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)
Let us take Charlie as an example. He, with a number of other boys, went
to Southern Rhodesia to work on a farm. He remained a year and received
fifteen shillings ($3.60) per month, and he had to pay his way down and
back on the train. He came home at the end of the year with a nice
supply of new clothing and some money, and he looked as clean and
well-dressed as a European when he came to Church on Sunday. He is a
Christian boy and is trying to do what is right. Soon after his return
home, his father, who is one of the three lazy men I mentioned, and
extremely filthy in appearance, began wearing Charlie's clothes. First
it was a shirt and a piece of calico; then another garment; then his
nice grey coat. Charlie gave his little naked brother one of his shirts.
He wished to marry, and this took all of his money. In a few months he
presented quite a different appearance from what he did on his return
home from Bulawayo, and we began to blame him, at least in our minds,
and say that he should not allow himself to degenerate in this way. But
most of his clothing is gone and his money is gone; he does not even
have sufficient with which to purchase soap, so that he may wash the
remaining clothing.
Says one, "He should keep at work and not come and sit down in his
home." The work takes him away from home, and his wages are low, so that
he must keep at it continually in order to maintain appearances. May he
not have any home life at all? It is a perplexing problem, and were we
forced to take his place we would no doubt conclude that the boy does
remarkably well under the circumstances. While at home he works in his
gardens and does what he can find to do for the white men near his home;
then, as his needs increase, he again goes to Bulawayo to begin again.
This is an actual occurrence and typical of many others. He may conclude
to have no home life, but keep up the semblance of civilization, hang
about the towns, and imitate many evils surrounding him, and in the end
prove a greater menace to society and to the country than if he would,
at least part of the time, live in his own home in a more primitive
manner. Again, if he depends too much on the stores of the traders, he
ceases to manufacture articles for himself, so that if he does finally
settle down for himself, tired of the struggle, he is often more
helpless than at first, because he cannot make the articles which his
father made.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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