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Letters Of The Bush: A Case Study Of Traditional Setswana Herbal Medicine, Kristen Danley

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Traditional medicinal techniques in southern Africa are under-studied, but they continue to play an important role in many people’s lives. In addition to its anthropological value, traditional medicine also has the potential to lead to new treatments for diseases. This study proposed to document the plants and methods used by a traditional healer in the village of Goo-Tau, Tswapong Hills region, Central District, Botswana.

The study was conducted over a period of three weeks through a series of interviews. Samples were collected of selected plant species. Plants were identified both during and after the study through field guides and consultation …

La Medicina Mapuche: Cosmovisión E Identidad, Pérdida Y Recuperación, Claudia Grace Lesser

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Perceptions of health and illness vary depending on culture, tradition, history, ethnicity and identity. As cultures change and construct their stories, the practices and belief systems surrounding health also shift, develop and are expressed in different ways. With these patterns in mind, the purpose of this essay is to examine the traditional medicine of the Mapuche people of southern Argentina and focus on how aspects of this medicine have been lost, re-shaped, sustained and recuperated. The role that traditional medicine plays in the lives of Mapuches today in the context of modern medicine is explored specifically through practices surrounding maternity …

The Missing Piece: Understanding Nairobi’S Traditional Medical Practitioners, Mufaddal Dahodwala

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Currently, there is a problem of access to biomedical health services to large portions of Nairobi’s population. Traditional herbal medicine has long been practiced in Kenya, and though studies have shown that traditional medicine has been effective against certain acute and chronic illnesses, it has been marginalized in the health service sector. By integrating traditional medicine into mainstream healthcare, a larger proportion of the Kenyan population will be able achieve access to adequate health services. However, there has not been enough discussion about traditional medicine from a holistic point of view. Without adequate discussion, traditional medicine will remain in the …

Dai Medicine: Preservation Of And Changes In Ancient Healing Practices, Geoffroy Fauchet

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This independent study project discusses the general concept and theories of Dai medicine and focuses on the conservation of and transformation that both, the traditional and modern Dai medical system have undergone over time.

Embracing The Demons Within: Spiritual Possession And Mental Health Support In Madagascar, Thomas Cody Swift

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Possession, and the systems of mental health support existing under the same spiritual paradigm, inherently address and serve to instigate a change in the entirety of one’s life. The two traditional systems of mental health support in Madagascar, tromba spirit healers and Protestent exorcisms, appear to differ in doctine and tradition and have been proposed to be fundementally incompatible because of “conflicting or alternative epistemological realities” (Sharp, 525). The goals of this research, however, will be to identify the contextual and functional trends of the two systems that exist to support and ameliorate the mental health of the Malagasy people. …

Malaria Prevention And Treatment In The Province Of Toliara, Madagascar: A Socioeconomic And Cultural Perspective Of Supermoustiquaire Use And Healing, Lily Conover

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

To preface my intentions, I never find myself viewing this place passively; I cannot help but be constantly attuned to the small struggles, conflicts, and successes that take place on a minute by minute basis as I roll through a village in a taxi-brousse or fly over the countryside in an airplane. I chose to study malaria in south-eastern Madagascar not only because it may have chosen me first, but because it is one of those continual struggles that is taking place between a plasmodium and red blood cells, families, communities, cultures, ethnicities, economic sectors, governmental agencies, and non-governmental organizations …