Benefits of Medical Waste Management Methods

Benefits of Medical Waste Management Methods ABSTRACT Medical waste management is a critical problem around Africa continent. The problem is observed in Tanzania in all levels of health facilities. Medical waste is one of the major health safety and environmental problem. This is a result of lack of awareness on among generators and handlers of medical waste. This calls for an urgent attention to understand the extent and magnitude of the problem and to develop strategies to properly manage medical waste generated. Various measures have been taken in Tanzania including construction of 13 pilot small scale incinerators at various parts of the country, yet the problem is still persisting. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of medical waste management methods is not clearly known and practiced in many health facilities. Therefore, this study was carried out to examine the effectiveness of medical waste management. Data were collected through interviews using structured, observation and abstraction of documentation. Solid medical wastes were collected in plastics bags and measure three times a day from each occupied bed. The collected waster was measured using a common household balance with a precision of a two decimal places .A total of 64 respondents were interviewed using questionnaire. The result indicated that average generation rate of medical waste was 0.01kg/person/day in dispensaries, 0.02kg/person/day in urban health centres to 0.5 kg/bed/day in Hospitals. Inadequate staff, insufficient and inefficiency of tools led to poor management of medical waste. Poor segregation and colour coding of storage instruments was observed at low level of healthcare centres, lack of medical waste treatment pit and substandard incinerators which produce obnoxious gases affecting the community. In view of the findings, medical management is not given sufficient priority. However, health workers are knowledgeable on the consequences of medical waste. Its recommended that strategies for management of medical waste be established t o include provision of facilities, infrastructes, staffing and funding to reduce environmental and medical problems associated. Keywords: medical waste, waste management, health facilities, storage instruments BACKGROUND Medical waste management (MWM) is a public health and environmental problem that attract attention in both developed and developing countries (Askarian et. al., 2004). Medical waste are generated in a wide variety of sources, starting from the hospital (a primary target), human and animal clinics, health centers, intermediate facilities, physician offices, research institute (animal and human health), and homes (especially diabetic homes) (USEPA, 1986). Medical wastes include several different waste streams, some of which require more care and disposal (Manyele, 2008).They contains different items making it a special type of mixed waste. Medical wastes include all infectious waste, hazardous (including low-level radioactive) wastes, and any other wastes that are generated from all types of health care institutions, including hospitals, clinics, doctor (including dental and veterinary) offices, and medical laboratories. Longe and Williams (2006) referred to medical waste as the municipal solid waste of peculiar characteristics which need to be sorted properly during handling. Medical waste may also contain soiled or blood soaked bandages, culture dishes and other glassware, discarded surgical gloves and surgical instruments, needles used to give shots or draw blood, cultures, stocks and swabs used to inoculate cultures. These are the most common trash/litter in medical waste and well known to the health-care staff. Waste from operati on theaters contain removed body organs like tonsils, appendices, limbs etc which renders the medical waste scary, and nuisance. Medical waste also contains lancets that are little blades which are used to prick finger to get a drop of blood. During immunization campaigns medical waste contains leftovers of empty boxes, cotton wool and bandages. Thus, if the waste is not segregated properly at the point of generation it will be a mixture of all these garbage plus kitchen waste, office waste and other wastes which do not arise as a result of patients being attended (Lloyds, 2003). Inadequate and inappropriate handling of medical wastes has serious public health consequences and impact on the environment. It has been medically proved that unprotected exposure to healthcare waste such as used syringes, needles and cotton can cause health hazards, and, indeed, is a source of transmission of HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and other diseases. Proper management of medical waste is crucial to minimize health risks. Medical waste requires specialized treatment and management from its source to final disposal destination. Simply disposing of it into dustbins, drains, and canals or dumping it to the outskirts of human settlement poses a serious public health and environmental hazards. Thus, there is a need to initiate a concentrated effort to improve the medical waste management to reduce the negative impact of waste on environment, public health and safety at health care facilities (Griffin, 1989). The amount of medical waste generated differs according to the level of health facilities, bed capacity, occupancy rate, and socio-economic status of the society. According to Christen (1996), the average quantities estimated from a survey conducted in several health care facilities in Dar es Salaam hospital generated an average of 0.06kg/patient/day and 0.08kg/patient/day, respectively non hazardous and hazardous waste while for both health centers and dispensaries waste generated 0.01kg/patient/day. Mato and Kassenga (1997) estimated that waste generation rate in Tanzania was 0.84 kg/bed/day. In a survey conducted nationwide in Tanzania indicates that the increase in medical waste generated due to increase in population, poor management of MWM systems and expanded use of disposable (Manyele and Anicetus, 2006), Developing comprehensive waste management practices in health facilities