In the Shade of an Acacia Tree: Memoirs of a Health Officer in Africa, 1945-1959When Frank Lambrecht arrived in Africa in 1945 he came with a 3 years' contract with the Congo Red Cross. What he found in the Belgian Congo was an old colonial system steeped in its traditions right down to the garb colonials wore & the separate class structure for Europeans & natives. When he left 14 years later Africa was on the verge of divesting itself of foreign rule & influence. Lambrecht's story is of the beauty of Africa & its people as well as a description of the many diseases that decimated its populations. His responsibility in the beginning, with a diploma in tropical medicine, was to care for the lepers. But it was on the tsetse fly that Lambrecht concentrated most of his research. The book describes his attempts to capture tsetse fly species & then to train his native staff to help him in his research. A fascinating glimpse into the earlier stages of public health in the 20th century, through the diaries & letters of a dedicated medical scientist. Illustrations. |
Common terms and phrases
Abiengama acacia Africa afternoon animals arrived Astrida banana Basiani Belgian blood smears Bugesera Bukavu camp canoe colonial Congo Congo River dark director disease Dora drive drum feet felt fly-boys fly-rounds Gabiro Glossina gorilla grass hill hunting infection inside Irangi IRSAC Jessie Kagera Kagera River king laboratory Lake Kivu Lake Tanganyika Lambrecht land Land Rover later leave leper living looked lorry Lwiro MaBudu malaria managed Mangbetu miles monkeys morning mosquito Mosso mountain Mutara Mutima Nepoko night officer parasites Pawa rain forest reached Red Cross region river road Ruanda Ruanda-Urundi Ruzizi safari savanna seemed Shinyanga shot side sleeping sickness soon species Stanleyville started station stop Tanganyika termite tion tree tropical trunk trypanosomes tsetse flies Uganda Uvira valley vegetation vehicle village walk week Zaghi
Popular passages
Page 262 - ... so I walked round their little houses, but everything was right — nothing had gone outside through the walls. In order to make sure, I came again to the door, and shouted, "Nobody here?" The same silence. I lay flat on the ground, put my head inside of the door, and again shouted, "Nobody here?" It was so dark inside that, coming from the light, I could not see, so I extended my arm in order to feel if there was any one within. Sweeping my arm from left to right, at first I touched an empty...
Page 262 - Yes, Oguizi, this is so," replied the porters. "Look for yourself';" and they pointed to the huts. "Is it possible," I asked myself, "that there are people so small that they can live in such small buildings as those before me ?" How strange the houses of the Dwarfs seemed ! The length of each house was about that of a man, and the height was just enough to keep the head of a man from touching the roof when he
Page 165 - IRSAC Institut pour la Recherche Scientifique en Afrique Centrale (Institute for Scientific Research in Central Africa), Belgian Congo.
Page 23 - Stanleyville was marked out on the right bank of the river, a few miles below the last cataract.
Page 31 - This is a weapon of command and distinction. The king upon sitting down places it on a stool close by, and waves it when he is gesticulating during a long speech. It is astonishing to see how ambitious...
Page i - In the Shade of an Acacia Tree: Memoirs of a Health Officer in Africa, 1945-1959.
Page 262 - ... building were the branches of trees bent in the form of a bow, the ends put into the ground and the middle branches being the highest. The shape of each house was very much like that of an orange cut in two. The framework was covered with large leaves, and there were little doors, which did not seem to be more than eighteen inches high, and about twelve or fifteen inches broad. Even the dwarfs must have lain almost flat on the floor in order to pass through.
Page 311 - With sunset near, the gorilla decided that the performance was over and it was time to go back to the family for the evening meal.
Page 258 - After the fire went out, the temperature dropped to that of the outside, close to freezing point no doubt, the thin aluminum plates having no insulation value whatsoever.
References to this book
A Colonial Lexicon: Of Birth Ritual, Medicalization, and Mobility in the Congo Nancy Rose Hunt No preview available - 1999 |