The port at Duke Town would have been busy with traders and other traffic as she arrived, but extremely different from the whaling and textile port of Dundee that she was familiar with. The blazing sunshine, tropical greenery and very different smells and sounds would have been an overwhelming contrast to what she was accustomed to. Mud huts of different sizes with woven roofs were the main form of housing.

The mission at Calabar had been established in 1846, so by the time Mary Slessor arrived there in 1876 it was a thriving place with many missionaries and other staff. Some of those who were there to greet her on her arrival had been in Duke Town for many years.

Mary set to work quickly teaching the children and working in the dispensary. She began to learn the local language, Efik, so that she could communicate with the local people. With red hair, blue eyes and a strong Dundonian accent, she would have stood out among the other missionary workers.

She soon began to adapt to the new environment, abandoning some of the Victorian dress styles which missionaries from Britain still wore, but were impractical for active work in a hot climate and she cut her hair short. She also ate the local food. Many missionaries ate food which had been transported from Britain, but this was expensive. She was sending money from her missionary salary back to Dundee to support her mother and two sisters and so tried to save as much as possible.

Life in Calabar was very different to British Society. Differences included: the very different climate and terrain, wild animals in the jungle areas, local customs, superstition and witch craft, tropical diseases and aggression from some local tribes who didn’t welcome outsiders. Alcoholism was widespread among the local population due in part to foreign countries, including Britain, bringing large stocks of gin into the region for trade. Many missionaries didn’t last long, either dying from disease or being sent home ill. Earlier missionaries had been killed by local tribesmen.

Local tribes often mistrusted each other and fought resulting in loss of life on both sides. Grudges were held over long forgotten incidents and slights.

Slavery had been abolished in Britain in 1833 but was still widespread in Africa in 1876. Kings, chiefs and other powerful men had many slaves. When their owner died, Slaves would be killed to accompany him in the next world. The slave trade worldwide had damaged the Calabar region and its culture, many of its young men had been lost.

Mary found the hierarchy that assisted among the missionary community difficult to deal with at times and was relieved to have the opportunity to visit mission stations further up the Creek River where things were simpler. She began to feel that her time would be better spent in areas where there were fewer missionaries than in the well-staffed mission in Duke Town. She asked about moving further inland to work, but was told this was not safe for a woman on her own.

One of the key challenges for missionaries wanting to work further into the region was the lack of roads. Travel was either via canoe up the Calabar, Cross and Creek Rivers, or on foot for many miles through dense tropical forest and swamp land.

The First Church in Okoyong – at Ifako

“Ma’s” Quarters at Akpap
This was the first hut in which she lived with the children
before the Mission House was built

Missionaries to Calabar faced a strong culture of superstitions and beliefs that were held and enforced in local tribes and communities. Life was governed by fear of curses and punishments.

Witch doctors had a very strong influence over the local people and were held in great fear. They were called on by the tribal chiefs to apportion blame when accidents happened or disputes were to be settled. They would administer brutal justice which often resulted in the death of innocent people.

The esere bean, which is indigenous to the area and poisonous to humans were used at tribal trials to prove innocence. The accused were made to consume a potion made from the bean and it was considered that they were innocent if they vomited up the poison. If they died it was considered that they were guilty of whatever they had been accused of.

Other punishments included boiling oil being poured over the accused and taking the Mbiam oath involved having to drink a foul liquid described by Mary Kingsley, explorer, as made of ‘filth and blood’ and recite an oath.

Mary intervened when Chief Edem of Ekenge’s son Etim died as the result of a house building accident. The witch doctor was summoned to say who was responsible for this death and another village was accused. To try and avert many deaths, Mary had an elaborate coffin made for the dead son and dressed him up in a European suit with feathers and other decorations to make him look as impressive as possible for onlookers to stop the murder of prisoners taken from the other village. Chief Edem was wary of carrying out his threat to kill in Mary’s presence and so she and Charles Ovens, the missionary carpenter, kept a vigil for two weeks to save the prisoners.

Mary gradually won the trust of local people as she lived with them, learning about their lives and helping them. She was gradually asked to mediate in disputes and resolve issues. Working tirelessly she tried to improve the lives of women and children in particular, sometimes putting her own life at risk in dealing with highly charged confrontations with chiefs, other local leaders and witch doctors.

