John Tyman's Cultures in Context Series Torembi and the Sepik A Study of Village Life in New Guinea |
|
Topic No. 13: Family Life and Health ~ Photos 221 - 237 |
|
John Tyman's Cultures in Context Series Torembi and the Sepik A Study of Village Life in New Guinea |
|
Topic No. 13: Family Life and Health ~ Photos 221 - 237 |
 |
| 221. If you lived in Torembi in the old days you would not only be part of an extended family, you might also have more than one mother. This man has 3 wives – but since it costs a lot to get married, most men today have only one wife. |
 |
| 222. You would also know how sad it feels to loose someone you love, since many children die young. These girls are cuddling the only boy in their family to survive. |
 |
| 223. The millions of mosquitoes that breed in the swamps carry malaria and are more deadly than crocodiles! |
 |
| 224. Almost everyone has malaria in Torembi. Grown-ups may be ill, off and on, for years before it kills them, but children with malaria often die at an early age. (Child resting.) |
 |
| 225. No one has glass or screens over their windows to keep out insects. The lucky ones curl up on the floor at night under a mosquito net; but many of these are old and too full of holes to offer much protection. (Net drying in the sun.) |
 |
| 226. The other health problem is the water supply. The effort made by one man to catch rainwater is interesting in itself but impractical overall. |
 |
| 227. Living in houses with thatched roofs and no gutters, people get water from the river; and this is risky simply because it has many uses. Children play in it, people wash in it (themselves, their clothes and their dishes,) and to dispose of their garbage people throw it in the river. |
 |
| 228. There are also a number of toilets dangerously close to its banks. The water is polluted, and people frequently get sick drinking it. (Haus pek pek) |
 |
| 229. In Torembi women do not give birth in a hospital, but at home. And as many as one in ten may die doing so. Their babies, too, often struggle to survive. I photographed this one the day after he was born. I was asked to name him and I called him David. |
 |
| 230. His mother lived in a small house next to ours, which she shared with a dog and a few chickens, her husband, and two other children, both girls. She had given birth to a boy a year or two earlier, but he had died as a baby; and David, too, died soon after I left. |
 |
| 231. The death of small children is so common here that if you ask a woman how many children she has, she will, as a matter of course, tell you first how many she has borne and then how many of these have died. She will not, however, speak the name of any dead person, young or old. (Anna with her surviving son.) |
 |
| 232. Baby clinics are held at the mission, twice a week now. Women carry their children there from Torembi 1, which is an hour’s walk, and from points even further away, over muddy paths and slippery bridges. |
 |
| 233. The 'haus sik', as they call it, is staffed by a trained nurse and an aide. They look after all sorts of medical problems – even sewing up wounds caused by bush knives and axes in tribal fights. |
 |
| 234. Twice a week, though, they concentrate on babies – weighing them, to ensure that they are eating properly, and handing out medicines when appropriate. Malaria pills are of little use, however, since they must be taken at regular intervals – and people here frequently either forget or take them in batches. (Also see video extract number 35) |
 |
| 235. Babies in Torembi are breastfed, by the way. If they were bottle-fed many more would die. It would be impossible to keep the bottles clean, and they'd be covered with germs. Most mothers will in fact nurse their children for a couple of years. It’s a form of family planning, as it reduces, slightly, the chances of them getting pregnant. (This woman is almost blind, but she still collects sago and works in her husband's garden.) |
 |
| 236. This means that babies here stay in close contact with their mothers for a long time. They are carried around day after day, and few mothers bother with nappies. If the baby makes a mess on the floor, they simply wash it down with a bowl of water. |
 |
| 237. The struggle to survive in Torembi is such that there is little time or food for pets, but they may prove useful in the longer term. This boy’s pet pig will be eaten eventually. (Also see video extract 07 & 08) |
Text, photos and recordings
by John Tyman
Intended for Educational Use
Only.
Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum,
Oxford University, 2010.
Contact Dr.
John Tyman for more information regarding licensing.
Photo processing, Web page layout,
formatting, and complementary research by
William Hillman ~ Brandon, Manitoba
~ Canada
www.hillmanweb.com