A S r TA t \c<^_ oncrvoj} c^^oncryonCAon C ^Z/) c^ont?s2/> Q&S? ^0(hW0(hW0(hW0(^W0(hW0(hW0(hW0(hW0(hW0(b^0(hi^0(bW0(^W0(hW0VJ UOVJ OOVIOOV) UOV) uovb UOO UOVJ UOO OOO UOV) UO\b UOV) UOV3 UOVIUOV) OOV) UOV) UOV) UOV) UOV) UOV) uoo | FIFTEEN YEARS § I IN EAST AFRICA 1 °(0Q)o(pQ) o wQ)o(pQ) o (69o(pQ) o {6Q)o(0Q)c{0^ ) o(00)o(bQ)^o(oQ>o(b ISSUED BY AMERICAN FRIENDS BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS RICHMOND, INDIANA FIFTEEN YEARS IN EAST AFRICA A DESCRIPTION OF THE FIELD AND WORK OF THE FRIENDS AFRICA MISSION AMERICAN FRIENDS BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS HOME OFFICE RICHMOND, INDIANA A terrible state of anarchy existed in Kavirondo. 2 KAVIRONDO COUNTRY AND PEOPLE T HE Friends Africa Mission is located in a most inter¬ esting- part of Africa. At the back of the main station at Kaimosi lies a forest. Away to the northeast across hills and wooded valleys the Nandi escarpment, curtained with a rich blue, rises abruptly several hundred feet. From here the eye sweeps round the horizon, taking in Mt. Elgon, with its long slopes, almost due north of the station. All between the station and the mountain, some sixty or seventy miles distant, is filled with the massive, rolling, blue-cur¬ tained hills so characteristic of this part of Africa. To¬ ward the west the same hill country stretches as far as the eye can reach, and here and there heavy patches of timber relieve the barrenness of the hill sides. This fertile land is teeming with people. 3 FIFTEEN YEARS IN EAST AFRICA This fertile land is teeming with people, divided into tribes. Each tribe is controlled by a native chief often possessing large dignity but little or no real authority. Many of the hills are dotted with native huts grouped closely together in small clusters. Near many of the huts may be seen the small, irregular garden patches, and scat¬ tered over the hillsides are the flocks of sheep and goats and the herds of cattle. Before the advent of the British Government, a terrible state of anarchy existed in Kavirondo. Feuds of long stand¬ ing made it dangerous and often disastrous for the members of one tribe to encroach upon the territory of another tribe. Due to the persistent effort of the British authorities, law and order prevail throughout the greater part of this country and the tribes dwell together in peace. Kavirondo Character. The Kavirondo are a simple-minded people, not so in¬ telligent as some African tribes and lacking in initiative, but more capable of learning to do all sorts of manual labor. They are not wholly averse to working, but are glad to learn to do and make things like the white man. They have a real appreciation of humor, and one is often able to overcome a fit of stubbornness or rebellion by appealing to the ludicrous in them. Perhaps the most noticeable feature of the people is their almost absolute nakedness. Men, women and children wear practically nothing that can be called clothing. At the best, a sort of apron, made of a cow, goat or sheep skin, tanned or untanned, is all that can be expected. This primitive clothing is suspended from the neck by a cord made of fiber obtained from the stems of banana leaves. Men almost always have this apron; the women are more often without it, their only clothing 4 FIFTEEN YEARS IN EAST AFRICA Group of mourners on the way to a funeral. being a few strands of banana fiber tied around the loins. Little children have not even these string's. These people are among the cleanest in their personal habits of any in Africa. They do not make a practice of rubbing the body with clay and grease. Their hair is kept cut close and often shaved in fancy designs. Rings of iron are worn about the ankles and neck. Important men often wear a coil of wire from the wrist to the elbow, which is kept shining by frequent polishings. Fine chains of iron suspended from an iron ring around the neck are also worn by the men. Religion. The religion of these black folk is, in common with nearly all African tribes, of a very low order. It consists mainly in an attempt to keep the spirits which inhabit the 5 FIFTEEN YEARS IN EAST AFRICA trees, rocks and water courses favorably disposed toward them. This is accomplished by various offerings of meat and other food. Charms made of leopard’s claws, teeth, stone and other objects are worn to keep evil spirits at bay. Every “beer drink” is begun by pouring a libation of beer upon a few small stones placed on end to render the spirits favorably disposed toward the festivities. They have no clear conception of God, or Nyasaye, as He is called, and therefore they know nothing of a real heart attitude of worship. “Some may look upon Him as a creator, but very many have never thought of Him as such in their limited meditations concerning Him. At all events, He is a God afar off and not much interested in people. The ever-present Satan, with his countless host of evil spirits and malicious influences, is well known, feared, hated, but followed.” They stand in constant fear of