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European maps from the 15th to 20th century were used in the conception and transcription of the territorial reorganisation of African states. These maps reveal certain mythic aspects in western colonial shaping of these modem African states and in the ethical discourse that their emergence raises. In Africa, indigenous epic myths express how local people like those of Cameroon have lived with these territorial divisions and how they are still reacting to traditional and modem changes at every level. Thus, the powerful capacity of myths to lead to an interactive use of the geographic complexity and the production of social and political complication is illustrated. Subjected to both moral manipulation and epical expression, territorial reorganisation necessarily leads to ethical and epic myths being used as valuable resources. In fact, the creation of territories needs aspects of fantastic imagination and invites ideological manipulations and their denunciation.

Keywords: cartes, Afrique, Cameroun, Yom, mythes éthiques, mythes épiques, colonisation, pays, découpage du territoire, maps, Africa, Cameroon, Yom, ethic myths, epic myths, colonisation, country, territorial partition

Aquatic plant - based system is increasing popular alternatives for treatment of various types of wastewater. Conventional wastewater treatment requires large capital investments and consumes large amounts of energy. While, aquatic plants are a simple and energy efficient means of removing some nitrogen and phosphorus quantities and other pollutants from wastewater. The present study consists of testing the efficiency of an helophyte Arundo donax to treat urban effluent under an arid climate and to assess the suitability of the treated effluent for irrigation purposes. The experiment was conducted from August 1994 to September 1996. Fourth plots (capacity : 115 liters, diameter : 57 cm) were filled to depth of 5 cm and 30 cm with respectively gravel and soil (texture : 30% clay, 34% silt and 36% sand). Two plots were planted with reeds. Young shoots were taken from local and natural reed stand, cleaned, weighed and transplanted in August 1994 at a rate of 34 shoots/m2. Two unplanted plots served as a control. The soil used has sustained the spreading of wastewater fore more than 60 years. It was an organic soil with a pH near neutrality. Alimentation was exclusively done by urban raw effluent with batch loads of 25 liters every 7 days. Water flowed vertically through the substratum. In order to investigate the capacity of the systems for organic loads, phosphorus and nitrogen removal, the concentration in the inflow and outflow of each plots was determined over the whole period of experiment. At the end of experiment, the reeds biomass and nutrients analysis in plant material and soil were evaluated. The control of system hydrology indicate that the retention time of planted system was very short. It varied between few hours to only few minutes in Summer. The unplanted system become completely clogged in Winter. So, the presence of Arundo donax in planted system maintained sufficient porosity in order to allow water pollution for treatment and to prevent the clogging which was a problem in the unplanted one. Over the whole experimental period, results revealed significant performances of reed beds for organic load reduction. The mean elimination rates were 90% for TSS and 70% for COD. The TSS and COD elimination performance of unplanted soil was only little lower (TSS: 83% and COD: 90%). Removal of TSS and COD for the two systems, planted and unplanted, didn't varied significantly from season to another (p<0.05). TSS and COD elimination were almost entirely due to physical processes (filtration and sedimentation) associated to microbial community and the presence of reeds. The nutrients reed bed removal efficiencies were relatively low (total phosphorus : 28%, orthophosphates : 10% and ammonium : 24%). The system was more efficient in removing NTK (53%). The unplanted soil carried away an overloading of effluent in phosphorus and ammonium particularly in Winter. The treatment could be improved if we took into account the evaporation and evapotranspiration phenomena in each systems. The planted bed appeared to reduce more phosphorus (TP : 52% and PO4 : 39%) and nitrogen (NTK : 68% and NH4 : 48%). The unplanted soil removed 12%, -8%, 3% and 51% respectively for TP, PO4, NTK and NH4. The results showed that the presence of reeds can indeed improve the removal efficiencies in planted plots than the unplanted one. This amelioration was about 17 to 47% for nutrients and only 3 to 7% for organic loads. Concerning parasitical load, there are several helminthic parasites that occur in wastewater. Two types of helminth eggs were recovered from the sample tested : Nematodes (Ascaris, Trichuris) and Cestodes (Hymenolepis, Taenia). Hymenolepis eggs alone represented 50% of the total number of helminthic eggs. For protozoa, the most important found in the inflow were the protozoan Entamœba and Giardia. The parasitical load presented an important temporal fluctuation at the influent with concentrations varying from 0 to 13 eggs/l and 55 to 1903 cysts/l respectively for helminthic eggs of protozoal cysts. In contrast, helminth eggs were never found at the outflow of planted and unplanted systems. On the other hand, except of the fourth occasions where protozoal cysts were found at the outflow of planted system, the effluents of all the systems generally were exempt of protozoal cysts. The protozoal reed bed removal efficiencies was about 99,8%. So, it will be necessary to increase the filter depth in order to prevent this problem. According to WHO guidelines (1989) for crops irrigation, the quality of effluent should be classified within category B which could be reused for irrigation of cereal crops, follder and trees. On the other hand, conductivity, sodium and chlorides content increased in planted system more than the unplanted one when the effluent flowed through the substratum. So, when we compared the quality of treated water with FAO guidelines (relating to physico-chemical water quality designed for irrigation) it appeared that the risk of salinity must be taken into consideration. It is recommended that treated wastewater must be used in irrigation with caution and restriction on the type of crop planted. However, treated wastewater contains sufficient nutrients to reduce the need for other fertilization. The use of effluent in irrigation has, therefore, a positive economic impact. Arundo donax presented a good resistance to irrigation with raw wastewater and it seems to be adapted to the soil rich in nutrients in which it was implanted. The reed above ground biomass produced was estimated at 85,3 tonnes dry weight.ha-1. It represented 50% of total biomass of reed. Nitrogen and phosphorus removed by the aerial parts were respectively about: 985,47 and 41,51 Kg.ha-1. This amount account for about 12% of nitrogen and 3% phosphorus with regard to their load at the influent. Plant harvest once a year may be necessary to achieve definitive removal of nutrients incorporated in plant tissue.

This article is based on the results of an exploratory-descriptive research conducted with 297 young immigrant families and 40 workers on the primary social and cultural problems encountered by the families and on their modes of resolution of these problems. In the social sector, primary difficulties are centered around work while in the cultural sector, problems related to isolation corne first, followed by problems of care and education of the children in the host society. In this sector, workers underline problems related to social roles within the immigrant couple. While families and workers alike would like to have help from the formal sector of services for the social problems, families would rather seek help from the informal sector for the cultural problems. Difficulties related to accessibility and compatibility of services are seen as more numerous by workers than by families.

This research aims to analyze the influence of country risk and cultural distance on entry mode and control of SMEs over their subsidiaries. Two variables reflecting the entry mode were used : type of implantation (wholly-owned subsidiaries and international joint venture) and expatriation practices. To carry out this study, an online survey was conducted through a database constructed by ourselves and consists of 2526 French SMEs located abroad as subsidiaries. Our contribution shows that the country risk and cultural distance associated with the form of the subsidiary located abroad, but do not influence practices of expatriation.

Keywords: stratégies d'implantation à l'étranger, PME, risque pays, distance culturelle perçue, expatriation, international strategies, SMEs, country risk, perceived cultural distance, expatriation, Estrategias de implantación en el exterior, PYME, Riesgo país, Distancia cultural percibida, Expatriación