Bakua Mukamba
Feb. 9, 1923
Dearest homefolks:
Here we are on our first itinerating trip at last, left day before yesterday and have been having a very nice trip. So far, we are only about two hours from Luebo, but in villages that we have never been to before, staying a day and a half or two days in each Village.
I suppose we have told you many times that we do not drink water out here unless it has been boiled. Once in a long while, they fail to boil it and then that boy gets in a palaver for in this part of the country we are afraid of dysentery. Well, this morning I took my first drink of unboiled water. My! but it was good. T’was something I had been longing for a long time. B. M. thinks I've gotten so used to boiled water that plain water would not be so much different, but I certainly can! I have said that two things that I'm looking forward to most when I come home are being able to go without my helmet without having a headache and some real good spring water. Like we get at George Henry's spring, for instance. But I have gotten off the subject somewhat. While B. M. was busy this morning, I took some boys with me and went down the longest, steepest hill I most ever have seen to a place where the water flows out of a huge rock. It was not only a beautiful place, but the water was so good and cool, and I just drank and drank until I could drink any more. I filled my water bottle and after a short rest started back to the village. I had a hard time getting back for t'was about a mile uphill all the way. After I got here and had a rest, I was far from sorry that I had gone. I wonder if you would not have liked to have been with me.
I'm so glad that I am on the trail! for B. M. says it's perfectly all right to use a pencil on the path and I do hate to fool with a pen when I'm writing to you.
It's hard to know just what is of interest to you at home, for after one stays out here for a while, the same things are not as interesting when we first came.
We reached this Village about four thirty yesterday afternoon, and found a well made mud house had been cleaned and made ready for us. It was larger than we usually find so I took a great interest in fixing it up. Our box men soon came consisting of chop box, utensil box, trunk, bath tub trunk with bed clothes, etc., medicines and kodaking outfit and last but not least, my organ.
Not only I but the natives enjoy the organ so much I play for the services and often between times, but can't play long at a time; for some reason it is very hard to pump. It's not often we find an organ hard for me to pump as pumping does not hurt me, but there must be a small leak in the bellows or something wrong. I believe I told you Steg gave this organ to me.
I leave all the real evangelistic work to B. M. for I have never learned to do that, but there are lots of little things I can do. Such as treating sick people by playing the organ and showing picture rolls to the children. We brought some medicines of the common kind and those we know how to use. I often wish that I might have gone more with daddy and learned more even about the simple remedies. But even with our small knowledge, we can do a lot. Just to think when a person gets very sick, they are absolutely helpless and resort to all kinds of heathen customs that instead of helping, often bring death to some.
I have found that the children this far from civilization do not care much for pictures; they do not know what the pictures are and cannot understand them. At Luebo, the children will sit for hours looking at a picture book. So this did away with my plan of entertaining the children that come in swarms around our house. They are so bad this morning that I can hardly write and this will explain all scratches and mistakes. They stand around us until we can hardly get our breath. Understand we correct them and have them sit down, but they are so interested that they are soon back making as much noise as ever. It's not that they are bad and mean to annoy us for they mind when spoken to, but only excited. In some places the grown people are as bad as the children. Our caravan consists of 10 box men, hammock men, 2 wheel men for B. M., one more for salt used for trading purposes and rationing men, and one man caries the medicine and kodak, one man with gun and ammunition. Then our person boys are house boy, stable boy and cook. All these groups of boys have different whistles that we call them by and I carry the whistle around my neck. If I need any of them and they are in the village, all we have to do is call them and they come at once. I think it best not to tell people about our boys--how many, etc., for it is mighty easy to falsely accuse a missionary, for people at home jump at conclusions too easy. Even you show that you do not understand about this business of paying our boys. Perhaps we have not explained fully. I asked B. M. to explain this to you just lately, but I'm not sure whether he has or not. I can assure you they get all that they are due and is right. The mission pays for all our boys and help and if any change it would have to be a mission action, not anyone individual. We pay what times and prices require no matter how small it seems to us.
I wonder if you have ever used a table like we use on the road. It has folding legs and the table part is the top of our bath tub trunk. We have two tables so all we had to do was bring an extra top. Our chairs and beds fold up until you would hardly know what they were and are as comfortable as can be. There is a basket inside the bath tab and all we have to do when we want a bath is to remove the basket.
B. M. is examining the Christians this morning. So many have palavers and have to have their names taken off the roll. So far we have had only 10 to come and say they wanted "the palaver of God." I mean 10 who had never come before.
We will be on the road about two weeks and we have nine villages to visit. I'm rather anxious to return, for I've been waiting for Sarah's machine a long time and my underclothes are in rather an "embarrassing" condition, especially teds. Then I have lots of other sewing to do, too. Two dresses are already cut out ready to make.
I'm so glad, though, that B. M. can have this trip; he has so little change in his work at Luebo for real work among the natives and he seems to be really enjoying it.
Tis getting late and I'm sleepy.
Goodnight mother, daddy, and all,
Dorothy
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