"Tschopp to Basel - Report on the Boarding School in the first half of the year"

The pupils all returned on time at the end of the Christmas Holidays (except one who was ill in Bepong), and were early in the term joined by 3 further scholars. There was no diminution of numbers during the course of the year, so that the year finished with 16 pupils. The new pupils were: - Charles Martin Odame who had previously been at the school and then left. - Charles Kwaben Awurae, son of the elder of the church in Asunafo who fled to Abetifi with the other 47 Akim Christians. His father left with the rest on 9th May, leaving his son in the Boarding School. - Kwadro Nkansa The latter is the subject of a long story. His mother had been a slave in Akropong (with an aunt of the current Abetifi catechist Boateng) and had married a man from Nkwatia who had been pawned to the same woman (Tschopp remarks en passant that pawning to an Akwapim is common, .since being nearer the coast they have more money). They ran away to Nkwatia 9 years ago, and though the earlier in Akropong sent messengers to Nkwatia to get the woman back, the husband refused to let her go because the English law did not allow slavery in Akropong. However about 18 months ago the master had given the two children to Bowi in Nkwatia – thoug again the father refused to give them up and the boy in fact stayed for a time on the station with Catechist Boateng, though later returned to Nkwatia. In January the mistress sent someone to fetch the children by force, hence they fled to the mission Station. After discussions with the missionaries they went to their relatives in Abetifi, but the boy was seized and taken to Nkwatia, where next day Tschopp found him and released him from his bonds. Since then he has been in the school, and Tschopp is very pleased with his progress. He certainly looks better than he did when he first came covered only by a tattered cotton cloth. Several days after (the boy entered the school) when the danger was over, the parents returned to Nkwatia. He reports in outline a trek to Peteko on the Afram plains, undertaken to preach. They passed two villages quite empty because the people had gone to the Afram to catch fish. He reports hippopotamus in the Afram, and at the far bank the white painted tempel of the Afram fetish, On the whole the audiences were large and attentive.

13.06.1887

13.06.1887

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