anthropologist’s Account of Developing Global Guidelines

This chapter describes my personal experiences as an applied anthropologist serving as the lead editor in the development of a set of international guidelines focused on improving quality of maternity care: the International Childbirth Initiative (ICI): 12 Steps to Safe and Respectful MotherBaby-Family Maternity Care (2018). The ICI’s purpose is to encourage global awareness and local implementation of the MotherBaby-Family Model of Care. This is a model based on women’s rights and humane, respectful, family-centered care. The ICI’s creation story is continuous with global movements to improve the quality of maternity care and with a deep history of birth activism by practitioners, public health advocates, and social scientists aimed at decreasing unnecessary medical intervention in childbirth. This narrative is widely relevant for understanding how to develop and implement global guidelines that can flexibly adapt to local contexts. The ICI was developed by the merging of the 2015 FIGO Guidelines to Mother-Baby Friendly Birthing Facilities with the pre-existing International MotherBaby Childbirth Initiative (IMBCI) in an intense and rewarding group process. The chapter discusses factors that contributed to the successful development of clear global guidelines for high-quality maternity care. These include attention to process, alignment with key values of the women’s health and midwifery movements, multilevel collaboration and networking around a clear vision, garnering input from many people with diverse voices and perspectives, and patience with and commitment to the tasks at hand.

The Salt of the Earth (Inspired by Cherokee Creation Story)

In Cherokee tradition, Selu and her husband Kana’ti are the first inhabitants of the Appalachian territory. Their tale is used to explain the Cherokee way of life (gender roles, religious traditions, and humans’ relationship with nature). In this recasting of the Cherokee creation story, the author seeks to highlight the implications of modern injustices including sexism, environmental racism, and ecological destruction. The goal of this work is to express the ills of commodifying the human body, time, and natural resources and to promote a healthy relationship between humankind and the Earth.

implementasi peranan wanita dalam konteks gereja di toraja pada masa kini

Seeing from the creation story, it can be said that gender equality has been determined according to God's own standards "Genesis 1:26 God said: "Let us make humans..." This passage refers to the understanding that men and women have the same equality, even though they have fallen. into sin but humans are required to be in their place and role even though in today's practice there are still gender differences that occur. This paper focuses on the implementation of the role of women in the church and the role of women in the Bible by referring to the two women in the OT and NT.

Marriage and Silences

This chapter assesses Fawwaz’s writings on marriage, divorce, and family life, 1892‒1900. In stand-alone essays and a long-running debate with a customs official, published in the journal Fursat al-awqat, Fawwaz addressed the exploitation of late versions of Islamic fiqh (jurisprudence) and its hadith sources, and the fiction of the Islamic basis of extreme seclusion, as patriarchal mechanisms to keep women subordinate and unhappy in marriage. It assesses the reformist views of Muhammad ‘Abduh while arguing that Fawwaz focused less on legal change and more on the prevalence of misogynistic views in the marital relationship that maintained the hegemony of patriarchal social organization. In her debate with Husayn Fawzi, Fawwaz used logic, arguments from history, and knowledge of Islamic sources to reject his understanding of gender, based on his reading of the creation story, Qur’an, and hadith, and medieval marriage manuals. This debate centred on marriage but went beyond it to explore Islamic understandings of gender difference.

‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’: What do science and faith have to do with youth ministry?

Dating back to medieval times, and some would contend even ancient biblical times, scholars of the faith have made significant contributions to scientific discovery. Theology was considered foundational to the understanding of our natural world, and possibly the motivation for scientific enquiry. No tension existed between observation and study of the natural world and faith. In modern times the rift between science and faith, from a conservative evangelical perspective, has been ever-widening with both sides viewing the other with growing suspicion. This article reflected on the impact that this approach to science and faith has had on the faith formation of youth raised within evangelical faith communities. It investigated how conservative evangelical teachings concerning the creation story has hindered the faith formation of youth in this context. We connected this tension between science and faith as we considered connections to environmental justice as it related to youth in marginalised communities in South Africa. This article served as an introductory exploration of why we believe young people are not engaging with environmental issues.Contribution: As part of the special edition on youth, faith and climate change, this article reflects on the impact that the conflicted evangelical approaches to science and faith have on the faith formation of youth raised within evangelical faith communities. It investigates how fundamentalistic evangelical teachings concerning the creation story has hindered the faith formation of youth in this context. Within the context of environmental justice and inequality, this article highlights the need for church engagement on issues related to these conflicted approaches, its effect on how youth engage on issues affecting their environments, and youth ministry practice within evangelical churches.

Ohén:ton Karihwatéhkwen and Kanien’kehá:ka Teachings of Gratitude and Connection

This article stems from a conversation with Otsi’tsakén:ra Charlie Patton that took place on Mohawk/Kanien’kehá:ka territory in Southern Turtle Island (Also known as Quebec, Canada) Otsi: tsaken’ra is a Kanien’kehá:ka who teaches the importance of harvest and the inter-relational connection that human beings have with what they harvest. His teachings begin with the Ohén:ton Karihwatéhkwen (Also known as the Thanksgiving address, greetings, or opening prayer), an opening address, which invites all who partake to be “of one mind”. The Ohén:ton Karihwatéhkwen embodies the importance of storytelling, the Creation story, harvest teachings, and cultural continuity, which are all important teachings that are necessary for Onkwehónwe (The Original People) to begin healing from the effects of colonialism, cultural and linguistic disconnection, state-imposed violence, and racism.

Berossus and the Creation Story

This article investigates the fragments of the Babyloniaca of Berossus on creation. The following aspects are considered: the narrative structure of the book and how the account of creation is introduced, with broader implications for the cultural claims of Berossus and his peers; the relation between Berossus and previous Mesopotamian traditions, mainly the Babylonian Epic of Creation (Enuma elish), as well as possible evidence of Greek influence; and finally the view of human nature which is implicit in his account of the creation of humankind, notably the elimination of female agency and how his narrative relates to theories of human generation and the body that were current among the Babylonians, the Greeks, and the Egyptians.