Into Africa : A Transnational History of Catholic Medical Missions and Social Change

**__Winner of the 2016 Lavinia Dock Award from the American Association for the History of Nursing Awarded first place in the 2016 American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award in the History and Public Policy category__** The most dramatic growth of Christianity in the late twentieth century has occurred in Africa, where Catholic missions have played major roles. But these missions did more than simply convert Africans. Catholic sisters became heavily involved in the Church’s health services and eventually in relief and social justice efforts. In __Into Africa__, Barbra Mann Wall offers a transnational history that reveals how Catholic medical and nursing sisters established relationships between local and international groups, sparking an exchange of ideas that crossed national, religious, gender, and political boundaries. Both a nurse and a historian, Wall explores this intersection of religion, medicine, gender, race, and politics in sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on the years following World War II, a period when European colonial rule was ending and Africans were building new governments, health care institutions, and education systems. She focuses specifically on hospitals, clinics, and schools of nursing in Ghana and Uganda run by the Medical Mission Sisters of Philadelphia; in Nigeria and Uganda by the Irish Medical Missionaries of Mary; in Tanzania by the Maryknoll Sisters of New York; and in Nigeria by a local Nigerian congregation. Wall shows how, although initially somewhat ethnocentric, the sisters gradually developed a deeper understanding of the diverse populations they served. In the process, their medical and nursing work intersected with critical social, political, and cultural debates that continue in Africa today: debates about the role of women in their local societies, the relationship of women to the nursing and medical professions and to the Catholic Church, the obligations countries have to provide care for their citizens, and the role of women in human rights. A groundbreaking contribution to the study of globalization and medicine, __Into Africa__ highlights the importance of transnational partnerships, using the stories of these nuns to enhance the understanding of medical mission work and global change. Cover 1 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 List of Figures 10 List of Tables 12 Acknowledgments 14 Abbreviations 18 1. Medical Missions in Context 22 2. Nursing, Medicine, and Mission in Ghana 53 3. Shifting Mission in Rural Tanzania 85 4. Catholic Medical Missions and Transnational Engagement in Nigeria 113 5. Transnational Collaboration in Primary Health Care 141 6. Appraising Women Religious and Their Mission Work 173 Note on Sources 192 Notes 196 Index 240 About the Author 252 In Into Africa, Barbra Mann Wall Offers A Transnational History That Explores The Intersection Of Religion, Medicine, Gender, Race, And Politics In Sub-saharan Africa, Focusing On The Years Following World War Ii. The Book Highlights The Importance Of Transnational Partnerships, Using The Stories Of Four Groups Of European And American Nuns To Enhance Our Understanding Of Medical Mission Work And Global Change. Medical historian, medical researcher, and clinician Powel H. Kazanjian uses Novy's archived letters, laboratory notebooks, lecture notes, and published works to examine medical research and educational activities at the University of Michigan and other key medical schools during a formative period in modern U.S. medical science