death, which is to them the great unknown eternity. Their whole existence is controlled by customs, many of which are un¬ reasonable and harmful. Treatment of Women. The condition of women is in some respects better than in most places where heathenism holds absolute sway. While she is held to be but little above the cattle with which she is bought, the burdens of the family life are somewhat evenly divided between the husband and wife. The men take some part in the garden work. They clear the thick brush from the ground and the women follow to dig it with their hoes. When the crop is ready for weeding the men assist. While the men are engaged in this lighter work, the heavier task of cutting and carrying the firewood falls to the lot of the women. The load of wood which one of these women will often carry long distances could 6 FIFTEEN YEARS IN EAST AFRICA not be carried half as far by a strong white man. During the harvest, the men again share the work. Marriage. Unlike some pagans, the Kavirondo people take espe¬ cially good care of their daughters, not because they esteem them more highly, but because they may be sold and thus enrich the father. The daughter, when of marriageable age, and it arrives early in life, can be sold for several sheep, cows, hoes, or bracelets. The daughter’s preference may be considered in the affair, but usually the father and bridegroom consummate the bargain. Houses. The houses in which these people live are built with up¬ right walls about three feet high. The walls are made by driving stakes thickly in a circle and smearing the inside with mud. The roof is of thatch supported upon a pole about nine feet high. A typical house is divided into three apartments, not by partitions but by the use to which they are put. The front space is a general one where, during the day, the women grind and the children play, and at night the cattle stand. The second space is for chickens and goats, over which, on a shelf, is stored the firewood. The third is the bedroom for the whole family. It com¬ prises about a fourth of the hut, which is twelve or fifteen feet in diameter. If the family is large and at the same time prosperous, the little hut may be rather crowded at night. As polygamy is common, and as there is a separate hut for each wife, there may be several huts close together, forming a family group and the whole cluster often sur¬ rounded by a hedge or by a brush or mud wall. All the home life there is must be centered about such uninviting 7 FIFTEEN YEARS IN EAST AFRICA places, which are hot in the day time and damp in the morn¬ ing-, evening- and throughout the rainy season. These houses have practically no furniture, and are made less in¬ viting by the smoke from a smoldering fire, that cannot get out of the hut save through one little door and the thatch roof. Witch Doctors. In the past, witch doctors held absolute sway over the peo¬ ple. In case of sickness, trouble or war, the witch doctor was al¬ ways consulted. He frequently maltreated his patients and left them in a worse condition than when he began his quack treat¬ ment. For all his services he demanded exorbitant fees. Thanks to the untiring efforts of medical missionaries and others, the witch doctor is losing the confidence of his tribes-men. Dancing and Drinking. Dancing and beer-drinking A witch doctor. . . occupy a prominent place m the lives of the people. An “orchestra,” consisting of native drums and cowhide shields stretched tightly over wooden frames and beaten by naked men furnish the music. The men dance with men and the women with women. Some of the women will engage in the dance carrying little chil¬ dren astride their hips. The dancers continue until almost exhausted, when they will stop long enough to hear from an orator, who has been chosen by the chief having the 8 FIFTEEN YEARS IN EAST AFRICA affair in charge. In the mild light of the moon, the weird songs, the rhythmic motions, the nude bodies of the men, women and children, and the vile gestures of these de¬ graded people, tell of a people strangers to righteousness, but all too familiar with sin. History of Friends’ Work in Africa. The British East Africa Colony has an area of 350,000 square miles and a population of about 4,000,000. Among the first to penetrate this unknown land were Dr. Krapf (1837-56) and John Rebmann (1846-76), who established the Anglican missions. These intrepid missionary ex¬ plorers were followed by representatives from the Church of Scotland, the Scandinavian Alliance and other mission¬ ary bodies. In 1895 Willis R. Hotchkiss, of Ohio Yearly Meeting, began work in Africa under an undenomina¬ tional board. With the hope of interesting Friends in the work there, he returned to America in 1899 and soon ef¬ fected a temporary organization. Africa’s needs were laid before a number of Yearly Meetings, and Friends rallied to the support of the work. In 1902 the Board of the Friends Africa Industrial Mission was incorporated under the laws of the State of Ohio, with the primary object of evangelizing the heathen. In the spring of 1902, Willis R. Hotchkiss, Arthur B. Chilson, and Edgar T. Hole sailed from New York to lay the foundations of the present Friends Africa Mission. Upon arriving at Mombasa they entrained for Kisumu, the terminus of the Uganda Railway. From here they went on foot into the Kavirondo country to search out a suitable location for a mission station. Arthur Chilson graphically narrates the events immediately preceding the locating of the station. 