Massive problems confront us all: war, injustice, disinformation and political turbulence, resettlement of refugees, battles for water and resources amidst climate change and resurgence of disease. This should be shared with the rest of humanity in the 21st century. The richness of compassionate and innovative human behaviour in many of the world's economically weaker countries can become a surrogate indicator of global progress toward peace-building and more humane resource distribution. Here is a tool with which to map and grasp the dimensions and diversity.

Among the authors, more than a hundred voices of disabled people are identified and heard. Responses have been made to and by disabled and vulnerable people, in both traditional and modern ways, across the vast wealth of African history and culture. The Introduction shows that this is more than a dry record of textual materials. They are mainly in English (80%), with French (15%), some Arabic, German, and Dutch (with Afrikaans and Flemish), and a sprinkling of Ashanti, Coptic, Greek, Hausa, Latin, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Setswana, Spanish, Swahili, Xhosa, Yoruba, Zulu.

Materials are found in the social, legal, medical, educational, literary, ethical, psychological, religious and anthropological histories, cultural heritage and current lives and practices in most countries of Africa, from antiquity to the 2010s. This work introduces and partly annotates more than 1200 items indicating religious, ethical, healing and spiritual responses toward or by people with disabilities, deafness, or mental disorder or debility.

Ashanti baby rhetorical devices