Thesis (Ph.D. (Psychology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / After the World Health Organization (WHO) declared 2010 a decade of indigenous knowledge systems, there has been an increase in the studies on the role of African traditional healers in describing mental illness and its treatment. Studies have pointed to the relevance of traditional healing in primary health care in many developing countries. The aim of the present study was to explore the conceptualisation and treatment of mental illness by Zezuru Shona traditional healers in Goromonzi District in Zimbabwe. A qualitative research design, and in particular, the phenomenological method was used in the present study. Ten Shona traditional healers were selected through purposive and snowball sampling and requested to participate in the study. Data was collected through in-depth interviews and analysed using Hycner’s phenomenological explicitation process. Five major themes related to the traiditonal healers’ conceptualisation on mental illness were identified. These are: a). Types/characteristics of mental illness; b). Causes of mental illness; c). Diagnosis and treatment of mental illness; d). Challenges faced by traditional healers; and, e). Facilitating factors in the work of traditional healers. The study further revealed that there are a number of illnesses that are are not mental illness but could be closely associated with mental illness. These are epilepsy (pfari), locking (kusungwa) and sexual dysfunctions. Culture was found to play a central role in the traditional healers’ conceptualisation and treatment of mental illness. In this regard, spirituality was found to be a critical factor in the work of traditional healers in diagnosing, interpreting, treating and preventing mental illness and the associated conditions of ill health. These results were discussed in the context of indigenous knowledge systems and mental illness. The study is concluded by recommending the need to have a holistic understanding of mental illness and associated conditions.

The registered midwives are engaged in continuous health education lessons In antenatal visits, discouraging antenatal clients from using hannful traditional and cultural practices in an attempt to preserve pregnancy to tenn. Despite the registered midwives' efforts, the clients continue to use hannful cultural methods, which are life-threatening to both the mother and the foetus In utero. The prenatal clients perceive the registered midwives as not being sensitive to their culture. The results of this study revealed that health education in antenatal clinics should be collaborative: that is, the people who have influence over the clients' pregnancy, like me mother-in-law, the traditional practitioners, cUents and their family members, should be involved by the midwives during the preparation of pregnancy lessons and health education lessons on how to preserve pregnancy to term according to· scientifically proven methods. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

The registered midwives are engaged in continuous health education lessons In antenatal visits, discouraging antenatal clients from using hannful traditional and cultural practices in an attempt to preserve pregnancy to tenn. Despite the registered midwives' efforts, the clients continue to use hannful cultural methods, which are life-threatening to both the mother and the foetus In utero. The prenatal clients perceive the registered midwives as not being sensitive to their culture. The results of this study revealed that health education in antenatal clinics should be collaborative: that is, the people who have influence over the clients' pregnancy, like me mother-in-law, the traditional practitioners, cUents and their family members, should be involved by the midwives during the preparation of pregnancy lessons and health education lessons on how to preserve pregnancy to term according to· scientifically proven methods. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

The study sets to establish trends with regard to the role of the praise singer, the changes with regard to the traditional praise singer's rendition/performance and the material or content of his/her poetry. Thus the study highlights the distinction observed between the praise singer of the past and the present praise singer. The study also shows that the praise singer's performance, in terms of his/her role and content, is in the state of flux. The study also demonstrates that the singer of the past and the present praise singer have the same role and their chants or poetry or songs have the same effect. It also highlights situations where praises are chanted in modern times. These are graduation ceremonies, weddings, political gatherings and traditional ceremonies, for example, the annual rain making ceremonies. These events or occasions are inextricably linked to traditional praises. The study also highlights the fact that traditional praises present the history and heroic deeds of members of the clan to which the beneficiary belongs. They also express the deep feeling of royalty and loyalty. Like in the past they boost morale. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

Traditionally, Sceletium tortuosum has been used as a medicine and for social and spiritual purposes. The genus is distributed in the south-western parts of South Africa. This project phytochemically analysed and characterised Sceletium plant extracts and determined if any extract showed anti-malarial properties. Extracts were prepared in ethanol and methanol and various compounds were purified using column chromatography with hexane and ethyl acetate as mobile phase. The structure of isolated compounds, including mesembrine, pinitol, sucrose, mesembrenone and obtusalin, was confirmed using NMR. The Plasmodium Lactate dehydrogenase assay was used to screen all extracts and mesembrine to show that four extracts showed antimalarial activity with activity values ranging between 1.47 μg/ml and 7.32 μg/ml, well below the 10 μg/ml cut off value. The study recommends extracting compounds from fresh plant material and further research as to anti-malarial activity of compounds isolated from Sceletium tortuosum / Life and Consumer Sciences / M. Sc. (Life Sciences)