9 FIFTEEN YEARS IN EAST AFRICA “After having tramped about 200 miles, we began pros¬ pecting along the timber belt. At the first camp, Willis R. Hotchkiss was taken ill and could not be moved for over a week, then Edgar Hole began also to succumb to fever. On the second day of this journey a location was sighted which appeared to be a suitable place to camp for the Sab¬ bath, but on closer observation it proved to be quite un¬ healthful and uninviting to two men already attacked by fever. The caravan halted there while I pushed through the jungle that lay between us and a small hill. After forcing our way for a mile through this thick jungle, we came to the hill, but found that it was only a pile of stones which would afford no camping place. We hastened back, the question of a camping place becoming more and more Mission House at Kaimosi, the main station. 10 FIFTEEN YEARS IN EAST AFRICA serious every moment, with one man sick and another far from well. I had stopped looking for a mission site and was bending every energy to find a suitable camp. When we came back to where the caravan had halted, I climbed a tree to gain a better view of the country and espied through the trees this grassy slope where we are now located. I hurried down and we started toward it. Crossing the river we came up the gradual slope and camped within fifty feet of the spot where the iron house is located. Little did we think that we had discovered the place where we should labor in the future for these needy people.” Soon after this, 858 acres of land were purchased from the British Government. Part of the land is heavily tim¬ bered, and across one corner runs the Lugoli river with a fall of twenty feet. Though but little more than one degree from the equator, the climate is mild and healthful because the alti¬ tude is over 5,000 feet. The thermometer ranges from 48 degrees to 98 degrees in the shade. The nights are quite cool, necessitating blankets and comforts. The sun is ex¬ tremely hot at midday and quite oppressive and penetrating, making it necessary for foreigners to shield themselves by wearing helmets or carrying umbrellas. To prepare this site for white occupancy required a long and arduous period of time. The ground had to be cleared of grass, shrubs and trees. After this had been done, it was plowed and planted to wheat, millet, potatoes and garden vegetables. Houses of poles, mud and thatch served as headquarters for the mission workers. These houses also proved attractive to the rats and snakes. One mission¬ ary tells of having to poke the canvas above the bed to scare away the rats before sleep was possible, and occa¬ sionally a snake was found in the morning curled up near 11 FIFTEEN YEARS IN EAST AFRICA at hand. Good dwellings for most of our missionaries have reduced these experiences to a minimum and we hope soon to have enough houses at the mission stations to prevent the recurrence of such night visiting. Three new dwellings are needed at once if the health and efficiency of the mis¬ sionaries still living in mud houses is to be maintained. The Chilson family and their mud house. Work was immediately begun on the language, which had to be reduced to writing, and within a few months’ time the Kavirondo heard for the first time the story of Jesus and His love. Emory J. Rees, who with his wife joined the mission staff in 1904, has rendered valuable service in translation work. Since the founding of the mission in British East Africa, the work has developed along four distinct, and yet inter¬ related lines. 12 FIFTEEN YEARS IN EAST AFRICA Industrial. While the mission was organized primarily to give the Gospel to the African people, those in charge soon felt that industrial work must be used as one of the means to this end. A lazy person in any land makes a poor Christian and the African proved to be no exception to this rule. And again, if a self-supporting church was ever to be formed, the members would have to be freed from their condition of poverty. And the natives who accepted Christ must be taught how to change their environment if the permanency of the work was to be assured. With these fundamental principles in mind, the mission staff began teaching the natives how to till the soil and how to raise better crops. New vegetables and plants were introduced. Making brick for better buildings. 