African Babywearing
African Babywearing
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QUESTION:
I'm a baby-wearing junkie, have a bunch of different slings (Maya Wrap sling, NoJo, OTSBH, New Native) plus front packs and hip carriers. They all have different pros and cons, but currently I like the Maya Wrap sling best at this point for my 21MO, though the Sara's Ride is more handy in the rainy months because there's less fabric to get wet and it works well with my raincoat. I've been looking for some place that has instructions (and pictures would be nice) on how African women wear their babies and toddlers with a long piece of fabric. There's nothing over their shoulders, the fabric is just around their torsos, and usually the baby is in back. I've seen the BabyWrap website (www.babywrapinc.com) which claims to be an American take on these carriers, including velcro strapping and the like. But as hard as I've looked, I've never been able to find any directions for how it's done in the real world, since African women were wearing their babies long before velcro was invented. I've only seen one woman wear her baby this way IRL, and it wasn't in a situation where I could ask her how she did it or even surreptitiously study it. Any help or pointers for me or do I need to book a trip to Africa? Thanks! -Carol P. RESPONSE FROM DAWN: Carol, I have spoken with two friends from Africa about this. Unfortunately, the woman I talked to had no clue how the women wear their babies. However, the man I talked to and his American wife gave me a few pointers. I hope these will help. First, at least in Somalia, the women use one of the scarves that most of the Muslim women use to cover their hair to carry their babies. Since you are familiar with the technique for using a Maya Wrap, this will be easy for you to understand: they bend over so their back is nearly parallel to the ground and put the child on their back. Then they use the scarf to make a "pouch" for the child's bottom (similarly to how you would using the Maya in the front carry). I imagine that the bottom needs to be lower than the knees so that the baby is secure. My source then said, "Then they bring the two end pieces around and tie them above the breasts." Whether that is an accurate description or not, I don't know. You can see pictures of many traditional cultures in the book A Ride on Mother's Back : A Day of Baby Carrying Around the World. You might also want to contact a local college or university and ask the program that deals with the international students for names of students from Africa, and maybe someone will be able to help you. It has been my experience, however, that many of my foreign students don't know particulars of stuff like this as it is taught when they actually have a baby. Good Luck, and let us know what you find out!
RESPONSE FROM LAURA: Dear Carol, I have a few suggestions for you, and I hope one of them will turn out to be helpful! The first one is to locate a woman in your area from Africa or Korea and ask her to demonstrate the technique for you. Korean babies are often carried in a similar fashion, using what is basically a large piece of cloth which is wrapped around the baby and tied in front over the woman's chest. At the zoo last year I saw a Korean family and the mother was carrying a 3-year-old child strapped to her back in this way (he was napping). They smiled at my daughter in her sling. An older woman from Japan would also know how to wear a baby in this way (younger Japanese women tend to use front packs). You could locate women from these countries through a refugee assistance center, an Asian social services organization, a university international students' association, or just by walking around multi-ethnic neighborhoods and strike up conversations. Most people are very flattered by a genuine interest in their culture. The cultural attache for the embassy or consulate of one of these countries might also be able to help you out. Another suggestion is to contact the anthropology department of your nearest university and see if there are any researchers there who have done work in Africa or East Asia who would know about this. Alternatively, a reference librarian (particularly a social sciences reference librarian at a university) could help you locate books on childrearing in various cultures, one of which might have illustrations or descriptions of what you are looking for. You could join a newsgroup (alt.culture.whatever) or country-specific mailing list and post a request. There is a wonderful children's picture book called A Ride on Mother's Back : A Day of Baby Carrying Around the World. It has illustrations of babies from many different cultures being worn in a variety of different ways. One set of illustrations shows a baby in the process of being attached to its mother's back in such a way, but it probably isn't detailed enough for your purposes. You could contact the authors (either write to them c/o the publisher, or try to locate their email addresses) and ask whether in the course of all their research they found instructions or have contacts they could direct you to. I suppose the short answer I have for you is network, network, network! Keep asking and someone you know is bound to know someone who knows someone who can help you. One more suggestion! If you locate a local group for former Peace Corps volunteers, you would probably be able to find someone who observed the babywearing techniques you are interested in. Best wishes, Laura |
