Venetian pearls and glass reached West Africa starting from the 13th century. Used to exchange men and goods, pearls have been linked to cults, initiation rituals and religious celebrations, such as weddings and funerals. In today's Africa, Venetian pearls continue their journey, maintaining the same value as in the past. In a qualitative and quantitative multidisciplinary study, which incorporates cultural anthropology, landscape archeology and historiography and gender perspective, we will analyze the journey of pearls and rituals between Venice, Ghana and Ethiopia. With in situ research, narrative journaling and interviews, material analysis, and journey mapping of the pearls, we will understand the transit of knowledge and new configurations in the world of technology along the Belt Road Initiative.

From 1921, medical missionaries, the colonial government, and Ugandan chiefs collaborated in the development of a network of maternal and child welfare centers meant to reduce infant and maternal mortality, though education and biomedical intervention. For many decades, these centers focused on antenatal and postnatal education, accepting and even relying on Ugandans’ inclination to deliver their children with indigenous midwives, now labeled “traditional birth attendants” (TBAs). Many TBAs and biomedically trained Ugandan midwives formed friendships, both recognizing that the other offered skills and perspectives critical to providing maternal healthcare.

As the scope of biomedicine increased from the 1950s, more punitive measures were introduced to discourage childbirth outside of hospitals. Even with its increased scope and familiarity, however, biomedicine couldn’t reach all women. Recognizing that many women were either unable or unwilling to give birth in biomedical facilities, in the 1970s global health organizations and NGO professionals began turning to indigenous midwives as potentially life-saving medical professionals. Slowly individuals and organizations began to institute programs for the training and support of “traditional birth attendants” (TBAs). For decades these programs flourished, with many positive results, until the Ugandan government outlawed childbirth with TBAs in 2010.

Drawing on interviews with TBAs, midwives, and nurses, and archives in Uganda and Europe, this paper will explore knowledge exchange between biomedically trained and indigenous midwives in Uganda, and the effects of this knowledge exchange – and its absence – on maternal healthcare choices, especially in light of changes in Uganda’s political and medical climate.

The lacustrine region forms part of the east of Lake Victoria, Western Kenya and is dominantly occupied by two linguistic families, the Bantu comprised of the Abaluhya and Abagusii and the Nilotic speakers ostensibly the Luo. These two groups settled and set up territories between the 15th and 18th centuries. Their migrations and settlement patterns were more of environmentally determined than accidental. Traditionally, the Abaluhya cultivate crops, practice pastoralism and carry out trade while the Luo engage in mixed economy of cattle raring, crop growing and fishing and occasionally hunt wild game. During territorial maneuvering, inter-ethnic relations developed as each group strived to determine the people’s means of livelihood. Common words for domestic crops and tools exemplify these partnerships. Also, technology became critical in people’s way of life. One technological development that would later emerge was pottery or ceramic tradition. Ceramic technology is critical in understanding chronology and social identity of societies. Archaeological evidence has so far placed Ukerewe/ Urewe ware, a pottery typology as an invention of the lacustrine Bantu. This paper is an analysis of archaeological evidence of how the technology of pottery evolved and developed and the human and physical forces behind it. It traces the origins and development of this technology, first among the Abaluhya and how the technology later spread to their neighbours, the luo. Of interest will be the form of interactions that led to the adoption of Ukerewe/ Urewe technology during establishment of the Abaluhya and luo societies.

In this work, I explore the spaces and tools of psy scientists who observed, utilised and theorised the development of children in Uganda in order to understand the socio-political context they were working in. Employing a three- pronged approach, the study investigates the physical spaces, tools, and materials employed by these psy scientists. Firstly, the research delves into the diverse settings they worked in; including family homes of those they observed, hospitals (e.g., Mengo and Mulago), welfare clinics, schools, orphanages (e.g., Sanyu Babies Home), and the East African Institute for Social Research based in Kampala. I then explore the mediums, materials, and methods employed by the psy scientists, specifically focusing on the use of photographs and film. The paper argues these visual representations cast children as intermediaries in a socio-political dialogue between parents and colonial governments. The intentional or unintentional colonial gaze captured in these images scrutinised children’s daily lives, reflecting concerns about social decay and movements for self-determination, transcending the mere visual documentation. Lastly, the study investigates materials produced by psy scientists, including advisory and preventative medicine materials such as infant and parenting manuals, training sessions for mothers and health visitors at maternity and welfare clinics, as well as columns in newspapers and radio shows (Radio Uganda). This work emphasises the physical spaces, tools, and materials through which psy scientists observed and influenced child-rearing practices, revealing their intricate impact on family life in Uganda during this critical historical period.