13 FIFTEEN YEARS IN EAST AFRICA Coffee plants were set out, but so far the venture has not passed the experimental stage. Clay suitable for brick-making was discovered and brick-making plants were installed. After many failures, the station boys have learned to lay straight walls and to erect buildings which are a credit to them. Lumbering also figures largely in the industrial work. Large quan¬ tities of timber are produced by the mission saw mill at Kaimosi which more than supply the needs of the mission stations. Road-making and bridge-building have been in¬ cluded in the industrial work. The bridges mean as much to the people themselves as to the missionaries. In 1916, a boy of twelve, while attempting to ford a stream, was very badly bitten by a crocodile, and in 1914 a boy some¬ what older, while trying to help a woman across the ford, was carried away by one of these animals. Today, one may travel de luxe by mule team or motorcycle from one station to the other without having to ford streams or wind along over twisting trails. One missionary narrates the following experience of traveling over native trails: “It is hardly a pleasure trip to wind in and out all day, shut in by the bushes, while an equatorial sun glares at you straight from above. You toil up hill only to find when at the top that there is a valley beyond. The nettles sting you, the thistles prick you, and the sun scorches you.” A printing press recently sent to the field is another asset to the industrial work. Already a first reader, por¬ tions of Scripture, including the Gospels and the Acts, a hymn book and an arithmetic have been prepared and printed in the vernacular. ddie girls have not been neglected in the scheme of in¬ dustrial education. Sewing classes provide opportunity for 14 FIFTEEN YEARS IN EAST AFRICA Chief Murunga and his new house. Murunga is at the left holding a walking stick. the women and girls to learn that art. They are first taught to sew patches together, and later to make dresses for them¬ selves. As a result of this work, the number of naked peo¬ ple on the mission compound is steadily diminishing. The industrial work has given the missionaries a splen¬ did opportunity to teach the people better habits of living and to present Christ to them. One of the chiefs, Murunga, lives in a brick house having a cement floor and porch and furnished with good chairs and a table. And at some time during the day religious services are conducted at each of the main mission stations. Medical. The African is a prey to numerous physical ailments. Ulcers, snake bites, broken bones, plague, burns, smallpox, 15 FIFTEEN YEARS IN EAST AFRICA and other equally uncomfortable and dangerous afflictions have rendered the native’s lot a hard one to endure. A hospital has been erected at Kaimosi, and is now under the management of Dr. A. A. Bond and wife. The following items regarding the work were taken from some of their letters. April 15, 1917.—“Dr. Bond has fixed up one room for a dispensary and has already had quite a practice. It will take time to get the natives to be willing to come and stay here while they are sick, but they will come to it gradually. They are so bound by their old superstitions and customs, especially the old people. He had a case the other day which needed to be brought in. An old man fell out of a tree and broke his leg in such a way that only amputation would save his life. But he would have nothing done, and died that night. The young people are much more easily per¬ suaded to take medicine. Several have already been here. They have lots of sores and ulcers. It is pitiful to see the little babies with these skin diseases. Some babies have been brought who have burns. The mothers have to go away to work in their gardens and while they are gone the babies, who are left at home on the floor, roll into the fire which is in the middle of the hut floor.” May 7, 1917.—“During the first month I treated about one hundred and fifty dispensary patients, made five calls into the reserve, gave medical attention to six missionaries and other whites and made one trip eighty miles distant to see a sick settler. During the second month I treated seven hundred and fifty dispensary patients, made fifteen visits into the reserve and gave medical attention to ten mission¬ aries and other whites. There is certainly a great field for medical work here and I believe that it will contribute much to the missionary work as soon as we get the hospital 16 FIFTEEN YEARS IN EAST AFRICA started, as it will give an additional point of contact with the natives and help to win their confidence.” July 1, 1917.—“The medical work continues to increase and the outlook is very promising in this connection. The suffering due to ignorance, superstition and filthy living is almost unbelievable. Some days ago I was called to see a native woman who was very ill and who had been un¬ conscious for several days. She might have recovered, but according to their custom, her friends, believing that she was going to die, carried her on their shoulders many miles through the bush to her home, so that she might die there. And of course she did die after such treatment. It is a great privilege to be able to work to improve such conditions as these and to make such work contribute to the spiritual welfare of the people.” One of the many village schools, with native teacher. 