This doomsdog doesn't work!

In Kusa, a mosquito bednet is called a "doomsdog".  The literal translation is "mosquito room".  The words in several other Northern Ghanaian languages are similar, translating to "mosquito room" or "mosquito house".

Apparently, this terminology can lead to some confusion. I recently heard a story about a farmer in a net distribution program. He was visited by a program officer conducting random checks to see if the net was in use.

When the program officer arrived, he found the net hanging outside, and the man sleeping in his house, netless. When he asked the farmer for an explanation, the farmer gruffly responded:

"Ahcht! These stupid salimingas don't know anything.  I hung the net and all the mosquitoes still come to me.  The mosquitoes don't go to their room at all!!"