Page 25 - Neglected Arabia Vol 1 (2)

Women’s Evangelistic Report, Amara, 1922
Mrs. Dirk Dykstra

E arrived in Amara on the first of March and were heartily
W ;ii*<|ii:iinteil with this new field hefore they left I'm Baghdad.
welcomed hy Mr. and Mrs. Ililkert who helped us in become
Though in the same mission field, Bahrein and \niara are
very different. The women dress in very drab, dull colors, many of
them wearing black all the lime, which contrasts very strongly with
the bright rainbow colors seen in the Gulf. The Tigris is always
muddy and its clay banks and the clay soil of the country look very
dirty and uninviting compared to the white, glistening sands and the
blue sea, dotted with white sails, which we see from Maskat to Fao.
Similarly, the houses have a dull, gray appearance, built of clay or
dusty, yellow brick, and the "nooreeh,” plastered houses, with their
clean, white exteriors, are very few. In contrast to this drabness is the
vegetation of the country, so restful to the eye, a delight to the senses,
and an incentive to labor, which are not found in the desert’s glare and
burning sands.
This contrast in places is found in the people likewise. W e see less
of the real Arab and find a great mixture of Sabeans, Je\\>. Kurds,
Persians, Syrians, Baghdadis, Effendis and stranded Turks, all of whom
disclaim any connections with the Arabs and things Arabian while they
fondly treasure relationship with the Turks and Turkish ways, with
Baghdad, and with all things “Franjee,” to their own loss in appearance
if they did but realize it. One young woman wants to go to London to
learn to say mother, for what beauty is there in a word like “uin,”
just a sound! The people are of very mixed blood and there is many
a surprise in store tor a Gulf Arab when he speaks his native longue
in Amara, as our servant found out while here. The population can
be roughly divided into two classes, the higher, more educated people
who pride themselves on their birth, their connection with Baghdad,
with government officials, past and present, their lineage with the
prophet, Seyyids, llajjees and the despised Arabs. The lei ms gentry
and Arab are commonly used in describing people. The. Arabs are
more illiterate and of these the Muaidecs are the lowest in the scale,
their women occupying a position very similar to that of the Indian
squaw. In spite of the many possibilities that the country affords in
an agricultural way poverty and resulting beggary abound and any
one clothed in western dress is waylaid with a plea for “baksheesh.”
There must be much suffering when winter comes and it is hard to
witness their wretchedness, particularly so because so much of it is
due to themselves.
The majority of the people are of the Shiah sect of Mohammedanism.
Superstition is rife and many foolish practices abound. A very com­
mon one is the practice of going to fortune-tellers. These use the
Koran or other books in their business. The women know that 1 tuo
carry a book and so I am often requested “to see for them.” Seemingly,
J meet their request with Scripture and have used a few passages