Economics In 1880, two Roman Catholic priests of the Society of African Missions (S.M.A. During this period, difficulties encountered were different from the initial difficulties which will more related to sickness, deaths and the suspicion of indigenous people in accepting the Gospel. The study traces the his tory of colonial education and the tremendous contributions of missionaries in the establishment of formal education in the region. Etherington, Norman. 6: Christian Missionary Activities in West Africa Besides education, they cared for the sick. For that matter, they rebelled against their chiefs and elders. In Nigeria, one of the lasting works of the C.M.S. For this reason, missionaries believed they were doing their students a favour by discouraging traditional practices and promoting Western ones. Father Burke spent more than half of his lifealmost 50 yearsin Ghana on the West Coast of Africa, said Father Edward Tetteh SVD, pastor of Blessed Sacrament-Our Lady of Divine Shepherd in Trenton, N.J. During his many years in Ghana, since he worked mostly in educational institutions, he produced excellent professionals: teachers, priests, ministers, doctors, engineers, lawyers, pharmacists, journalists and many others who work in different parts of the world.. The early success of the missionaries included areas like Freetown and surrounding villages. Seeing as missions in the British and Italian colonies had monopolies on education for the nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries, this reluctance meant that there were few secondary schools at all (Ayandele 1966:287; Beck 1966: 120). The Methodists founded the Boys High School in 1874, and another high school for girls six years later. In 1859, the first newspaper in Yoruba, called the Iwe-Irohim, was published by the missionaries. He moved to Techny in 2016. But the funds and other needed materials even when available could not reach their station in time. These attempts were traumatic for the students and threatened the survival of unique cultures. This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. Disclaimer: This is an example of a student written essay.Click here for sample essays written by our professional writers. It was difficult for the European missionaries to communicate freely with the local people. The first Europeans arrived at the West-African Coasts at the end of the fifteenth century. The training college later became part of Achimota College. They also introduced vocational education in the country. Their personal and family choices influenced the expansion speed of missionary education. Another difficulty that the early missionaries faced in the spread of Christianity was insufficient Christian literature at that time. The Journal of Negro Education, 8 8 The Effect of Western Formal Then share it on your favourite social media platform for the benefit of others you care about. In 1981, Father Burke was promoted to headmaster and rector of Pope John XXIII Secondary School and Minor Seminary in Koforidua. Their records from World War One show their distance from the war and yet that it did affect . In Ghana, for instance, they persuaded their converts to reject polygamy and human sacrifice. non-slave trade), Christianity, Civilization and Colonization. The late Eighteenth Century witnessed the rise of Christian groups in Europe that resorted to the evangelization of Africa. The Committee for Women's Work was responsible for the education of native girls. He had a special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Notably among these missionaries are the Wesleyan, Basel, and Bremen. A second reason for the poor education of the mission schools was that in many cases the teachers in mission schools were unqualified as teachers, but were instead preachers by training. Literature Being ignorant of ones history causes one to lose part of ones identity and pride in that identity, and one is therefore more vulnerable to attacks denouncing ones culture as inferior, especially if at the same time one is being taught the noble history of another culture. Wed love to get to know you and discuss how God is calling you. The Roman Catholics established their first secondary school, St Augustines, at Cape Coast in 1936. Buchi Emecheta The work of the Basel Missionary Society was taken over with the consent of the Basel Mission Home Board by the United Free Church of Scotland whose ecclesiastical organization was Presbyterian. His funeral Mass was Sept. 27, followed by burial at St. Mary Cemetery at Techny. In addition, while missionaries did run many academic primary schools, they provided little secondary education, a practice which prevented natives from becoming too educated (Ayandele 1966:286) and potentially subversive. Another contribution of missionaries to the development of Ghana was their pioneering role in writing many local languages. In addition to studying the impact of these struggles on education, we also need to understand how they influenced gender inequality. The Basel missionaries arrived on the shores of the Gold Coast in 1828 and Missionaries travelled through dense evergreen forests, crossed rivers and climbed mountains to bring the Gospel to as many Ghanaians as they could. others adopted a system of education varied from one and the other hence, lacking consistency in the educational sector [3]. Mission Statement The education provided in schools in early days also tended to place great emphasis on the superiority of western culture. With the arrival of more missions into the country came an explosion in mission schools across southern Ghana. These commercial activities, therefore, made an important contribution to the economic development of Ghana. These contradictions are surprisingly absent from contemporary research. 