I am really going to put myself on the line as being ignorant of much of this. I agree that those good things about individual tribes should be preserved. However, there are many dangerous things that tribes do that desperately need to be changed.

How does one protect tribal cultures and yet achieve the changes that need to be made to protect those very people?

For instance, the fact that many tribes are polygamous with girlfriends and boyfriends on the side (causing terribly high incidences of AIDS with unprotected sex).

Circumcision of both young males and females - again possibly exposing them to HIV/AIDS when not done in a surgically sterile manner.

That tribes frown on a young woman seeking medical help for complicated pregnancies - and thus a much higher incidence of stillborn and/or deformed children, maternal deaths and even resulting in horrible fistulas for the young mothers.

I recently read a heartbreaking story of interviews with 250 Kenyan women and almost all of them had been beaten and abused. Apparently this is quite common.

Women in Kenya, and I would guess most of Africa, are totally subservient to men, this despite the fact that they do a great part of the work in building houses, gardens, children, cooking. Tribal culture allows this to continue.

How then does one encourage people to retain their culture and at the same time bring about the changes necessary to make their lives better?