"Anum Stations Conference"

An appeal for funds to provide 10 more school pupils with food payments of £l=10 yearly. The appeal is backed by the arguments that 1. The Anum people do not yet understand the point of schooling, hence pupils must be paid. 2. It is vital, for the sake of evangelisation, that the use of Twi be promoted among the Anum people: their Kyerepong is so different from Date Kyerepong that even a Date catechist (Chr. Asiedu) cannot understand or be understood in Kyerepong. 3. Although he is asking for £1=10, he considers that the pupils should be able to earn about half that sum by work. Cleaning the paths and cleaning cotton is suggested. Plantation work for coffee would also be possible. Plantation work for cotton, maize, yams would not fit so easily since these crops require a new bush clearing each year. The current 9 pupils are all working for the mission. They give cause for satisfaction, are making good progress, have learned Twi quickly, and some are ‘not far from the Kingdom of Heaven'. One, Joseph Kwame, has made enough progress to be usable as an auxiliary teacher. School hours: 8 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. Present payment for school work: 2 Franks 25 cents per month and clothing. Schonhuth's opinion is that, although paying people to attend school is regrettable, there is no other way of ensuring school attendance in Anum. A subscript from.J.A. Mader supports the proposal, in the peculiar conditions which obtain in Anum, However: 'The Brethren in Anum will also learn that congregations do not grow out of schools, but develop through the preaching of the Word and the message of the Father in the Son’. Mader forecasts a rapid development of the community in Anum as in Late: like Late the Anum communities live in towns, and do not spend long period’s resident in their farming villages. Like Late, also, they will come rapidly to appreciate the uses of Twi, partly because of the rich literature which is being developed in the language. However, the Anum parents, with their energetic farming, will not easily let their children go to school unless they can see some immediate concrete advantage.

22.07.1868

22.07.1868

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