It's typical in Africa for a mom to keep her baby with her constantly until the baby reaches about age two. Most of the day the baby is carried on the mama's back as she moves about doing her work. I recently found these photos taken by colleagues in Sud*n. The first one is especially fascinating and shows an interesting makeshift carrier. It looks to me like the strings could be uncomfortable for the mom (who, you see, is fording a river), but the baby is probably loving it. Since youngest son is about to become a father, thoughts fly back to his babyhood when we lived in West Africa. The second photo shows how I carried him on my back, and is the most common way. Cozy!
It's typical in Africa for a mom to keep her baby with her constantly until the baby reaches about age two. Most of the day the baby is carried on the mama's back as she moves about doing her work. I recently found these photos taken by colleagues in Sud*n. The first one is especially fascinating and shows an interesting makeshift carrier. It looks to me like the strings could be uncomfortable for the mom (who, you see, is fording a river), but the baby is probably loving it. Since youngest son is about to become a father, thoughts fly back to his babyhood when we lived in West Africa. The second photo shows how I carried him on my back, and is the most common way. Cozy!
I love the fabric in that bottom photo. I regretted that Haiti didn't have a "national costume." I guess denim would have probably been the fabric of choice.
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