DARKEST AFRICA

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 28, 27 October 1937, Page 13

DARKEST AFRICA

Fight Against Disease in The Congo MISSIONARIES' DIFFICULTIES The story of the fight by tho modern medical missionary against tropical diseases and the superstitious fear of the native of the Congo basin was iliustrated in a lantern lecture given by Mr E. G. Salisbury; of Wellington, in the AssemUly Hall last evening. The hospitals of the missionary are able to co-operate with the Belgiau Government and pictures of the Dan Crawford Memorial Hospital at Luanza, where the speaker had been stationed for the past seven years, were shown, the building being of native design with a large reception hall, separatq wafds for men and women, and an up-to-da,te operating theatre, dispensary and laboratory. . Such hospitals last year examined some 4,000,000 na- ' tives for the vaiious tropical maladies. • A work earried out by the women missionaries was the education oi the native girl aud mother. Housekeeping, first aid and the care of infants nad a great effect on the mind of the native woman, and thi-ough this medium the many crude superstitious surrounding the Lorne and" mot'herhood were*. dispelled. In spite of the - progress ' made, tlie missionary had often to save many babies from death at the hands o'f the parents, aud the wives from their husbands. One of the strenuous sides of the missionaries work quoted by the speaker was the visiting of his "paxv isli." This covered an area about the size of the North Island and contained native sehools and dispensaries which had to be supervised. Some of the natives were capable organisers and were quite abla to give injeetdons and use the microscope to the same degree of efficiency as the white, This visiting was done mainly by bicycle and boat, and there was always the danger of being attacked by wild animals, or being bitten by enakesi Often what were termed emergency cases wero rushed into the hospital by the villagers. Natives were attacked by wild beasts, the most troublesome being the crocodile and the hippopotamus. Mr Salisbury told how one of the mission cows was attacked by a crocodile and badly lacerated, but, with the help of some gut and a needle, much to the delight of the natives, this precious animal was healed. The introduotion of modern medical methods still had its opposition in the pawer of the medicine-men of the tribes, but European methods were rapidly gaining a foothold in the Congo which was still a land of enterprise and possibility. At the close of the lecture a short film was shown, the films being taken by a friend of that great missionary pioneer Dan Crawford. This ehowed shots of the grave of this great missionary, as well as views of the famous Victoria Falls and the scenio beauty of tho Congo River.