in developing world is a challenging problem. For example, Leonard (2003) and Manyele, (2003) noted that in Africa the problem appears to be more critical as reports indicate poor medical waste management. It is a challenge because of little information on the number of bed, hospitals, health centers, dispensaries and other facilities and the type of waste generated. It should be noted that there is no single management method that can solve all medical waste problems; rather, each medical waste management problem must be assessed independently to develop a viable and sound solution. However, the responsibility for the effective disposal of the wastes generated by the various health facilities lies on the facility generating the waste. Medical waste management requires monitoring and control at all levels of production in order to minimize effects to the community (Van, 1988). Most of the non-infectious medical wastes are land filled, while infectious wastes from hospitals are incinerated. The degree of risks posed by medical wastes is not known. Proper handling, treatment, and disposal of these wastes are believed to result in minimal health and environmental risks. In Tanzania medical waste management (MWM) is poor and awareness on its related consequences is lacking among generators and handlers (Manyele, 2003, Manyele and Anicetus, 2006). However, in recent years Tanzania government has made efforts to manage medical wastes from its generation to final disposal or treatment by training health workers, increasing funds for procurement of tools and improvement of infrastructure (Manyele, 2004). Despite the efforts made by the government to minimize the dangers of medical waste, the problem is persisting in most areas. This study examined MWM practices in health facilities located in Sumbawanga Municipal Council and provides recommendations that can be adopted in other health facilities. The study assessed the type and quantity of waste generated and examined performance of MWM. It also determined effectiveness of MWM practices in collection, storage, transportation and disposal. In addition it examined the role of knowledge of health workers on management of medical waste. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was conducted in Sumbawanga Municipal Council in South West Tanzania which is located between latitude 07ÂÂ °45ÂÂ ´ and 08ÂÂ °31ÂÂ ´ S and longitude 30ÂÂ °29ÂÂ ´ and 31ÂÂ °49ÂÂ ´E. The Municipality lies along Ufipa plateau with the average altitude of 1700m above mean sea level. Sumbawanga Municipality enjoys a dry sub humid climate for a greater part of the year. The maximum temperature is 27ÂÂ °C and the minimum is 16ÂÂ °C, during month of July. The rainfall ranges from 900-1000mm per annum (MD, 2008). Health facilities are owned by different institutions which include government, voluntary agencies and private. According to MMOH (2008) Sumbawanga Municipal Health services were provided through two hospitals (one owned by government and the other by voluntary agency), two urban health centre (one owned by government and other by voluntary agency) and 28 dispensaries (18 owned by Government, two by voluntary agency and eigh t owned by private entities). Ballot sampling technique was used to select 10 out of 32 health facilities (one hospital, one health centre and eight dispensaries) located in different parts of the Municipal for this study. Respondent were selected by using probability sampling based on Yamane formula (1967) given as: Where no = sample size z = confidence interval =2 correspond to 95% level of confidence p = population proportion N = Population size and, e = precision or error limit Given a total population of 517 health workers, the study used 50% proportion (p = 0.5) and error limit of 11%, the minimum acceptable sample size was 64 health workers. A systematic random sampling procedure was used to select respondents from a sampling frame based on the distribution of sample size. The sample size of respondents was 32, 10, and 22 out of 263, 78 and 176 from hospitals, health centres and dispensaries, respectively. Primary data were collected from the field survey by using structured questionnaire of 37 questions. On the knowledge on medical waste management two question were set up to test the knowledge of health worker and the answer were given score of which if response is between 5 10, 2 -4 and 1 is ranked highly, moderate and low knowledgeable, respectively. Other method used in data collected is participatory observations . Abstraction and summarization of documents were used for collection of secondary data on medical waste management especially on the capacity of staff on handling waste. Interviews were used to collect data on the efficiency of medical waste management, tools for collection, storage, transportation; and treatment, to determine effectiveness of medical waste management practices; and to examine knowledge of health workers towards sorting, collection, storage and treatment of medical waste. Observation method was used to assess tools available, their efficiency and effec tiveness for medical waste management and attitude and practice towards sorting, collection, storage, and treatment of medical waste. Information gathered was analysed using SPSS programme. The solid Medical Waste were collected from occupied beds three time in a day (0830, 1330, 1830), at each ward, right prior to their collection and disposal by attendant. A common household balance with a precision of two decimal places was used to weigh wastes. The medical waste produced from each bed was weighed as disposed of in plastic bags. The measurements were carried in a period of 30 days and varied depending on the number of the beds occupied, hence average were used in the analysis. Descriptive analysis was carried out for the data collected using SPSS vers.11.6 where frequencies were used to present the results. ANOVA was carried out to test significance of parameters on knowledge versus altitude and altitude of health workers on waste management practices. