LACTNET Archives

Lactation Information and Discussion

LACTNET@COMMUNITY.LSOFT.COM

Options: Use Forum View

Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
"Shealy, Katherine" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 21 May 2004 09:25:34 -0400
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (148 lines)
Those of you who were able to find the link for the Chicago Tribune
article on strollers in Kenya might be very interested to see the
editorial decision that was made by the Trib when they printed the
Washington Post article.  Here's the full Washington Post article, note
the end of the article, which was left off the Trib version.

Katherine Shealy
----------------
An Idea Still Looking for Traction in Kenya 
East African Women Vote With Their Feet Against Baby Strollers 

By Emily Wax
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, May 18, 2004; Page A08 

NAIROBI, Kenya -- Irene Wambui can't imagine why anyone would buy a baby
stroller. She says she sees it as a cold cage filled with useless
rattles, cup holders and mirrored headlights. Imagine children being
stuffed into such a contraption and pushed around town like some kind of
pet.

Yet here she is in the middle-class Westlands shopping district, trying
to sell her store's newest merchandise, the four-wheeled plastic and
metal tool of modern motherhood. But so far, strollers have been a flop
in Nairobi, an affront to a time-honored tradition.

Across Africa, women can be seen carrying sleeping or sometimes giggly
babies on their backs, swathed in cloth. The babies move to the sway of
their mothers' hips, synchronized throughout the day, bending with them
as they collect water or sweep the floor and rising again when the women
stop to rest. They hang on as their mothers sell food in the market or
pray at a church or mosque.

The introduction of strollers and baby carriages, both known here by the
British word "pram", horrifies traditionalists, even someone such as
Wambui, who sells them. The stroller is appearing in major cities around
Africa, but so far has not been a hit.

"It's not so wonderful. In Africa, we just carry our children or let
them roam. They can't sit like lumps," said Wambui, 24. "Besides our
roads aren't even good enough for these devices. If everyone had a pram
it would cause jam-ups in traffic. Then we would be bad to our children
and bad to our roads."

Irene's boss and manager, Zara Esmail, was pacing back in forth in front
of the strollers one recent day. She said the store had sold only one
baby stroller in two months, and that was to a visiting U.N. worker from
Britain, who complained later that she had been disappointed by the
small selection.

"In general, I thought they would sell far better," Esmail said.
Perhaps, she added, it's a question of directing more advertising toward
middle-class, working moms. "We thought these modern ones would be a
hit."

The stroller has sparked debate among African pediatricians who think
the device -- first crafted as a labor-saving tool for the European
middle class -- may damage the relationship between a mother and a
child.

"The pram is the ultimate in pushing the baby away from you," said Frank
Njenga, a child psychiatrist in Nairobi, Kenya's bustling capital. "The
baby on the back is actually following the mother in warmth and comfort.
The baby feels safer, and safer people are happier people."

In the United States and Europe, strollers have long been controversial.
Recently, some doctors and child psychologists have blamed them for
everything from pediatric obesity to low self-esteem later in life.

Jane Clark, professor of kinesiology at the University of Maryland, said
there is concern that Americans are overusing strollers for older
children, causing toddlers to be less physically active. A growing
movement among child advocates promotes the idea of carrying babies more
and getting them out of their strollers. 

At the same time, Web sites and magazines in the United States and
Europe dedicate a lot of space to the subject of choosing a style of
stroller or carriage -- front-to-back or side-by-side, a jogger or a
sleeper, with or without a lightweight titanium frame, pneumatic tires,
rear suspension, mud flaps and/or battery-operated blinkers. Some
European-made antique carriages are status symbols for celebrities such
as Madonna and Celine Dion, who spent $2,600 on the classic Balmoral
Pram, described by some Web reviewers as a tiny Humvee.

Africans consider the traditional method of toting their children the
only true version of day care. When it's time for feeding, the food is
right there as a mother shifts her child to the front of her body,
nestling the infant to her breast. The baby stroller could change all of
that. But many people here said they thought the devices would be just
another instance of Africans adopting the worst habits of
industrialization.

"There are customs from a hundred years ago that are not relevant today
for Africans. Our challenge is to pick the good from the bad," said
Carol Mandi, managing editor of EVE, an East African women's magazine.
"But carrying on your back, well, that is just a wonderful custom that
keeps the baby emotionally stable and lets the mother feel bonded. We
can't stop being African women just because we are suddenly thrust into
the modern world. What next? They will tell us to stop breast feeding in
public? No way."

Some women in Africa at first apparently hoped the stroller could help
reduce the physical exhaustion suffered by mothers, the backbone of
Africa's labor force in both domestic duties and small-scale businesses.

But because the pram is not only socially unacceptable but expensive,
merchants are finding they aren't selling. The average pram, though far
cheaper than some car-like U.S. models, still hovers around $60, at
least half a month's wages even in Africa's most successful urban
economies.

At the baby store in Nairobi where Wambui works, dusty models sat
untouched.

"We've never used a pram. They are a bit pricey," said Nellie Mwanzia,
who was shopping nearby while her husband, Roy, carried their
20-month-old son, David. "Just carrying the baby is no bother. It's more
personal."

Mary Mwanzia, 32, a mother and part-time government secretary, popped
into the store to buy baby bottles. Esmail corralled her potential buyer
over to the strollers. But Mwanzia, even with her modern job and her
braided red hair extensions and bell-bottom jeans, found the baby
buggies "oppressive."

Esmail suggested a test drive. Mwanzia was not having it.

"It's just not Kenyan," she said. "For the child, the love will not be
there if the child is cooped up in such an antisocial device." She
purchased her bottles and left.

Special Correspondent Candice Miranda contributed to this report. 

(c) 2004 The Washington Post Company


             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

ATOM RSS1 RSS2