Anyentyuwe (an Mpongwe) and Ekâkise (a Benga) are feminists for their time, although their fathers set them on another path before they are age ten. The former is brought to Baraka mission for education and safekeeping. Soon orphaned, she feels enslaved by the mission. Ekâkise’s father offers her to a nearby clan to prepare for marriage, she soon learns. Feeling enslaved, she later flees to Batanga mission to escape spousal abuse. Medical missionary, Dr. Nassau, and his educator sister Isabella, are involved in two different and very controversial attempts to help victims become survivors. Robert had to retire early, but with Isabella, they author “Two Women.” Finding no willing publisher, the typescript has been at Lincoln University since 1911.
Dr. Henry Bucher’s commentary comprises two-thirds of this work-- a bridge between history and culture. Two Women is a rich resource for those interested in African history, colonialism, gender studies, missiology, anthropology, and more.
