West Africa by E. W. MYERS

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 22, 1915

West Africa

By E. W. MYERS

E. W. MYERS

We have a good place here at Mamunta, or would have had we completed our buildings before the war broke out. My own house is nearly finished, but we need a house for our native schoolteacher, and a place for the school and dispensary. These are to be built of mud with grass roofs. Although we do not have all we might wish in the way of improvements, we are doing the best we can, and are beginning to see some results from our efforts. This gives us courage, and we hope that things will soon be settled so that we can have our other buildings. At present we are holding school in one of the chief’s barries.

Naturally, I am much interested in medical work. Every one here seems anxious to take medicine whether he is sick or not. A great many applicants have to be turned away. There are many needy ones for whom we could do much if they could be induced to follow our method of treatment long enough. One case might be of interest. The chief brought his sister to us with one side of her face badly swollen. On examination I found that there was an opening outside of her mouth and one inside. Both were discharging, and all her teeth on that side of her lower jaw were loose, with pus oozing out around them. I wanted to remove a few teeth and make the outside opening a little larger so that we could wash the pus out. They would not listen to this treatment, nor any part of it. They just wanted some medicine to rub on the outside, so we did the best we could for her with a bottle of antiseptic. In a few days I heard that something hard had appeared under her tongue. I supposed that it was one of her teeth which had fallen out, but it proved to be a piece of the jawbone.

In a short time we lost track of her entirely, only hearing occasionally that she was still alive. In about three months she came back to us ready to be treated. The first thing I did was to remove the piece of bone which was still protruding into her mouth. This almost made her angry, but her husband said it was all right. Then we began washing the sore every day with an antiseptic. At first the medicine ran freely from the outer opening into her mouth. In about two months the face was healed. The recovery of this woman has won the confidence of her family, who seem to appreciate our efforts.

The people here are all devil worshipers, with just a little Mohammedanism mixed in. We see many of their sacrifices and ceremonies. We have not been able to preach to the people regularly because we have not always had an interpreter; but when we are able to hold meetings, we have some interested listeners. One evening when I gave a chance for questions, one man asked, ‘What good thing must I do to please God?’ At another time, when I had been talking about the law of God, a man asked, ‘Does it please God for a man to have plenty of wives?’ I had said nothing about polygamy, for I thought it a little too soon to attack a custom so firmly held by the people. I thought surely the Holy Spirit must be working to raise this question in this man’s mind.

We are thankful that our Heavenly Father has seen fit to allow us peace and safety here in this time of trouble. We have felt the effects of the war very little. Of course prices of imported foods are a little higher; but the rice crop is good this year.

Our health is as good as could be expected. We begin to feel the effects of our stay here. The heat is rather hard on Mrs. Myers this year. We are just starting into our third dry season, which is the hottest part of the year.