Expats in Africa - very mainstream!

[RomanGoddess]

Is it just me? Or the fact that we are in a former French colony and therefore most of the expat population is French? I find the expat people here incredibly mainstream and am feeling pretty isolated without any other tree-hugging expat soulmates to hang out with! The vast majority of expat moms here are formula feeding their babies and some have no problems buying the formula that is sold here (who knows what's in the stuff they sell here?). They are really surprised when I tell them that my baby was born at home (back in Europe, mind you, not here).

The exceptions are some of the moms from the US / Canada / Australia - but there are so few of them here.

I guess I'm just surprised. I figured that African expats would be granola parenting types, especially given that formula feeding means that you are dependent on bottled water here and you take a risk with the formula that is sold here. Plus breastmilk provides great antibodies against gastrointestinal bugs, which we get all the time here!

[wagamama]

I lived in Nigeria for 3 years, but in a mainly French compound, and yes, I found that most of the mothers were very mainstream -- formula feeding was big once the babies were a few months old. CIO was big. The mothers took care of themselves first -- they seemed to prioritize looking attractive and sexy for their husbands. I suppose that can be a good thing! But overall, yeah, very mainstream.

[RomanGoddess]

Wagamama, I just noticed your reply.  I'm still feeling very isolated here.  So ironic given the sanitary conditions here and of course the local practices.  Sigh.