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Characteristics of Respondents Characteristics of the respondents were analyzed based on age, education and working experience. Data in table 1 shows that majority of the staff (42.2%) were aged between 31 40 years. These results imply that most of respondents were at the middle age. The results show that 42.2 % of respondents had primary school education, 35.9% had secondary school education. The holders of diploma and advanced diploma or above were 15.6% and 6.3%, respectively. The high proportion of respondents with primary school education could have an effect towards management of medical waste. It was further revealed that around 40% of the staff had an experience of over 10 years. Working experience could bring good performance in management of medical waste while low experience could results into poor performance. Type and volume of medical waste generated The type of medical waste generated differs according to the level of health facility, characteristics of people and level of income. In Sumbawanga Municipality the type of medical waste generated for hospital included; needles and prickers, syringes, plastic materials, bottle and ampoules, paper material, cotton wool, gauze, post delivery waste (placenta and the associate), specimen from laboratory, amputated organs/parts from theatre and garbage from admission ward. Those from urban health centre and dispensary included all wastes mentioned earlier excluding plastics, post delivery waste, amputated organs and garbage. The results in Table 2 show that the amount of waste generated from Regional hospital was recorded from admission ward, the result revealed that the amount of medical waste generated was 0.5kg/bed/day for non sharps and garbage, 0.015kg/ bed/ day of sharp containers and 1.8 kg/ bed/day of garbage. Medical waste from the health centre was 0.02kg/person/day excluding sharp and garbage, and 0.02kg/person /day of sharp container. For dispensaries the results revealed that the amount of waste generated was 0.01kg/person/day of healthcare waste excluding sharps and 0.01kg/person /day of sharp containers. These results differ with an average of that is generated in Botswana where in hospitals recorded amount generated were 0.75kg/bed/day excluding sharps, 0.05kg/bed/day of sharp containers and 3kg/bed /day of garbage from admission ward (NCSA, 1996). Type of facilities available for storage of solid medical waste During the study different sections of health facilities were assessed through observation complemented by interview of heath workers. The results in Table 3 reveal that medical waste storage facilities were determined by the characteristic of the waste produced. Health workers reported that common type of storage facilities were safety boxes, plastic material, and metal. These resulted into spillage of medical waste to the environment as they were easily blown by wind or directly accessed by insects and other vermins. The same results were reported in India by Patil and Shekdar (2001) that, authorities were failing to install appropriate systems for a variety of reasons such as non availability of appropriate technologies, inadequate resources and absence of professional training on waste management. The study established that 81.7% of the storage facilities were not in good state. This resulted into difficulties in the management of medical waste (Figure 1 and Table 3). Respondent from hospital observed the adequacy of facilities in terms of capacity to handle waste generated and conforming to required standards having handles, covers lid and presence of waste pits, while the status was contrary in heath centers and dispensaries. Performance of medical waste management tools The performance of the existing health care waste management facilities for storage and treatment were assessed through their capacity in terms of sizes, handling mechanism, cover (protect waste from spillage) and pit where waste are to be deposited. Considering the sizes of equipments the results vis. waste generated, the results in Table 3 indicates that medical waste storage facilities, in relation to storage size were considered adequate by 75.9%, 71.4% and 66.7% for hospital, dispensaries and health centre, respectively. Handling mechanism is also a factor which influences good performance of medical waste management equipment. Through observation of the storage facilities with handles were 65.5%, 22.2% and 28.6% in hospital, heath center and dispensaries, respectively. Lack of handle to medical waste storage facilities brought difficulties in transporting healthcare waste that could lead to contamination of handlers during lifting. Further, assessment of performance was made on availability of lid for medical waste storage tools where it was observed that (86.2%) of hospital tools had lid and (13.8 %) was running without lid. (11.1%) had lid for health centre and (88.9%) was operating without lid and 14.3% was noted to have lid for dispensaries while 85.7% had no lid. Lack of lid on medical waste storage tools is dangerous to health because it is easy to be accessed by insects which transmit diseases and also medical waste is unsightly because it contains waste which may cause repugnant. Poor performance of equipments could be due to inadequate funds for procurement of standard tools and availability of standard tools. Inefficiency of waste equipment created difficulties in management of medical waste that had higher probability of exposing infection to healthcare workers, patients and the environment. WHO (2005) suggested that for cost effectiveness and efficiency medical waste equipment it is advisable to pur chase item which qualify the National standards for management of medical waste or approved by World Health Organization such as safety boxes and other waste containers and protective equipment. Respondent from those health facilities which hadnt waste treatment pit the result shows that 84.2% dispose waste in pit latrine and 15.8% in a dug pit. Disposal of medical waste in pit latrine was a great mistake because are not meant for that purposes. Sometimes, medical waste such as post delivery waste emitted foul smell which led to further environmental pollution. WHO, (1999) also noticed that despite of its infectious