Malaria in 1800s

In 1876 when Mary first arrived in Calabar, it was not known that mosquito bites transmitted the parasites that cause malaria. Many missionaries and other Europeans died of the disease. Symptoms include, a high temperature, sweating and chills, headaches, vomiting and muscle pains. This was often the reason for missionaries dying or being sent home ill. Mosquitos breed in fresh or brackish water (salt water in estuaries and rivers) and so those living in mission houses near to the Calabar rivers were often at risk.

Ronald Ross won Britain’s first Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1902 for his research into malaria. Through his practical experiments with mosquitoes and patients, he discovered that the disease is spread by the transfer of malaria parasites through a mosquito’s bite.

Quinine, the active plant ingredient from the South American cinchona tree, had the biggest impact  in the early 20th century in reducing the number of deaths from malaria. However by the 1930s, the parasites were becoming quinine resistant, other medicines were then developed.

Malaria in 2015

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa with approximately 167 million people. 97% of the population live in malaria prone areas. Malaria is the number one public health problem in the country with an estimated 100 million cases annually and over 300,000 deaths each year among children under five.

Various charities work in the country to try to adequately address the problem including Christian Aid which has implemented a NetsForLife program across various states to distribute mosquito nets to those particularly at risk. They use community based education programs to monitor net usage and promote environmental sanitation.

Furloughs

Mary suffered from serious bouts of malaria and other tropical illnesses throughout her life in Africa. In June 1879 she was sent home to Dundee for her first furlough (leave of absence) following a particularly severe bout of malaria. The normal tour of duty as a missionary at that time was four years before being allowed to return home on leave. Mary was allowed home a year early for this first furlough.

While on furlough, missionaries would visit local churches and missionary organisations to give talks about their work and experiences to raise funds and encourage more missionary recruits.

After returning from her first furlough in 1880, Mary  was sent to Old Town in Calabar a few miles from Duke Town. From then on she proceeded to work in increasingly remote villages up river, setting up new missions and building churches and schools. As the only missionary in these areas, she was helped by the local people to build mission houses but often lived in very basic mud huts sleeping on the floor surrounded by her children and others she had rescued and their mothers.

One of the ways in which Mary tried to improve the lives of the villagers in the communities in which she lived and worked, was to encourage the tribes to trade with each other instead of fighting. Her skill in speaking  Efik, which was the main trading language, meant that she could converse easily with local leaders and discuss the benefits of trade.

She contacted King Eyo VII in Creek Town and asked him to invite a delegation of tribesmen from Okoyong to come and discuss the possibility of trading their palm oil and other produce. Considerable discussion was needed to persuade the Okoyong Chiefs to leave their weapons behind before embarking on the visit, which they eventually agreed to as long as Mary came along as well.

Chiefs became aware of the benefit of their people being able to speak  English to trade more widely  and so numbers in her classes increased to learn ‘Book’ as they called the Bible teaching. This was not necessarily to be able to learn the Bible, but to be able to negotiate with other traders from other countries in Calabar port.

As word of ‘The White Ma’ spread around the Calabar district as the years went on,  Mary was called on to help sort out local disputes in many difficult situations. Living with the people she was able to understand the detailed intricacies and histories behind local situations and disagreements. She was asked to attend court hearings for the local tribal justice systems and eventually oversee them and give judgments. Her skill in healthcare and being able to treat a variety of ailments, also enabled her name to become well known and trusted around the region and she would be sought out to give advice and medicine.

Calabar or Southern Nigeria as we now know it, became a British Protectorate in 1900.  European countries such as Britain and France were gradually creating more formalized systems in West Africa following a history of trade and colonization. This brought some benefits such as new roads, but many problems.

Consul Claud Macdonald who arrived in Calabar in 1891 planned to set up a new system of courts in the area as part of the Protectorate. He had heard about the work of Mary Slessor and asked her about the planned court system. In her usual forthright manner she said that external people trying to settle local disputes would be a disaster. She therefore found herself appointed as his vice-consul to Okoyong appointed by the Secretary of State. She then had to manage challenging situations where she was representing the local people and dealing with British government officials, all of this, while continuing her missionary work and raising her children.

This role did however, make her the first female magistrate in the British Empire.