"Rösler's Report"

Concerning work in the Anum district proper. At the beginning of the report is a comment that the administration of the community is a very depressing activity, with so many oases of discipline to attend to. In reporting on the Anum community itself Rösler writes that recently Anum people have more and more began to make farms along the river in order to sell their products advantageously to the merchants involved in the river traffic. Many however, go away for months at a time, taking their schoolchildren with them. They have appealed to them to make the effort to get back to Anum at least for Sunday, but some are as far as 3 hours away, along difficult tracks, and though some have responded to this appeal others have not. Perhaps they should put a catechist at say Pese (where there are already 6 Christians) to serve the riverside groups - he would need a boat to work on both shores (though this may well refer to the Akwamu people on the west bank) and he would have to be a strong man to resist the temptation to trade (he also builds up a picture of considerable interest nevertheless in the services, including among the heathen, while the school is not much attended by heathen children and even the Christian children are irregular in their attendance). The dismissed Wesleyan teacher was an ex-Akropong middle school boy, he had gained the favour of influential men by beginning to teach them English, and had gained a following on Sundays by marching his scholars in the streets singing hymns in the local rhythm. It was to combat his influence that the evening school, teaching inter al English was set up. In Boso they are having a lot of trouble because most of the members of the church are also attending funeral customs, and cannot resist the temptation to drink spirits In Kpalime they had been very impressed by an old member, John Kodwo, who had been bedridden with a very .painful and crippling disease. He had learned to read, and had a bible with him which he used a lot, and in their frequent-conversations with him the missionaries reckoned they could see the Holy Spirit at work – he was very open to suggestions and corrections from them. Discussing the Tsate area he writes of difficulties being had with the congregation at Aburofuom, who will not agree to the arrangement made between Basel and Bremen that their area belongs to the latter. Their main reason contra Rösler feels is that though they are an Ewe-speaking group, in that district Twi bas the sort of status that French has in Europe - if you can't speak Twi you are a bush man. Therefore they want the Twi-speaking mission to send them a teacher. (One of the elderly Christians in this congregation, baptised 6 years ago and, regularly walking the 2 hours to Tsate for services since is called Mose).

03.10.1894

03.10.1894

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