medical waste was not being properly disposed off by the concerned agencies as it was often disposed on open dumps along with other waste. Effectiveness of practices in storage and treatment of medical waste Effectiveness of the waste management practices of the surveyed health facilities were assessed based on the number of trained workers available, time spent to collect, store and treatment/disposal of the waste and the cleanliness and attractiveness of the health facilities. The results indicated that for hospital trained staff versus patients was at the ratio of 1:34 while National guideline requires the ratio of 1:10. WHO ( 2008) revealed that inadequate human resources for healthcare tend to weaken healthcare delivery systems with suboptimal infrastructure, poor management capacity and under-equipped health facilities have brought about a situation where the likelihood of adverse events become high. The number of staffs who were engaged in management of medical waste was two staff for each section in hospitals, health centre and dispensaries. Medical waste management is a dangerous and tiresome job. The small number of staff are engaged in management of healthcare waste failed to manage properly. This situation in Sumbawanga Municipality is contrary to WHO (2002) recommendations, that health care waste management is first of all management issues that require the commitment of the entire staff within health care facilities. The study results show that respondent perception and understanding on time spent for management of medical waste vary from hospital to dispensaries. 81.8% of respondents from hospital indicates that time spent to manage MW is between six to eight hours in a day, as compared to health centers where 80% of respondent indicates that time spent is between three to five hours. Dispensaries all respondents indicate that time taken for management of MW is one to two hours (Table 4). Time spent was sufficient for hospital while insufficient for health centre and dispensaries. Time spent for hospital was high compared to other levels because had a special group of employee (casual laborers) purposely for medical waste and environmental management activities who are required to work a minimum of 8 hrs in a day according to job requirements. On contrary for health centre and dispensaries were permanent employee whose work was for both service deliver, then on medical waste management activitie s and environmental care. Clean and attractive health facilities determine the effectiveness and efficiency of medical waste management activities to all levels of health services. During the research, the result revealed that 59.4% responded that hospitals were very clean, 40.6% responded moderate, and 100% responded moderate for health centre while 59.1% responded moderate for dispensary and 40.9% responded poor sanitation (Table 5). This situation is contrary to National health care waste management policy guideline which requires proper management of medical waste for prevention of diseases, environmental protection and beautification (MOHSW, 2006). To triangulate perception of respondents who are health workers, cross tabulation was indicating that hours spent for management of medical waste and cleanliness (appearance) of health facilities has relationship. The correlation between working hours and the state of cleanliness is highly significant (p Knowledge of health workers towards management of medical waste As regard to knowledge on consequences of medical waste 95.5% of respondents from hospital had high knowledge on the consequences of medical waste, 4.5% had moderate knowledge, 90% of health centre study group were highly knowledgeable, 10% had moderate knowledge and 78.1% were highly knowledgeable for dispensary, 15.6% moderate knowledge and 6.3% had poor knowledge (Table 6). Importance of knowledgeable health workers is on waste in highly required in segregation and coding storage materials used for medical waste management. The level of education was highly associated with knowledge of health workers on medical waste as hazardous material that the correlation was statistically significant (p Medical Waste Segregation The need for proper segregation and the extent, to which segregation is required, is primarily dictated by the technology and this is one of important step in reducing the volume of hazardous waste. Most treatment technologies have some limitations in terms of processing capability. This limitation depends much on design restrictions, compatibility with certain components, legal prohibitions, and possible negative environmental impact, social and ethical reasons. Table 7 shows that percentage of quantity of medical waste recorded segregated at hospital, heath centers and dispensaries were 93.8, 70 and 27, respectively. While waste that was found mixed was 6.2%, 27.3% and 72.7% at hospital, heath centers and dispensaries. Segregation of hazardous/infections waste is the key to achieving sound medical waste management. Poor segregation of medical waste poses serious health risks to the personnel handling them, and this could lead to possibility of surface and ground water contamination. Mujahid et.al., (2005) and Mohamed et. al., (2006) observed a serious health problem in Dhaka because medical waste was disposed in Municipal without segregating them. Also, Manyele et al (2003) contented that lack of plan for management of medical waste, lack of recording the amount of medical waste generated, reduction of quantity and toxicity of waste at the source and segregation were the challenges facing Tanzania in management of medical waste. The high pe rformance of hospital compared to health centre and dispensaries was influenced by availability of tools, number of staff engaged, hours spent in management of medical waste and knowledge of health workers. Color coding Color coding system aim at ensuring an immediate separation and identification of the hazardous associated with the type of healthcare waste which also determines the treatment method to be employed. The results revealed that 90.6% of hospital medical waste equipment were colour coded or provided with label and 9.4% was not colour coded, 30% of health centre tools were colour coded and 70% were not colour coded while 100% of dispensary medical waste storage tools were not color coded or labeled (Table 8). Lack of coloration of medical waste tools to dispensary level was contrary to healthcare waste management policy guideline which requires coloration of medical waste storage facilities (MOHSW, 2006). Longe and Williams (2006) observed that in Nigeria, private owned hospitals has the most efficient colour coding system, where colored buckets were used: red for sharp and broken glass, green for syringes and needles and blue for all blood stained cottons, gauze and bandages. