num_pages: 418
description: When Frank Lambrect arrived in Africa in 1945 he came with a three year contract with the Congo Red Cross. What he found in the Belgian Congo was an old colonial system steeped in its traditions right down to the garb colonials wore and the separate class structure for Europeans and natives. When he left fourteen years later Africa was on the verge of divesting itself of foreign rule and influence. Lambrecht's story is of the beauty of Africa and its people as well as a description of the many diseases that decimated its populations. His responsibility in the beginning wit ha diploma in tropical medicine, was to care for the lepers, overseeing their living arrangements as well as their health maintenance. But it was on the tsetse fly that Lambrecht concentrated most of his work. The book describes his attempts, often humorous and frequently dangerous, to capture tsetse fly species an then to train his native staff to help him in his research. In the Shad of an Acacia Tree is a poignant glimpse of a disappearing world in Africa, of a European family inter acting with the native population in a loving, respectful way - even to the point of moving a trusted household aide and his family to be with them - and of a dedicated health officer working in frequently primitive conditions to further his research and to treat his patients. One sees the glory of the African scenery and its wildlife as Lambrecht and his colleagues climb mountains, trek through rain forests, and hazard the tricky road systems in vehicles held together in creative but less than perfect ways. One also sees Lambrecht's battles with stubborn bureaucrats and with the equally stubborn termites that destroyed his house, yet provided a needed source of protein for the natives.
language: English
title: In the Shade of an Acacia Tree: Memoirs of a Health Officer in Africa, 1945–1959
titlecomplete: In the Shade of an Acacia Tree: Memoirs of a Health Officer in Africa, 1945–1959
ratings_count: 1
publisher: Amer Philosophical Society