South and South Central Africa: A record of fifteen years' missionary labors among primitive peoplesDavidson, Hannah Frances
History
South and South Central Africa: A record of fifteen years' missionary labors among primitive peoples
Davidson, Hannah Frances
Brethren in Christ Church -- Missions; Missions -- Rhodesia; Ndebele (African people); Tsonga (African people)
"I think it lies in this: that the native so readily responds to
civilization and improvement, that he comes up to our highest
expectation along some lines; and then we, forgetting the generations of
barbarism back of him, think he should measure up to our expectations
along all lines. When he fails us at some particular point we become
disgusted and do not give him credit for the advancement he has made."
There seems to be much truth in the above statement and it has often
been a help to me in dealing with natives. There is something else also
which must not be lost sight of, and that is that as much as possible
they should be dealt with as individuals. Too often the white man thinks
the natives are all made over the same mould, and that the
characteristics of one are the characteristics of all. He will often not
take the trouble to study their individuality, and perhaps he thinks
they do not have any. This is not surprising. Europeans often visit New
York, remain a short time and then return home, thinking they know
Americans, and can be found prating of how Americans do. If people come
to such superficial conclusions about such a heterogeneous mass of
humanity as exists in the United States of America, it is not surprising
that one or two natives in the eyes of many white people stand as a type
of all Africans.
The writer has had an opportunity of studying the natives of four or
five tribes and has come into contact in various ways with several other
tribes, yet she feels that her knowledge of the native character is in
many respects superficial and unsatisfactory. It has this to recommend
it, however, that it is gleaned at first hand from many years' residence
among the raw and semi-civilized Africans.
We have tried to show that the natives differ greatly in their ability
to learn in school and out of it, in their habits of cleanliness, and in
their readiness to receive the Gospel. As there was a large number of
boys about us day by day, we found that they also greatly differed in
disposition, as much so as white people, and it was necessary to study
the characteristic of each in dealing with them. They soon understand if
the missionary respects and trusts them; and they readily respond to
such treatment and show by their conduct that such confidence is not
misplaced. On the other hand, if they are censured for a fault,
especially if they think the censure is unjust, they soon become
careless and discouraged. On account of their secluded and simple life
they, even the grown ones, are much like children when they first come
into contact with white people, and they fail to understand why two
persons should treat them differently--why two missionaries or two
masters should not have the same way of doing things, the same
generosity and the same dispositions.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account