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Conclusions Medical waste generated in healthcare facilities differs from type and ownership of facilities but there is no composition distinction between private and public hospitals. The performance of medical waste management tools were inefficient due to the reason that most of them were below National and World Health Organization standards. The effectiveness of medical waste management practices was highly affected by inadequate staff and time spent in management of medical waste which resulted into poor cleanliness of some health facilities. Knowledge of health workers on management of medical waste was high but was not highly applied due to inadequate and low standard of healthcare waste management tools. Generally Medical waste management activities in Sumbawanga Municipal Council were not given sufficient priority or concern because of unimproved system of medical waste management. Inadequate staff, insufficient and poor performance of supplies for storage of medical waste, poor infras tructure such as incinerator and treatment pit for treatment of medical waste, lack of segregation and coloration of tools is a major reason to draw this conclusion. However most of healthcare workers had knowledge on medical waste management with small gap which need to be improved. Recommendations Based on the findings and discussions, the following recommendations are made to the Regional Medical Officer, Municipal Medical Officer, Diocesan Health Coordinator and other Stakeholders to improve healthcare waste management whereby in order to achieve the goal, the Hospital Management Team , Council Health management team and other stakeholders should fulfill the following: Medical waste management infrastructure which includes incinerators and treatment pit should be made available to all health facilities. They should be well constructed to ensure efficiency and minimizes the immediate and long term public health risk and hazards associated with medical waste and which has the lowest impact on the environment. Build capacity by employing more qualified staff who will be responsible for service delivery, healthcare waste management and environmental management of health facilities.. For proper disposal of waste knowledge on the color codes for storage facilities should be provided to all stakeholders in health facilities based on the agreed National and WHO Guidelines.

Legal Safety and Regulatory Requirements Essay

Human resources was created to make sure the organization reaches its goals, which is to maximize returns on investment from the organization’s human capital and minimize financial risk, providing the organization with well trained and motivated employees, to ensure all reconciliation of individual goals with those of the organization, developing overall personality of each employee in its multidimensional aspect, and ensuring effective utilization and maximum development of human resources. Along with these responsibilities the human resources department also have regulations they have to follow such as the Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This commission established on July 2, 1965, and is listed under the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA),[7] the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. The U. S.  Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person’s race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. It is also illegal to discriminate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit. Most employers with at least 15 employees are covered by EEOC laws (20 employees in age discrimination cases). Most labor unions and employment agencies are also covered by these laws. The laws apply to all types of work situations, including hiring, firing, promotions, harassment, training, wages, and benefits (U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, n. d. ). The EEOC provides employees with the opportunity to have an investigation if they feel they have been discriminated against. If the discrimination can be justified then the commission does have the right to file a lawsuit to ensure that the employees’ rights and interest of the public are protected. The EEOC provides leadership and guidance to federal agencies on all aspects of the federal government’s equal employment opportunity program. EEOC assures federal agency and department compliance with EEOC regulations, provides technical assistance to federal agencies concerning EEO complaint djudication, monitors and evaluates federal agencies’ affirmative employment programs, develops and distributes federal sector educational materials and conducts training for stakeholders, provides guidance and assistance to our Administrative Judges who conduct hearings on EEO complaints, and adjudicates appeals from administrative decisions made by federal agencies on EEO complaints (U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, n. . ). The guidelines for employees have been made into regulations enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity instead of the perception â€Å"common sense and compassion in the workplace† has been replaced by litigation to make discrimination incidents legally enforced. History has changed so much over time such as the act to abolish race discrimination better known as the Civil Rights Act that was passed in 1908. The individuals within the human resource department must be well versed in all the laws and regulations as set by the United States