17 FIFTEEN YEARS IN EAST AFRICA Educational. It is the strong conviction of all missionary workers that the greater part of the evangelization of the heathen must be done by native evangelists. Africa must be won to Christ by the Africans. Our missionaries are, therefore, striving to help solve the problem of supplying native workers, not only by leading them to Christ, but also by teaching and training them. It is evident that they must, at least, be able to read the Scriptures, if they are to be¬ come teachers and evangelists. The school work is, therefore, conducted primarily as a helper to the evangelistic work. Schools have been organized at the main stations and at a number of outlying villages. These are well attended by boys, girls and some older people. Reading, writing, simple arithmetic, manual training and Bible study make up the present curriculum in the schools. The daily work is car¬ ried out according to the following schedule: 6:30 a. m.—Morning work begins. 8:00 a. m.—Girls’ school. 9 :00 a. m.—Medicines are dispensed. 10:00 a. m. to 12:30 p. m.-—School. 2 :00 to 4:00 p. m.—School. The Africans have not been slow to see the advantages to be gained from educational work and have made many demands upon the mission force for more schools. Jeffer¬ son Ford writes, “Walioula, a head-man of importance living out near the west end of our district, requested us to establish a school in his- district. He is thirty-five or forty miles from the station. On the way to visit him and his people, I passed through the district in which Kirui is head-man. In talking with him, he asked to have 18 FIFTEEN YEARS IN EAST AFRICA a school established in his district. Both of these head-men have several boys in the station school. Each sent several times to ask me to come again and measure and lay out a school house for them.” Many of the pupils, as soon as they have received a smattering of knowledge are sent back to their local villages to teach their fellowmen the little that they have learned. One boy is reported to have walked fourteen miles three days in the week to teach school. This teaching is alter¬ nated with work at the main stations, thus preparing the teachers for a larger service. The girls have not been neglected. A girls’ school at Lirhanda. In 1915, shortly before returning to America on fur¬ lough, Edgar T. Hole surveyed the field in order to learn the number of pupils attending school. He found that 4,431 were availing themselves of this opportunity and that others were clamoring for the establishment of schools in their village. This is one of the most important phases 19 FIFTEEN YEARS IN EAST AFRICA of the work being carried out on the field, and it should receive a heartier support from the home church. Evangelistic. From the very inception of the work, the field staff has ever kept foremost the evangelization of these benighted people. Before the first workers knew enough of the lan¬ guage to tell the people of Jesus Christ, they sought to manifest Him through their daily living, and as soon as they had acquired a slight knowledge of the Kavirondo speech they began holding religious services with the people. Going to meeting at Kaimosi. The first service on Sunday morning is usually held soon after sunrise with the boys who are to hold services at the out-stations. The time is spent in prayer and Bible study. Sunday School comes later in the morning. Roxie Reeve reports 1,500 in attendance at one Sunday School service. Preaching services are held at eleven o’clock. The number in attendance upon the meeting for worship at 20 FIFTEEN YEARS IN EAST AFRICA Maragoli has run as high as 1,300. At one Christmas service 2,800 were counted and a number left before the count was made. Christian Endeavor Societies have been organized at some of the stations. One of the most promising phases of this work is that carried on at the outlying villages. Native evangelists and teachers who have received some instruction at one of the main stations go out singly or in groups to tell the village folk of Jesus and His love. As many as 1,100 people have been in attendance at one of these services, and many thou¬ sands hear the Gospel each week through the faithful ef¬ forts of these young evangelists. The boys do not always meet with such success. Jefferson Ford writes: “Last Sunday one of our Christian workers heard that a great number of people had been called to a certain place to work the road, and went expecting to have an opportunity to reach many people with the message. But the man who was superintending the job refused to let the people stop work¬ ing for a little to hear the message, although the old chief requested him to let them. So after having a little service with the old men and six or eight others, he came home, but very much disappointed. At other times, we