BRITISH WOMEN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 114, 15 May 1936, Page 11

BRITISH WOMEN.

FINE SPIRIT IN AFRICA. ADDRESS TO LYCEUM CLUB. Lady Sandeman Allen gave one of the most interesting and vivid talks that the members of the Lyceum Club have ever experienced when she addressed them at their luncheon .yesterday on East Africa. Having paid the countrv a visit of fourth months and a half, Lady Allen had absorbed a great deal of unusual information. Lady Allen was particularly impressed with the work that the British women were doing in East Africa. Indeed, she said, the pioneer spirit of the young people to-day was just as wonderful as that of the men and women who made the Empire in the beginning. The young white women in Kenya, where Lady Allen spent a great deal of her time, were facing up to the problems that confronted them in an extraordinarily fine way. It was her privilege, she said, to stay in some of the settlers' homes and'she was able to get first-hand knowledge of how they lived their lives. Realising the necessity for dealing with urgent cases of sickness and. accidents, most of the wives had a shed which was-.' whitewashed? On t'hfe:~ outside and spotless 'inside and which was equipped with ■ first-aid appliances in connection with her home. They encouraged, the natives to come to them for assistance and were helping the women to have their children in comfort. Her advice to any white' woman going to Africa, said Lady Allen, was to first of all learn first aid and a smattering of the Swahili language. The native servants had no respect for anyone who had no control over them and to achieve this a slight knowledge of the language was absolutely necessary. Another serious problem to be faced by the white woman was the care of her own children. In a tropical country the children grew up as quickly and cxotically as the plants and if they did not leave at about the age of four or five they would become overgrown and malformed. The question was whether the mother should return to England with the children or stay in Africa with her husband. Lady Allen was emphatic that the latter course was the best one to pursue. The modern schools in England were excellent, and she felt, on her experience of the country, that the wife's place was with her husband.

The natives, she continued, lived in mud huts without any ventilation other than the doorway and were warmed by a "central fire. Often the children got seriously burned and it was only when fhe white women began their work among the natives that health conditions became easier. Gradually the native mothers were placing their trust in the white women's clinics and hospitals. Lady Allen mentioned a young Scottish girl whom she met and who had been sent out by the British Government in charge of a clinic. On the very day Lady Allen had visited her she had already assisted with the births of tlirie native babies, seen 72 patients and was prepared to work well 011 into the night to meet any emergency. In their childlike way, the natives responded 'o teaching by the use of pictures, so hygienic conditions and the results of proper treatment were depicted in pictures with excellent results. The president of the Lyceum Club, Mrs. W. H. Parkes, presided at the luncheon and passed a vote of thanks to the speaker wliicli was enthusiastically carried.