as they are expected to abide by these laws and rules. Once the potential employee has signed an employment contract, a new relationship is formed between employer and employee. â€Å"Both employers and employees have rights and obligations to each other when they enter into a contract. An employment contract spells out explicitly the terms of the employment relationship for both employee and employer (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, & Cardy, 2010, p. 441)†. Along with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission there are also other entities that are in place to protect the rights of the employee and the employer such as National Labor Relations Board, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. These regulations and laws are very important within the health care field and needs to be understood throughout the organization to prevent any wrong doings. These entities should be complied with and enforced the regulations which will decrease any chance of liability for the human resources department and organization. The human resources department staff to have extensive training to protect employees from frivolous incidents. Currently, because of the of Civil Rights (OCR) administers ensures Agency compliance with the laws, regulations, policies, and guidance that prohibit discrimination in the Federal workplace based on race, color, national origin, religion, gender, age, disability, genetic information, or reprisal better known as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

African religion and christianity Essay

Although Africa was not a plain or bear continent, Africans had their way of life, structure of government, religion, economic activities, education,systems of marriage and development plans for their societies, nevertheless the British brought their systems which conflicted with Africans established way of life, this was because the British, as many other European powers were economically depressed and Africa appeared to be the only way out.The British wanted to pass the three C’s; Commerce, that is to make money through acquisition of free labour form Africans, raw materials for their industries as industrial revolution back in Britain was rapidly taking place, market for their surplus production; Christianity to save Africans as alluded in the Gospel of Saint Mark 16 versus 5 Go ye to the entire world, baptizing all men in the name of Jesus.†Explorers such as David Livingstone, Vasco Da Gama, Portuguese Diego Cam and Arabs with Muslim faith had missionary zeal. The la st C is for Civilization, they wanted to civilize Africans in terms of education, culture and many other aspects I will bring out later in this essay. RELIGION Black`s Law Definition of religion; This is man`s relation to Divinity, reverence, worship, obedience, and submission to mandates and precepts of supernatural or superior beings. In a broad sense, it includes all forms of belief in the existence of superior beings exercising power over human beings by volition, imposing rules of conduct with future rewards and punishments. AFRICAN RELIGION Awolalu defines African religion as â€Å"†¦largely written in the people’s myth and folktales, in their songs and dances, in their liturgies and shrines and in their proverbs and pithy sayings. It is a religion whose historical founder is neither known nor worshipped; it is a religion that has no zeal for the membership drive, yet it offers persistent fascination for Africans, young and old.† The African traditional religion was not homogeneous as the communities had different ethnic background thus the religious practices such rituals varied one community to the other. It is worth noting that it was oral, not scripted or written and was passed from one generation to the other by word of mouth as I earlier alluded in the Awolalu definition of religion. Within their organized societal structures, Africans believed in supernatural beings together with ancestral spirits.The ancestral spirits were believed to link the living societal members to the gods. We all agree that one cannot talk about African religion without African values as they are intertwined and inseparable. African religion was embedded in moral values or codes or standards which were believed to originate from God through the ancestral spirits, these values when followed or observed one would be rewarded with maybe good harvest from their cultivation of land or increased number of a flock of cattle. When these values have violated the culprits were reprimanded, for instance, adultery was highly condemned therefore in case a member engaged in it he or she could be punished by God through the ancestral spirit. This punishment could be through the infliction of sickness to the culprit or barrenness. The concept of values is a vital point as one talks of the African religion. African religion is drawn from the African values. The African religion had some institutions which presided over religious functions, these institutions were believed to communicate directly to ancestral spirits (living dead) who in turn would communicate to the gods and grievances of the living societal members would be heard. In the Kenyan context, these institutions include Orkoyot of the Nandi, Oloibon of the Maasai, Seers, Diviners, and Rainmakers depending on the ethnic communities which they came from. These institutions apart from the veneration of the ancestors, they blessed warrior before going for war, advised the political leaders, offered sacrifice to god and conducted rituals for the culprits who violated moral values in the community. The gods had some specific names for instance, in Kenyan context, we had Enkai for the Maasai, Encore for the Abagusii, Mulungu for Akamba, Asis the Nandi, Ngai for the Agikuyu and Nyasaye for the Luo. There were specific worship places which were regarded as holy, this places included shrines, mountaintops some special trees such as mugumo, hills, and some caves. The diversity of the names given to gods and places of worship, show the lack of uniformity in the African Religion. This concludes that Africans were of different ethnic background and had their