have watched him to see if the disappointment would affect his earnestness. But he has always taken the first opportunity to go right back to the same people.” Sunday afternoon services are usually held for the girls and boys, and Wednesday and Thursday evenings are given over to prayer and inquiry meetings. The Africans who accept Christ are put on probation for at least two years. During this period, they are given careful instruction in the fundamental principles of Chris¬ tianity. Severe times of testing come to many of these pro¬ bationers who have to endure the jeers, taunts and threats 21 FIFTEEN YEARS IN EAST AFRICA of their fellows still living in paganism. Some are not able to endure the tests and lapse into gross sin. But the num¬ ber of those who stand true is increasing. At the Christmas conference held in 1916, 300 strong Christians met for counsel and help. The transforming power of the Gospel is slowly but surely working permanent changes in the lives of these people. Wives of the Christian men are beginning to give up their lewd ornaments; increasing numbers of men and women wear clothing; each year sees the list of those who live in decent houses lengthened; Sabbath observance is on the increase; the native church is growing in numbers and power; and gradually a strong Christian community is arising out of the mass of paganism. THE THREEFOLD CHALLENGE. At the present time, the Africa field presents a three¬ fold challenge to Friends in America. The Unreached Multitudes. While our missionaries have been faithfully at work in this field for fifteen years, and while a few hundred natives have found in the Gospel that which meets every need, little more than a beginning has been made and thousands are yet in the clutch of superstition, ignorance, and pagan darkness, “With all the excellent work which has been done,” writes Dr. A. A. Bond, “the task of evangelizing these natives has only just begun. Thousands and thou¬ sands have not the slightest conception of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and do not even know that such a privilege exists for them.” Surely this great mass of unreached 22 FIFTEEN YEARS IN EAST AFRICA humanity presents a challenge to us as a church to go forth and transform it with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. M ohammedanism. Mohammedanism entered North Africa 640 A. D. and, with the exception of a few years, has been steadily advanc- ing. All of North Africa, the Sudan region and Nigeria have been overrun and today the region immediately south of the equator is seriously menaced. Every Moslem trader is a propagator of his faith, and so successful has he been that his converts outnumber those of the Christian mission¬ ary four to one. Every day 40,000,000 Africans bow at the hour of prayer and repeat the creed, “There is no god but God; Mohammed is the apostle of God.” Like a monster reptile, this religion is slowly but surely coiling itself about Africa, and will claim the continent as its prey unless the church bestirs herself and goes to the rescue. Missionary leaders tell us that the next twenty-five years will answer the question as to whether Christ or Mohammed shall be supreme in Africa. As yet, the portion of Africa where our work is located has not been overrun by Islam, but Indian traders, who are flocking into the country over the Uganda railway, con¬ stitute a serious menace to our work. Unless we can erect an adequate barrier against their advance, they will surely sweep over our field and make the work of the missionaries infinitely more difficult. A Native Leadership. The period of pioneer work has almost come to a close and we now face a new era in Africa. Scarcely a week passes by without some chief or head-man clamoring for the establishment of a school in his village. Thousands 23 FIFTEEN YEARS IN EAST AFRICA might in this way be brought under the influence of the Gospel if the force on the field were adequate to meet the demands. Another clamoring group is composed of native Chris¬ tians. Feeling the call of God to teach, preach and evan¬ gelize, they are asking for the training which will fit them for the task. For the last few years there has been a press¬ ing need for a dormitory boarding school where the best native Christians might be trained for more efficient work. Up to the present time, Friends have withheld the money needed for the erection of such a school, thus denying to these young people the right and privilege of preparing for the work to which they have felt called. We can never hope to man the field with a suffi¬ cient force of foreign missionaries to evangelize this dis¬ trict, and unless we speedily make it possible to train the native ministry, paganism will successfully impede the progress of the Gospel and Mohammedanism will make such inroads upon our work that the cause will suffer irre¬ parable loss. Shall not Friends rise to meet this imperative, three¬ fold challenge, and help give Africa the Gospel for which it has so long waited? 24