Children -- Africa -- Juvenile literature; Missions -- Africa -- Juvenile literature
“Soon the class is hard at work. Some learn very quickly, others find
the management of the needle almost beyond their powers; some need
words of praise and encouragement to help them to persevere, while
others require judicious fault-finding and criticism to nip incipient
vanity in the bud. A few words about the use of the words ‘Please’ and
‘Thank you,’ a few lessons in the elements of gentle bearing to each
other--courtesy to my self is never lacking--are taken in very good
part, and remembered and put into practice.
“In the course of the day’s lesson, which lasts two and a half to three
hours, several may get advanced from the ‘patch’ to the ‘sash’ stage.
The price of the ordinary sash is sixpence. (The work done in all the
sewing classes is sold later at a little bazaar, and the proceeds are
given to some scheme in connection with the native church.) I hear the
girls planning how they will manage to buy the sash when it is hemmed.
‘I have fowls at home worth sixpence,’ says one. ‘I have only one fowl
but it can lay eggs,’ says another. Some, having no source of income
can but regretfully admire, and envy their more fortunate companion.
“About two o’clock I take in the work again, and proceed to do a little
simple surgery, the binding up of ulcers chiefly. Anything serious I
decline to dress, advising the sufferers to come to Hospital, but the
simple sores, which are sadly common, are quite within my powers. It
brings me into touch with the people at another point of contact and
increases our sympathy.
“The dressings done and the farewells said, I call my carriers, get
into my machila, and off we go, my men singing lustily as they bear me
swiftly along the native path. The village lies close among the hills,
and the path winds in and out through native gardens and bush and long
grass, while two streams and a bog have to be forded. On either side
rise the ‘everlasting hills’; solemn, grand, restful, beautiful at all
times, in sunshine or shadow. In about an hour we leave the native path
and turn into the dusty high road, and a very short time finds us again
at the mission.”
And now to show you mission hospital work. I have found in the same
magazine the story of Gwebede, the Angoni labourer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account