own religion, gods, and religion as a community. CHRISTIANITY This is a religion based on the life, teachings, and practices of the person of Jesus Christ. The origin of Christianity is drawn from a character, believed to be the Son of God. It is a religion more about the relationship between one and Jesus rather religious practices. A Christian, as the name suggests is a follower of Christ. The origin of Jesus of extra-ordinary or Supernatural happening as it is believed He was conceived by the power of Holy Spirit and born of a Virgin. This small description ascertains the definition of religion as I had earlier defined it. Christianity is practiced through reading the Bible and attendance of services for the Protestants and Mass for the Catholics. The religion is scripted or written in the Bible which is the reference for all who ascribe to Christianity. It contains all the rules guidelines, commands that Christians should observe their entire life. These guidelines govern human relationship to one another and their relationship to their God.there no diverse Christians as all of them draw their beliefs from Jesus Christ through reading and exercising their beliefs from the Bible.Christianity is a homogeneous religion or rather uniform. There are institutions such Priests, Bishops and Catholic Fathers who lead other Christians in worship. These people undergo theology training for them to undertake their duties. There are specific places of worship where Christians congregate. These places are Churches or Chapels. THE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. They mainly to spread Christianity and Commerce†¦Dr. David Livingstone, I go back to Africa to make an open pass for Christianity and Commerce.† The first encounter is dated from the 15th Century. The Portuguese Christianity introduction to Africans in the East African Coast. This, however, had very little success. By 19th Century Christian missionaries arrived in East Africa they included: 1.The Holy Ghost Fathers 2.The Church Missionary Society 3.The Methodist Fathers 4.The Mill Hill Fathers THE ENCOUNTER I) Source/origin of Religion The Africans believed that their religion was sourced from god, who they believed long before their ancestors’ existence. The British Missionaries conflict with Africans by telling them about the existence of a God who had a son and lived among us many years ago. The religion of British was written (Bible) thus one had to have the ability to read and write in order to understand it, whereas that of African was passed from generation to generation by oral tradition. There is an introduction of a new system of identifying the origin of religion which conflicts with the African system. II) Places of worship The Africans revered in special caves, Mountaintops, hills, Forests, Special trees (mugumo) and shrines. The British tell Africans that they should worship God places called Churches. This encounter shows that there is a bit of clashing as the African places were very clearly defined and preserved by the community members. The British also seized African land to construct churches or chapels, Africans, as a result, became very hostile as they had distinct worship places which occurred naturally. They believed that their land was for cultivation and a gift from their gods. III) The Practices of Religion The Africans practiced their religion by reverence to their ancestors, offering human and animal sacrifices and invoking the ancestral spirits. They offered sacrifices in order to get favors in terms of harvest. The African worship was communal that is, all community members used to convene to pray for rain and ask for the wellness of the community. The British religion had an aspect of confession of one`s sins before worship, repentance, and forgiveness of sin are granted. This aspect of forgiveness of sins lacks in the traditional African religion, one had to be punished for wrongdoing. British missionary religion brings out an aspect of offerings in terms of money and tithe which is ten percent of one`s total earnings. IV) Religious leaders In African religion, worship was led by Diviners, Rainmakers, and Seers who were considered righteous. The work of religious leaders was taught through apprecentiship and was hereditary from specific clans in the community. There were certain clans from whom diviners would descend. They were highly respected in the community. The British Christian religious leaders attend school to be trained mainly on theology. They study formalities of worship and nature of God. Any member of Christian family can become a religious leader although there are some myths which say one has to be ‘called’ by God. The Christian leader has to have the ability to read and write so as to pass the scriptures to his congregation. V) Uniformity of Religion As I handled earlier in this essay, the African traditional religion was diverse from one ethnic community to the other due to the linguistic differences, migration patterns and origin. Christianity is introduced as a homogeneous religion as the author of it is Jesus Christ, a common ancestry and reference point for all Christians. The diversity of worship is dismantled by the British introduction of this even religion. As I have pointed above there are distinct differences between Traditional African Religion and the British Christianity and how both systems fought to outdo the other. The African religion had deep roots in the society as it was passed orally through stories, myths, riddles and proverbs which were very appealing to the audience. These deep roots were however uprooted as change is inevitable in every circumstance. As an old adage, ‘one man’s meat is another man’s poison.’ The British struck the Africans struck back but were easily overpowered, and gave in. The British were gradually using religion as a tool to pass several other systems to the Africans. Education which traditionally was based on oral tradition was easily eliminated as most Africans wanted to quench their thirst for knowledge, for those who resisted religion soon began to embrace this Whiteman’s way of worship.

The Era Of Modernism What People Do People Perceive...

