Damaged Lives

Fetal alcohol syndrome: dashed hopes, damaged lives.

Since the term was coined about 40 years ago, fetal alcohol syndrome has slowly become recognized as a public health issue. Alicestine October reports from South Africa's Western Cape province, which has the highest reported rate in the world.

Damaged Environments and Lives: The Bitter Harvest of Rice Policies in The Gambia

Introduction One of the tragic consequences of rice policies in The Gambia over the past twenty years is how severely they undermined the domestic rice sector. Between 1966-1984, international development assistance had promoted irrigation projects on the country's abundant alluvial swamps. The objective was to create surpluses for national demand by growing the second crop by irrigation. Doubl...

Injured bodies, damaged lives: experiences and narratives of Kenyan women with obstetric fistula and Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting

BACKGROUND It is well acknowledged that Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C/C) leads to medical, psychological and sociocultural sequels. Over 200 million cases of FGM/C exist globally, and in Kenya alone, a total of 12,418,000 (28%) of women have undergone FGM/C, making the practice not only a significant national, but also a global health catastrophe. FGM/C is rooted in patriarchal and t...

Transforming lives.

Parallel Lives

California’s Sierra Nevada mountains are dotted with populations of checkerspot butterflies that belong to the same species but lead separate lives. The populations are differentiated by the host plants where females lay their eggs, with one type favoring Collinsis torreyi (blue-eyed Mary) and the other favoring Pedicularis semibarbata (pine lousewort). Other than that, the checkerspots are muc...