MISSION WORK IN BOLIVIA.

Waikato Argus, Volume XXXVI, Issue 5769, 20 November 1914, Page 2

MISSION WORK IN BOLIVIA.

AMONG THE INCA INDIANS

IN THE LOFTY REGIONS OF

THE ANDES

After five years spent in the heart of that little known and partly unexplored country. Bolivia, Mr and Mrs Horace Grncott have returned to New Zealand on a health recruiting trip. Mr Grocott is a brother of Mr Harold Grocott, chemist, of Hamilton. Mr and Mrs Grocott have been in Bolivia carrying on evangelical mission work amongst the Quichua Indians, a remnant of the former lnca civilisation,, which fell on the Spanish conquest under Pizarro, at, the opening of the sixteenth century. The mission they work under is the Bolivian Indian Mission, which wa« founded in 1909 under the directorship of Mr Geo. Allan, of East Taieri, Otago. In an interview with a Dominion reporter, Mr Grocott gave some interesting details of the work of the little band of missioncrs, numbering eight couples, mostly New Zeal: nders, and of the conditions in the country. Bolivia, while it is but little known in this part of the world, is a country five times the area of New Zealand. Its eastern portion is in some instances entirely unexplored, and contains tribes which are in the same condition of savagery as when Columbus discovered America. Bolivia is in S"Uth America, adjacent to Brazil, and in the higher regions there are several peaks rising to a height of over 20,000 ft. It is in the higher plateaux that the Bolivian Indian Mission is situated, and the missioners work over a large area of country, made doubly difficult to cover on account of the rugged nature of the land, and the wretched transport. Naturally in a country were a large portion of the population is composed of uneducated Indians, railway construction, to foster the enormous natural resources of the Republic, has not advanced to any great extent, although most of the larger cities are now connected with the iron road. Within recent years the Bolivian Government has given marked attention to the development of transoort, but once the main cities are departed from, the mule train and the bridle track are the best the countty can rise to.

r lhe population of this large area is only about 2,000,000 persons. It is very mixed, with the I dian races predominating. The Quichua and Aymnna Indians number about 900,000, while the Spanish descendants of the former adventurous conquerors of this treasure-house, now only number about 250,0110: and there is a large half-caetu population of about half a million. The percentage of illiteracy is very great, only about 13 per cent, of the natives having any education at all. The Bolivian Mission is doing all it can to advance civilisation by educating the people, and the Government in now making very genuine efforts towards educating the natives and half-castes. Quite recently ten young men graduated from a college wh'ch has been established by the Government for the express purpose of training teachers, who will devote their time to the education of the Indians The problem is a difficult one, because the population is widely scattered, and teachers have to be very selfsacrificing to put up with the loneliness and hardship of their profession. The people, though nominally Catholic, are really pagan. They practise witchcraft, nnd are very superstitious, and in the majority of cases conform to the custom of praying to the mountains and other natural ob jects of veneration. The mission with which Mr Groeott is connected has, us its principal objective.the uplifting of the Indian race. It is distinctly evangelical, and a great deal of attention is paid to medical and educational work. In carrying out the evangelical work, the missioners hold meetings wherever they can, nnd when thu people come together for their annual gatherings, hold open-air meetings. The mission is undenominational. The medical work done is highly appreciated, and the necessity for it is quickly realised when it is stated that over a area of 100 square miles there is no other medical help, outside of that afforded b*y the mission. The mortality amongst the natives is very great, and infant mortality is excessive. A conservative estimate, says Mr Groeott, is G"» per cent. The tigurea are astounding, for it means that two out of every three children born die in infancy. Epidemics of typhoid, scarlet fever, and measles are very frequent and carry off hundreds of the little ones. Kecentiy, in a small village adjacent to San Pedro, where the mission headquarters are situated, upwards of thirty children died within a fortnight. This infant mortality is in a measure due to the lack of medical attention, but the mothers show an appalling ignorance in the conduct of their domestic affairs.

With regard to the educational work the main endeavour of the mission has been to establish a school at every post that is occupied. Their efforts have been remarkably well received by the Bolivian Government, the local authorities, and by the people themselves, and invitations have been received from many uuirounding localities for a worker to be established in their midst. There is a broad and open door for many scores of such workers, says Mr Grocott.

The translation of the New Testa ment into the language |of the natives is now being carried on by Mr Ceo. Allan and his assistants. The language of the Indians, that of the ancient Inca dynasty, is very difficult to acquire, there being little in the way of standard works to guide the student. The language consists of a series of explosives and aspirates, and when one is speaking it there is a continual clicking with the tongue. Contrary to general expectations the Indians are not savage or warlike, being for the most part an agricultural and pastoral people. They are very primitive in their work, and shear their sheep with rough knives. The wool they use for the purpose of making clothing, which is of a rough kind. The Aymanas, however, when their feelings are worked up as the result of tribal warfare, which is not common, show cannibalistic tendencies. With regard to the recent report on the atrocities on the rubber plantations of Bolivia, Mr Grocott pointed out that the report had reference to (he Beni and adjacent districts, in the north-eastern portion of the Republic, and not to the district covered by the operations of the mission. Mr and Mrs Grocott hope to return to their work in about six months' time.