26. To export a reference to this article please select a referencing stye below: If you are the original writer of this essay and no longer wish to have your work published on UKEssays.com then please: Our academic writing and marking services can help you! The Committee for Women's Work was responsible for the education of native girls. Moreover, the Islamic religion was also being introduced to the southern section of the country by Muslim immigrants from the north of the colony. They discovered that the holy book did not clearly prescribe monogamy, and contained several examples of renowned Christian polygamists. Even if secondary education was provided, it was often reserved for the sons of local chiefs (Oliver 1952:212; Beck 1966: 120), an elite the colonial government could then call upon to help rule the colony, a common practice in colonial Africa. Some progressive Europeans, like the first principal of Achimota College, Rev. The next major Christian missionaries to go out to Sierra Leone were the Roman Catholics. To their minds, Africans were too backward and needed help to become more civilized. Being able to speak and write in the colonisers language was considered a privilege. Operational Christianity started 267 Years ago. The reservation of high-level positions in the colonial administrations for Europeans and the corresponding mission education that provided education fit only for lower positions meant that the withdrawal of European rule could cause serious political instability in the newly independent colonies. With the support of the Propagation of the Faith within the Vatican, whose Cardinal Secretary became Pope Gregory XVI, various Roman Catholic missionary societies were founded. Johannes Zimmermann, for example, produced a Ga dictionary, Ga bible and grammar book. The original Yaba College in Lagos has grown into a polytechnic. Missionaries were no doubt also aware that Africans came to associate European technological achievement with Western education (Bassey 1991:45) and therefore offered Western education as a means to attract Africans of this belief and then convert them. Ayandele (1966:283), writing in the 1960s, says, By their [the missions] efforts the main languages of Nigeria have been preserved as a lasting legacy to the Ibo, Yoruba, Efik, Nupe and Hausa. However, this practice was in fact probably more due to stereotypes of African ignorance than an interest in being culturally respectful: missionaries may have believed that it would take too long to teach a superior European language to the unintelligent natives when the natives souls were in such desperate need of saving. She succeeded in stopping the killing of twins in the areas where she served. (with Examples), Top 20 Topics in English for Academic Purposes, 7 Rules of Referencing and Citation in Academic Writing, 10 Importance of Referencing and Citation in Academic Writing, How to Get a Degree Without Going to High School, Joseph Rhodes Dunwell Methodist Missionary, 1835, Thomas Birch Freeman Methodist Missionary, 1838, Thomas Thompson Society for the Propagation of the Gospel/Anglican, 1752, Wesley Girls High School, Cape Coast Methodist missionaries, Mfantsipim School, Cape Coast Methodist, Adisadel College, Cape Coast Anglican Missionaries, Holy Child School, Cape Coast Roman Catholic, St Augustines College, Cape Coast Roman Catholic, Archbishop Potter Girls School, Takoradi, Aburi Girls Secondary School Presbyterian, St Monicas High School, Mampong Anglican. As one Eritrean student remarks, Our sisters [the Italian Sisters] would have undoubtedly taught better and more, but the Italian government in the colony did not permit Eritreans to get good instruction (T.T. Series CLR. The practice of inflicting multiple wounds on the bodies of so-called spirit babies now belongs to history. Following ordination, he was sent to Washington, D.C., and the Catholic University of America, where he earned a masters degree in English literature. In addition, the contributions of celebrity missionaries, such as Christian Schwartz, William Carey, Alexander Duff, and James . The common response among traditionally polygamous people is well illustrated by a passage in Jomo Kenyattas famous book on the Gikuyu in colonial Kenya: This [the insistence on monogamy] caused a great confusion, for the African could not understand how he could drive away his wives and children, especially in a community where motherhood is looked upon as a religious duty; the children are regarded as part and parcel, not only of the father, but of the whole clan (mbari), and without them the mbari is lost. ]v#5%{,%Y{iKsZ|Cm7NismGmg_zxKYh?>bQ?ni8G.wx:qAm$ eb!^Kr$,.9Qq^|1. While living at the Divine Word Residence in Bordentown, N.J., he often visited parishes and schools to talk about missionary work. The Basel missionaries, in particular, established experimental farms and plantations in places like Akropong. bible knowledge The Basel Mission. As an institution introduced by agents with radically different values, the Christian religion damaged the culture and traditional beliefs of the people of West Africa. Lets now take a closer look at both the positive and negative impacts of the activities of the Christian missionaries in Ghana and the rest of Africa. Young Vincent began his studies with the Society of the Divine Word at Divine Word Seminary at Miramar in Massachusetts in 1947. However hypocritical, government support for the schools should not be surprising, considering the benefits the colonial governments stood to gain. Among the first missionaries was the Rev. Within ten years the C.M.S had opened twelve more schools in what is today Cross Rivers State. Edward Berman notes that contemporary critics of the missionaries felt that missionaries were more interested in increasing