Os estuários são áreas de alta produtividade biológica. O estuário da Lagoa dos Patos constitui a área de criação, reprodução e alimentação de grande parte dos peixes que ocorrem no litoral sul do Brasil. A maior enseada rasa da zona estuarina é o Saco do Arraial, com hidrodinâmica singular, e palco de atuação pré-histórica de populações tradicionais na pesca. Atualmente, diversas comunidades de pesca atuam nesta enseada com explotação de peixe-rei (Odontesthes argentinensis), de siri (Callinectes sapidus), de tainha (Mugil sp) e, sobretudo, de camarão (Farfantepenaeus paulensis). Entre estas comunidades está a Coréia, situada na Ilha dos Marinheiros, segundo Distrito da cidade de Rio Grande. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo descrever o território de uma comunidade de pesca, a Coréia (Ilha dos Marinheiros RS), através de uma perspectiva etnooceanográfica. A perspectiva do território como conhecimento, não apenas o espaço, mas também o tempo é passível de ser apropriado constituindo os sinais de memória. Para atingir tais objetivos, um aparato metodológico, advindo das etnociências, foi utilizado: mapas cognitivo e vernacular, entrevistas abertas e semi-estruturadas, a técnica da turnê e a observação participante. As técnicas de coletas de dados foram utilizadas de forma a descrever o conhecimento das principais forçantes ambientais que conduzem a apropriação territorial em duas escalas: o território grupal e os pesqueiros. Os dados obtidos evidenciaram que as fronteiras territoriais são também limites do conhecimento ecológico tradicional e que três cenários ecológicos interanuais de tomadas de decisão, mediadas pelas técnicas de pesca, são construídos com base na interface de três principais forçantes ambientais percebidas: as chuvas, os ventos e o ciclo migratório das espécies. A partir da dinâmica estuarino-biológica construída (cenários), funda-se ou abole-se pesqueiros, bem como as relações sociais que deles emergem, o que confere flexibilidade às fronteiras do território grupal. / Estuaries are high biological productivity areas. The Patos Lagoon Estuary is the growth, reproduction and feeding area of the most of fish in southern coastline of Brazil. The biggest shallow cove in the estuary zone is Saco do Arraial, it has a particular hydrodynamic, besides, it has been a pre-historical setting of traditional fishing population. Nowadays, various fishing communities work in this cove exploting fishes (Odontesthes argentinensis and Mugil sp), the blue-crab (Callinectes sapidus) mainly the pink-shrimp (Farfantepenaeus paulensis). Among these communities is the Coréia, in Sailors Island, the second district of Rio Grande City. This paper aims to describe a fishing territory, the Coréia, from an ethnooceanographyc perspective. From the perspective of the territory as knowledge, not only space, but also time is apropriated; the later constituting memory signs. For these aims mental maps, open-ended and in-depth semi-structured interviewing, tour technique and participative research have been used. The data collection techniques were used in order to describe the knowledge from environmental forcings that defines territorial appropriation in two levels: communitarian and pesqueiros. The data showed that territorial lines are the limits of traditional ecological knowledge. Besides this, three inter annual ecological decision-making settings (decisions concerning fishing technique management) are built according to three environmental forcings (rains, winds and migratory cycle of fish) in relation to fishing technique management. From estuary-biological dynamic built (settings), reconstruct fishing places (pesqueiros) are established ou dismantled, as well as the social relations which arise from them. As a result, the borders of the group territory become flexible.

Herbal medicines remain integral part of indigenous health care system in Ghana. Most conventional health medicines are directly or indirectly derived from plants or herbs. Despite its significant role in modern medicine indigenous herbal practices has been on the low light for some time due to perceived antagonistic relationship that exists between practitioners of herbal medicine and their counterpart in the conventional system. Using an indigenous knowledge discursive framework, the thesis examined the relevance of herbal medicine to the contemporary Ghanaian society. The thesis also examined the tension between the indigenous herbal practitioners and their orthodox counterparts. The thesis noted that for health care system in Ghana to be effective, there is a need for collaborate relations between these two practitioners. Also, it was noted that for health care system to be effective in Ghana, spirituality has to be central in the works of the herbal practitioners.

Herbal medicines remain integral part of indigenous health care system in Ghana. Most conventional health medicines are directly or indirectly derived from plants or herbs. Despite its significant role in modern medicine indigenous herbal practices has been on the low light for some time due to perceived antagonistic relationship that exists between practitioners of herbal medicine and their counterpart in the conventional system. Using an indigenous knowledge discursive framework, the thesis examined the relevance of herbal medicine to the contemporary Ghanaian society. The thesis also examined the tension between the indigenous herbal practitioners and their orthodox counterparts. The thesis noted that for health care system in Ghana to be effective, there is a need for collaborate relations between these two practitioners. Also, it was noted that for health care system to be effective in Ghana, spirituality has to be central in the works of the herbal practitioners.

