INESS MISSL
Africa’s
Women
Are Awaking
by Mrs. Michael Kurlak Christian ami Missionary Alliance
“ TT don ’ t care ; she must go to her husband!” was the JL response when we remonstrated with the men who were dragging the kicking, screaming girl through the. mud and mire of a Kankan street'. These men were forc ing the girl to marry a man against her will, and there was no reprieve for the girl. When he learned that the man in question was old and already had several wives, the girl’s resistance to such highhanded methods seemed understandable. Again screams came from across the street. Upon in vestigation we found a man beating his wife unmerci fully. Our inquiries revealed the fact that this cruel treatment was being inflicted because the wife had ne glected to take a cup of water to her husband with his evening meal. When we dared to make the observation that a minor offense like that hardly warranted such severe punishment, we were rebuked by a spectator. “Madame,” he said, “ If he doesn’t beat her for that now, she’ll do something worse the next time.’ An old woman lay ill on a mat outside the door of her hut. As we tried to talk with her about the Christ who loved her, a young man came by and gave her a vicious kick. “What are you doing?” we cried. “ Oh,” was the heartless reply, “ that is all right; she is only my mother.” Being forced to marry against her will — receiving un merited abuse — being disrespectfully treated in her old age — such was the lot of the African woman 35 years ago when we first came to Africa. An African husband considered his wife far inferior to him; she was simply part of his goods and chattels. Had he not paid a dowry for her? Was she not his property to do with as he pleased? After all, all she was good for was to cook his meals and bear his children. Although this situation was ameliorated somewhat under the rule of France, yet woman continued to hold an inferior position to man. In many little ways this was evident. A man would not sit down and chat with his wife; he was above that. If he and his wife were going to the same place at the same time, she would walk several paces behind him, to satisfy his superiority com plex. Now, nearly two score years after the above scenes were enacted, the status of womanhood in the new re public of Guinea is undergoing a radical change. With the coming independence three years ago came a new era for the womeit of this country. Instead of being trod-
Christian women pounding grain for special feast Lavish preparations are made for feast
den under foot, as she has been for centuries, she is being emancipated and her status is being elevated to a high level. For example, the title “Madame” always used to be reserved for the white women only, but the men now use it freely in speaking to or of the African women. The new government passed a law recently abolishing polygamy. Effort is being made to enforce the law, but because it is diametrically opposed to the economic life of the people, enforcement has not made much headway yet. However, many women are looking for the day
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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