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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Colonial Microenvironments and the Mortality of Educated Young Men in Northern Malawi, 1897-1927
Author:Fetter, Bruce S.ISNI
Year:1989
Periodical:Canadian Journal of African Studies
Volume:23
Issue:3
Pages:399-415
Language:English
Geographic term:Malawi
Subjects:mortality
pupils
school leavers
colonialism
History and Exploration
Health and Nutrition
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/485185
Abstract:Based on the notion of 'population at risk', this article evaluates the mortality rates of students of the Overtoun Institution in Livingstonia, in the northernmost district of Malawi, and of those who had left this elite school, during the period 1897-1927. The relatively high mortality rate of Overtoun students before 1904 is explained by the presence of parasitic organisms and infectious diseases which flourished when too many people congregated within a small area. After the installation of piped water at Overtoun in January 1904, the number of deaths fell substantially. As for school leavers, the imposition by the colonial government of the hut tax forced African young men, including school leavers, to leave the salubrious environment of their villages in search of jobs. Their movement to the more dangerous European microenvironments of the mission posts or cities where they found employment is reflected in a rise in the mortality rates for school leavers from 1907 onward. A comparison is also made with the death rate of Malawi miners in South Africa, Katanga, and Zimbabwe. Bibliogr., notes, sum. in French.
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