The study sets to establish trends with regard to the role of the praise singer, the changes with regard to the traditional praise singer's rendition/performance and the material or content of his/her poetry. Thus the study highlights the distinction observed between the praise singer of the past and the present praise singer. The study also shows that the praise singer's performance, in terms of his/her role and content, is in the state of flux. The study also demonstrates that the singer of the past and the present praise singer have the same role and their chants or poetry or songs have the same effect. It also highlights situations where praises are chanted in modern times. These are graduation ceremonies, weddings, political gatherings and traditional ceremonies, for example, the annual rain making ceremonies. These events or occasions are inextricably linked to traditional praises. The study also highlights the fact that traditional praises present the history and heroic deeds of members of the clan to which the beneficiary belongs. They also express the deep feeling of royalty and loyalty. Like in the past they boost morale. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

Os estuários são áreas de alta produtividade biológica. O estuário da Lagoa dos Patos constitui a área de criação, reprodução e alimentação de grande parte dos peixes que ocorrem no litoral sul do Brasil. A maior enseada rasa da zona estuarina é o Saco do Arraial, com hidrodinâmica singular, e palco de atuação pré-histórica de populações tradicionais na pesca. Atualmente, diversas comunidades de pesca atuam nesta enseada com explotação de peixe-rei (Odontesthes argentinensis), de siri (Callinectes sapidus), de tainha (Mugil sp) e, sobretudo, de camarão (Farfantepenaeus paulensis). Entre estas comunidades está a Coréia, situada na Ilha dos Marinheiros, segundo Distrito da cidade de Rio Grande. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo descrever o território de uma comunidade de pesca, a Coréia (Ilha dos Marinheiros RS), através de uma perspectiva etnooceanográfica. A perspectiva do território como conhecimento, não apenas o espaço, mas também o tempo é passível de ser apropriado constituindo os sinais de memória. Para atingir tais objetivos, um aparato metodológico, advindo das etnociências, foi utilizado: mapas cognitivo e vernacular, entrevistas abertas e semi-estruturadas, a técnica da turnê e a observação participante. As técnicas de coletas de dados foram utilizadas de forma a descrever o conhecimento das principais forçantes ambientais que conduzem a apropriação territorial em duas escalas: o território grupal e os pesqueiros. Os dados obtidos evidenciaram que as fronteiras territoriais são também limites do conhecimento ecológico tradicional e que três cenários ecológicos interanuais de tomadas de decisão, mediadas pelas técnicas de pesca, são construídos com base na interface de três principais forçantes ambientais percebidas: as chuvas, os ventos e o ciclo migratório das espécies. A partir da dinâmica estuarino-biológica construída (cenários), funda-se ou abole-se pesqueiros, bem como as relações sociais que deles emergem, o que confere flexibilidade às fronteiras do território grupal. / Estuaries are high biological productivity areas. The Patos Lagoon Estuary is the growth, reproduction and feeding area of the most of fish in southern coastline of Brazil. The biggest shallow cove in the estuary zone is Saco do Arraial, it has a particular hydrodynamic, besides, it has been a pre-historical setting of traditional fishing population. Nowadays, various fishing communities work in this cove exploting fishes (Odontesthes argentinensis and Mugil sp), the blue-crab (Callinectes sapidus) mainly the pink-shrimp (Farfantepenaeus paulensis). Among these communities is the Coréia, in Sailors Island, the second district of Rio Grande City. This paper aims to describe a fishing territory, the Coréia, from an ethnooceanographyc perspective. From the perspective of the territory as knowledge, not only space, but also time is apropriated; the later constituting memory signs. For these aims mental maps, open-ended and in-depth semi-structured interviewing, tour technique and participative research have been used. The data collection techniques were used in order to describe the knowledge from environmental forcings that defines territorial appropriation in two levels: communitarian and pesqueiros. The data showed that territorial lines are the limits of traditional ecological knowledge. Besides this, three inter annual ecological decision-making settings (decisions concerning fishing technique management) are built according to three environmental forcings (rains, winds and migratory cycle of fish) in relation to fishing technique management. From estuary-biological dynamic built (settings), reconstruct fishing places (pesqueiros) are established ou dismantled, as well as the social relations which arise from them. As a result, the borders of the group territory become flexible.