Page 211 - The Diary of A. H. W. Behrens
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1904
I did it in order to destroy the counter-school plan of Regent Raligoapa, alias Daniel More I. He was not allowed to
simply take pupils from the registered schools to his counter- school. His whole plan failed and one day he came and asked me whether he could take over the Teacher Isaak Poko,
which I allowed him. Isaak became the principal and stayed principal until he died in 1941 and we stayed dear friends.
He married Ottilde, the daughter of Manotse. The Raligoapa School disappeared. The other missionaries did not want to
be registered. I received a couple of hundreds of pounds and could buy everything that was necessary in the schools and the teachers got their salaries and could do further training through the courses that the government had organised for teachers. The other missionaries held it against me that I had taken
this step but followed suit later on when they were put under pressure by the congregations.
August Behrens built himself a new house in Bethanie under contract, in which Missionary K. Buhr is now living, and stayed in Bethanie. Siebelts then lived in father’s house and from 1905 – 1913 Meyer lived in it and then it became a classroom.
1905
When Siebelts was gone, I asked Superintendent Yordt to
give me Brother Meyer who was without work in Berseba. He came and we shared the work. He took care of the ongoing congregation work, such as baptisms, funerals, confirmation classes, confessions, sermons, visiting the sick.