The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-06-06
Twentieth Century Egypt
Vli-Ameriean Missions and Schools.
sYFREDERIc }. HAsKIN.

Cairo, Egypt.-In Egypt the name
american Mission is synonymous with
enlightenment The people have come to
look upon the American mission as the
Iountain-head Of educational and physical
Detterment Tens Of thousands of young
Egyptians are being taught in American
schools, scattered along the banks of the
Nile from Ethiopia to the Mediterranean.
American teachers are giving instruction
IN the three RS" and in the English Ian
sGage. American physicians are revealing
the blessings Of modern healing science to
the suffering and benighted. American
preachers are inCulcatiEg morals by pre-
cept and example. And all the Americans
are preaching the gospel of cleanliness.
that thing most needed for the physical
regeneration Of oriental peoples.
me American mission" in Egypt is I'M
der the direction of the board Of foreign
missions of the United Presbyterian
church in North America That denOm-
nation is one of the smaller Presbyterian
bodies. but its congregations are often
quite wealthy and always liberal. The
record Of the work in Egypt is one Of
winch Americans OF every faith and creed
may well be proud. for the work has been
done along American lines.
The mission was established In 1884. AT
that time there was no such thing as
evangelical Christian work in the cOun-
try. There were no schools worthy of the
name. and there was only one woman IN
Egypt who could read and write. She
was member of the ruling princely fam
ily and native of Turkey. The American
mission now maintains $50 common
schools, three girls boarding schools, one
college and one theological seminary.
There are 1900 boys and 5000 girls now
attending these schools.
In addition to these direct benefits, the
activity Of the Americans has caused the
establishment Of numerous COptic and
MOslem schools, many of them for girls,
an unprecedented thing in the history OF
either Of the old religious bodies OF Egypt.
Fearing to touch the religion of Islam
with ever so light a hand, the British
rulers of Egypt for many years did not
take any active steps toward fostering
| public education There we're 50 many
other and greater problems to be solved,
| that Lord CrOmer purpOsely delayed the
educational business in order to prevent
I jealousy on the part of the MOhammedan
/ leaders and the possible precipitation of a
| Holy war. Through all that period Of
more than twenty years the English gov
eminent depended largely upon the Amer
I lean missions to aid in keeping peace I'm
/ the country The Americans had no po-
/ hticai entauglements and were free To
preach and TO teach as they chose. The
| English were glad to have them in Egypt.
/ In the last few years the government has
! taken up the educational work with more
vtgor, and within a few years Egypt
I Will have a public school system. the eN-
I CCliencc of which will be due i'm q large
( measure To the American pioneers. The
/ public schools. however. are thoroughly
/ Mohammedan i'm every respect except that
! of devOting some attention to reading,
/ writing and arithmetic.
/ OF the 1900 pupils in the American
schools. about OEc-half are COpts and one
/ fourth are Moslems- The others are ma
/ tive Professionals or representatives OF
] other religions. The teachers in these
schools are nearly all native Egyptians
! who were educated IN the American
! schools Of the earlier days OF the mission.
/ Tn addition to the instruction in the ordi-
/ nary public school courses, Arab sheiks
are employed TO teach the Arabic Ian
I qua &c and literature The instruction I'm
most of the branches is in English. and
the pupil who has been through an Amer
} lean school in Egypt speaks the same Ian
/ guage as the young Egyptian immigrant
I who has been through the public schools
. OF New York City.
! visit To one Of these schools is in
tenScly interesting. There is one III
Cairo. less than a block distant from
I Shepherds hotel. II comprises al
{ grades, from the primary class through
pupils. The boys and girls are taught IL
separate classes and only once during the
day do they gather in the same room
I That is at the morning chapel exercises
/ and even then the girls portion OF tbs
chapel is screened off by 2 high curtain
Of red silk. If this American school per
mitted the girls to 60 where the boy:
could see their unveiled faces. the build
/ ing would be torn down, stone by stone
before nighuaU. Both MOslems and COptl
share I'm this intense feeling. and it mus
] be respected
The exercises begin with the singing o.
a hymn in English. one of the adapted
psalms sung in the United Presbyterian
churches in America. The singing is con
Quoted by an American woman teacher
and she has taught her charges to sins
well. Then there is prayer. i'm English
and then a brief address on some subjec
Of morals or sanitation. which is usual,
delivered i'm Arabic After another song
the boys and girls troop out in differen
directions to their classes.