Jackson Pollock said, â€Å"The modern artist is working with space and time and expressing his feelings rather than illustrating† (Modernism). Just as Jackson Pollock had been saying, modern art has a peculiar way of being perceived. Just as importantly as reading modern literature, the writing in such an art shows that reality is what people perceive through their perceptions. The era of Modernism was a time of great progression and innovation that set the foundation for the present day literature, redefining how readers read and writers wrote literature. During the earlier years of Modernism, T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf, and Dylan Thomas established the foundations for modern literature, defining Modernism for the world. Although Modernism is very difficult to define and pinpoint, the Modern writers in England certainty changed the age with their writing. While there were many famous writers of the time, a very distinct and powerful writers was T.S. Eliot. Thomas Stearns Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri (Greenblatt 1298). Although T.S. Eliot was born in the United States, he was just as much of a Modern English writer as any other writer was during the Modern Age. T.S. Eliot marveled his writing, leaving the Modern age forever change. Through his many years of writing, he accomplished a great deal through his writing and influence. One of his more notable works was â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock†. Although the piece is rather frustrating at times to read with J.Show MoreRelated Modernist Literature Essay2369 Words   |  10 PagesModernism emerged at the beginning of the twentieth century, following World War I and flowing through the â€Å"roaring twenties.† Materiali sm, crime, depression, and change filled this era. Reflecting the revolutionary time period, modernism itself was a revolution of style. Musicians, artists, and writers broke away from traditional, conventional techniques to create new, rebellious art. Modernism, in other words, was a change in how artists represented the world in their works. Passionate, sporadicRead MorePhilosophy Rejected Essay2019 Words   |  9 PagesHowever, I have found that philosophy itself rather distracting. It leads to false answers to what might sometimes be false questions. It leads to radically held beliefs that can be destructive, difficult to understand, and often contrary to reality. Worst of all, it often answers questions that we as humans have no business answering with any certainty. I dont believe that philosophy itself is bad, however I do believe that we need to look at it much more pessimistically than most perspectives allowRead MoreEssay on Georg Lukacs, quot;the Ideology of Modernis mquot;7555 Words   |  31 Pagesthat had superseded realism in the West, modernism (writers like James Joyce, William Faulkner, Robert Musil, and so on). This essay is his attempt to distinguish the two absolutely, in favor of course of realism. Basically, for Lukacs (and for the Soviet Union), modernism is the last desperate cry of a dying economic system, capitalism. As late capitalism crumbles, it generates more and more alienation and meaninglessness in its citizens, and modernism is the attempt to reflect that collapseRead MoreFinding The Will by Losing Ones Self1945 Words   |  8 Pagesindividualistic will and follow our own paths in life. This is where we go wrong as Nietzsche would have us understand. He believes that life’s greatest tragedy is leaving The Will, and falling privy to our own desires and more importantly never getting exactly what we want all the time. For Nietzsche the best thing to happen in a person’s life would be to die, for then we leave our divergent tangents and fall back into The Will; the only thing better than death would be to have never been born and left The WillRead MoreRemains of the Day as a Postmodern Novel5345 Words   |  22 Pagesfocus. Postmodern prose is by defin ition self conscious, full of inter-textual references. The intention is revealing its artificiality. An abundance of blank spaces, puns and irony serves as a constant reminder of the fact that postmodern writers do not attempt to create an illusion of reality, but quite the opposite. By emphasizing the actual body of a novel as a construct, they, more or less successfully, attempt to provoke an inner dialogue, a discussion between the reader and the writer, orRead MoreEssay about The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro5293 Words   |  22 Pagesfocus. Postmodern prose is by definition self conscious, full of inter-textual references. The intention is revealing its artificiality. An abundance of â€Å"blank spaces†, puns and irony serves as a constant reminder of the fact that postmodern writers do not attempt to create an illusion of reality, but quite the opposite. By emphasizing the actual body of a novel as a construct, they, more or less successfully, attempt to provok e an inner dialogue, a discussion between the reader and the writer, orRead MoreThe African American Artist By White Anglo Saxon Sociocultural Patterns1818 Words   |  8 Pagescourse of American history of what the overall ideology of American culture summarizes enabling one to perceive what Americans’ daily lives were like in the past, how it is seen now in the present, and what it may reflect in the future. The African American artist Robert Gwathmey (1903-88) painted pictures of the social injustices meted out to blacks to keep them in poverty (Craven, 2003, p. 546). He captured the true aesthetics of the African American culture and what dreams/aspirations they hopedRead MoreThe Ways in Which Narrative Perspectives Vary in The French Lieutenants Woman and Hawksmoor3918 Words   |  16 Pagesin the way that the authors present their narrative. By looking at the this presentation, it is possible to extract that the authors share common ground in the role that they take in the novel, the post-modernist way they seem to perceive their own role as a novelist and their perspectives on the theme of time in a novel. These factors combine to suggest that the novels, which have very different stories, actually are very similar in the way that they break the conventional Read MoreUnderstanding Conflict Through Sociological Perspective Essay5342 Words   |  22 Pagesï » ¿Understanding Conflict Through Sociological Perspective Table of Contents 1. Acknowledgements 2 2. Table of contents 3 3. Introduction 4 4. Objectives 5 5. Research Methodology 5 6. What is Conflict? 6 7. Works of Karl Marx 9 8. Conflict of interest 12 9. Conflict perspective in sociology 13 10. In classical sociology 14 11. Modern approaches 17 12Read More Editorial: Ireland’s Past? Essay2614 Words   |  11 Pagesexplosive political problems of the island as an indication that its inhabitants, and especially those of Northern Ireland, remain stuck in the seventeenth century in attitudes to politics and religion.[2] Even relatively influential academic voices perceive the recent problems of Northern Ireland politics as a product of the â€Å"backwardness† of Irish society, or of particular groups within it.[3] British establishment voices have long compounded this image by attributing political difficulties in the