Page 13 - History of Arabian Mission 1926-1957

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• Lrcumstance3 will never allow them to become teachers; nor do many of them
atay long enough to develop a real love of learning for .learning'a cake. The clubs had a literary program as well as the usual songs and g.unes,
Perhaps they come because they find in school their happieGfc hours, and are Bible lessons and handwork. A third club has recently been organized because
able to forget for a time that they are only girls who do not count for much of the demand for this work, many of the members being former school girls,
in the Eastern scheme of things. The playground is a great attmction, and who therefore know how to read and write and can do more advanced work.
often on cold winter mornings before we have had our breakfast there is e. rush
of feet down the driveway to the swings and the Maypole with 5.ts icy iron For three decades this school has been in charge of Miss Charlotte
rings. In our organized games we try to teach fair play and a spirit of co­ Kellien end Miss Rachel Jackson. Miss Swantina De Young was on the staff from
operation, both features of sportsmanship which they greatly need. The sowing 1928 to 1930, prior to her marriage to the Rev. Idris Jones of the Keith
periods are never long enough to satisfy the older pupils, and the majority of Falconer Mission in Aden. Extension work some years ago had the co-operation
of Mice Ruth. Jackson end Mrs. John Van Ess. The present principal is Miss
them do very good work. Knitting seems like second nature to most of them, Larins, Hoogeveeno
and little tots often learn their first stitches with a bit of string and two
long thorns for needles.
Our hope for the future is to add two more grades, thus making our
school a complete educational unit of six years of primary school, following
"There is a daily Bible lesson and each girl has her favorite stories the pattern of the Iraq, school system.
which she tells with dramatic affect and sometimes original, toucheso"
Bahrain.
The school has continued along these lines, serving a very needy sec­
tion of society and reaching a wide circle, both through the daily pupils and The little Acorn School of pioneer days has now grown to a sturdy oak.
the extension work of clubs and calling. For a good many years it lapsed from time to time, and then would be resumed
by the evangelistic worker.
In 1951 the report shows the increasing regimental!bf
regulations: "The pattern of our educational work grows mere ii! rigid, The full time assignment of Mrs. Louis Dame to the Bahrain Girls'
as the government rules increase. We cannot introduce a textbook that is not School put it on a firm basis, and by 1926 the curriculum included reading,
in the list required by the Department of Education (although there are many arithmetic, geography, writing, sewing, and Baglish and Arabic Bible, Arts
publications superior to those now in use); it must also approve the appoint­ and crafts one day a week, and sports, contests, and programs for Christmas
ment of all teachers and decide which one is competent to teach Arab history and other occasions, kept up the interest. The records showed a small and
and other subjects related to Islam. Thus far, in our case, they have not en­ steady increase every year. Muslims were in the majority but there were also
forced the rule that such lessons must be given by a Muslim, but they con­ Christian and Jewish pupils,
stantly tell us that they will do so as soon as the new law demanding it comes
into effect. In a small school like ours on unsympathetic Muslim could spoil Koran teachers tried to persuade Muslim girls not to attend the
the atmosphere, and also a teacher appointed by the Department of Education Christian school, and some of them solved the problem by going to the Koran
would have to be paid at government rates which are higher than ours have been school first and turning up at the mission school later in the day.
in the past, and promoted every two years with automatic increases in pay.
By 1928 the school was housed on mission property, occupying two rooms
"In spite of all these hampering restrictions, we are thankful beyond A playground was a huge success,
i on the ground floor of the chapel building,
words that our schools have been able to continue through the years, instead with equipment brought from America - swings, trapezes, rings, a giant stride,
of charing the fate of some of our sister missions in neighboring Muslim sce-saws and 3lides. A grand opening drew a record crowd of mothers, and later
countries." on women who were passing by often stopped to enjoy swings or see-saw. The
boys of the town were so envious that a special time was allotted to them
On registration days the school is flooded with new applicants, many daily, and boys of all ages and sizes, and even grown men, took full advantage
of them too small to be accepted. A good number of our girls, completing our of this novel diversion.
four grades, go on to the government school.
At this time a school library was started, and girls were encouraged
In the spring of 1954 the Iraq Education Department offered a teacher to road simple book3 when their other lessons were finished, A love of read-
I training course in Basrah which two of our 3taff left us to Join. They for­ ing was thus fostered and a new resource opened to them.
feited vacation pay by not finishing the year, but after the three months'
course they could earn 50$ more salary in the government system, with regular In 1929 a girls' club was started, among the pupils, and the members
Increases in the future, shorter hours of teaching, and earlier retirement astonished everyone by their display of initiative and executive ability. They
with a larger pension. carried out programs and picnics, taking full responsibility, and demonstrat­
ing what the secluded Muslim girl can do when she has even a slight chuncc at
Two village girls were walking two miles to our school, instead of self-expression. The teaching staff consisted of the missionary ia charge and
attending a near-by government school, because their brother wanted them to one national teacher, with the help of the evangelistic missionary in teaching
learn to sew. Bible classes, and the American nurse who taught child care, with demonstra­
tions in the women's hospital.