enrolments in their respective churches than in pooling their resources for the benefit of African education (Berman 1974:533). Furthermore, missionaries, believing in the civilizing mission, attempted to disintegrate traditional society through education by choosing academic subjects, such as the histories of the Western colonial powers, that illustrated the superiority of the Western culture, as well as by teaching about the superiority of the West in non-academic matters such as hygiene. For instance, in Ghana, it was in 1858 that Rev. Father Burke became director of the Divine Word Language and Cultural Centre in Ghana. The quest for an all-inclusive development model of Ghana and other developing nations, therefore, calls for an insight into the role and responsibilities of religion toward education. The Christian religion teaches the doctrine of one supreme God and is opposed to the worship of any other forms of deity. By 1914 there were barely thirty schools in that vast area. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1995. Last, missionaries provided a very poor education, causing their students to be ill-equipped for social or material success, as they believed education to simply be a means for proselytization, were unqualified teachers, and allowed inter-denominational rivalries to interfere. essay writing education was an important means for mission evangelization. Thus, because of the motive of proselytization, unqualified teachers, and inter-denominational rivalry, missions frequently provided poor education. These Christian converts considered themselves to be holier than their traditional rulers and elders. Secondary Schools in the Protectorate started later, following the establishment of Bo Government Secondary School in 1906. Unsurprisingly, the level of education increased as one moved closer to the missionaries. Indeed, once the souls had been saved and since the students must have been considered clever enough, European languages were almost universally the languages of instruction in the later primary years and in secondary schools (Beck 1966: 120; Foster 1965: 159; Miran 2002:127). Almost all the missions in West Africa faced financial problems in the early stages of their missionary work. Up to Guggisbergs time, the church schools did not receive grants from the government. Some of these effects are still with us today. The Roman Catholic Sisters provided medical care in the Upper and Northern Regions of the country before the government started to provide hospitals and clinics in the regional and district headquarters. 2006 - 2023 Microform Academic Publishers | Microform Academic Publishers is a division of Microform Imaging Limited (Company registered in England no. They preferred to hold onto polygamy, even at the cost of illiteracy. About us | Ghana Education Service - GES They constitute the benefits that the missionaries brought to Africa as a whole. Although there were many disagreements between European missionaries and African populations, antagonising polygamy is probably the best-documented norm conflict. In 1950 Albert Academy was founded in Freetown; for-a long lime it was the secondary school in the Colony serving largely children from the provinces, among them were the future heads of state, Sir Milton Margai and Dr. Siaka Stevens. Apart from giving to the converts a new religious faith which they consider is superior to the traditional religions, the Christian missionaries did pioneering work in introducing new crafts, industries, Western education and modern health services. T. Nelson. As long as the Africans could read the Bible, the missionaries were satisfied that they had had enough academic education. The coming of the Christian missionaries to Ghana had a positive impact on agriculture. Full article: Inequality of education in colonial Ghana: European All work is written to order. Another negative impact of mission education was that it weakened traditional societies, which in many ways further served the colonial cause. These included the Basel Missionary Society, founded in Switzerland, and the Breman Mission formed in Germany. After completing that assignment, Father Burkes superiors asked him to teach English as a second language (ESL) to Divine Word missionaries who did not know the language. Preventive medicine was hardly known; the result was that epidemics of different kinds were frequent. %%EOF They even considered traditional drumming and African clothing as practices that were not worthy in the sight of the Lord. Then lets begin straightaway. As negative as all these impacts of the missionaries undoubtedly were for the African pupils, the long-term consequences are arguably as serious. They also prescribed many taboos which, in the light of modern medical science, had no relation whatever with the illness being treated. Andrew Jackson Foster (1925-1987) was an American pioneer of deaf education in several countries in Africa. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in the name of Father Burke can be made for the care of elderly and infirm missionaries and sent to The Rector, Divine Word Residence, 1901 Waukegan Road, P.O. Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Bremen, Research Center on Inequality and Social Policy (SOCIUM), Universitt Bremen. Renewed evangelisation started when the Basel (later known as Presbyterian) missionaries started work at Osu (Accra). The Methodists founded Mfantsipim (1876) for boys and Wesley Girls High School (1884). Another important German missionary was Wilhelm Johannson, better known by the English version of his name, William Johnson, who is revered in the history of the CMS in West Africa. The greatest problem faced by the early European Christian missionaries was, the tropical climate and health Hazards. Many missionaries died because of the climate and tropical disease. Contribution of Christian Missionaries in Ghana, Reasons Why Christian Missionaries Came to Africa, Discontinuation of Outmoded Cultural Practices, Negative Effects of Missionary Activities, Negative Impact on Traditional Authorities, Limited Support for The Production of Local Food Crops. Thus as early as 1823, the Roman Catholic Sisters started a clinic for the sick and for children in Banjul. For instance the scholar E.A. Although most people are Presbyterians, they can also go to spirit and other cults, mostly Christian and Pentecostal movements, to find cures for disease and lack of success in this world. Other difficulties the early Christians faced were the problems of the many languages and dialects and their ignorance of the true meaning of the various cultures, beliefs, values and ways of life of the people whom they set out to convert to Christianity. In due course leprosariums and orphanages were built to supplement their medical services. Given their priorities, it should thus come as little surprise that missions often provided poor education to the African pupils. Bamgboye & Company Press, 1976. This made it difficult for the early missionaries to stay in the country for long. To supplement these missionary efforts in the field of higher education, the government opened its own secondary school in Lagos in 1909, this was Kings College. The tropical climatic condition in the country was not favourable to the early missionaries who came to the shores of West Africa. In this essay on the impact of Christian missionary activities on Ghanaian society, we shall examine the role of the missionaries in the development of Ghana and the rest of Africa. Copyright 2023 ABWE. In my study, I explored how colonial era conflicts and disagreements over marriage norms lastingly affected educational development. Indeed, in some situations the converts were taught to feel that they were absolved from obeying their own traditional rulers and certain laws of the state. He also blogs at BloggingtotheMax.com. History books tended to exaggerate in achievements of Europeans, making no reference to Africans own great past. I also matched up locations that differed in proximity to the mission stations, but otherwise had similar preconditions for educational development. Thomas Thompson, arrived in Cape Coast in 1752. Through academic lessons and lessons on Western etiquette and hygiene, mission students were isolated from their traditional cultures, a traumatic experience that would continue to trouble many students for the rest of their lives. In Nigeria, one of the lasting works of the C.M.S missionaries was the development of literature in Yoruba. These pioneer mission schools met with a discouraging response. For instance, on 2nd October 1792, the Baptist Missionary Society was formed followed by the interdenominational London Missionary Society which was established in 1795. Johannes Zimmermann wrote a grammar of the Ga language and translated the entire Bible and a Bible history into Ga. Then in 1874, the Rev. Education - Education in British colonies and former colonies This was around the same time that the first Portuguese sailors arrived on the coast of Ghana. However, the discovery of quinine and other curative medicines in the late 19th century made the history of the missionary work in West Africa a different thing altogether. Among the Christian missionaries that came to the Gold Coast (Ghana) were the following. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of UKEssays.com. Daystar Press, 1978. A special memorial Mass was celebrated at the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Accra, Ghana, on Oct. 9. This post may contain affiliate links. The problems created by the white missionaries themselves arose largely from a misconception of what Africa represented. From simple essay plans, through to full dissertations, you can guarantee we have a service perfectly matched to your needs. Before we examine the contribution of Christian missionaries in Ghana, we need to identify the missionaries that came to Ghana. There were related organizations that sprang up in Scandinavia, Holland and the USA. House, 1967. The school, which was established the year of independence in 1957, was a work in progress. Box 2 of the papers relating to the Society's activities in West Africa. But Annor (1989) writes that before Europeans came to colonize Africa, Africans had a way of producing artifacts. A short history of education in British West Africa. However, by the turn of the Nineteenth Century there was systematic efforts by churches of Christian Europe, namely: Anglicans, Methodists, and Baptists who were active in Sierra Leone and, with Presbyterians, in Nigeria, while Methodists also set up missions in Ghana, Gambia, and Dahomey. 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Missionary Work in Ghana: The Genesis - African Research 517 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<2E41B338ACB2B2110A00B08D5A5CFE7F>]/Index[503 20]/Info 502 0 R/Length 86/Prev 357984/Root 504 0 R/Size 523/Type/XRef/W[1 3 1]>>stream He introduced the Methodist Church in Asante in 1839, and won the support of the Asante king. church were founded in south-eastern Nigeria, the chief centres being Bonny and Brass. The first missionaries to come to Ghana were the Roman Catholic missionaries in the 15th century and the Anglican missionaries. The Basel and Methodist Missions, for example, introduced scientific agriculture in Ghana. Mission education left an uneven legacy: an analysis of 26 African In the Western Region, the Catholic Sisters running a hospital at Eikwe specialized in maternity cases, and like Slessor in Nigeria succeeded in stamping out the practice of killing twins at birth.