> The problem of iron deficiency can be solved with iron cooking pots, or pieces of iron not shaped by fish.
can be is a whole different thing from is being. Or, to use the old, tired cliche, "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink"
There are several steps to solving iron deficiency. Yes, an iron cooking pot or a plain iron pellet solves one of those steps. But the human step is every bit as important.
It's clearly not just a matter of aesthetics either - it's "a piece of iron shaped like a local river fish believed to be lucky". Sure, saying "they're dumb and should just learn to use a round pellet" makes sense from our educated western perspective. But that's completely ignorant of their deeply-ingrained cultural attitudes. When you're in a society that believes a certain kind of fish to be lucky, you can't just say "use science, idiot" and expect them to actually do what you say. As a more extreme example, remember that in Liberia, armed men broke into an Ebola clinic to free patients [0]. In cases like these, the human side of the problem is far more important than the scientific side.
can be is a whole different thing from is being. Or, to use the old, tired cliche, "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink"
There are several steps to solving iron deficiency. Yes, an iron cooking pot or a plain iron pellet solves one of those steps. But the human step is every bit as important.
It's clearly not just a matter of aesthetics either - it's "a piece of iron shaped like a local river fish believed to be lucky". Sure, saying "they're dumb and should just learn to use a round pellet" makes sense from our educated western perspective. But that's completely ignorant of their deeply-ingrained cultural attitudes. When you're in a society that believes a certain kind of fish to be lucky, you can't just say "use science, idiot" and expect them to actually do what you say. As a more extreme example, remember that in Liberia, armed men broke into an Ebola clinic to free patients [0]. In cases like these, the human side of the problem is far more important than the scientific side.
[0] http://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-armed-men-attack-liberia-...