The Spokane woman. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1921-1935, 1929-07-25
JULY 25, 1929
BY PAULINE SUING BLOOM

That girls are the same all over the world is a
fact that Miss Z. Miriam Cassll gathered through
three years experience teaching in mission school
at Ezbakiah, Egypt, not far from Cairo one of the
most cosmopolitan cities of the earth. though it
has no public school system and the children OF
the poor grow to manhood and womanhood
tutored unless there is money to pay the school
master The desire to do mission work inspired
Miss Cassill to accept position through the United
Presbyterian Board of Missions and she taught
Bible and history to classes of Copts, Egyptians,
Mosem girls in the mission school which had an
enrolment of 270.
The head mistress of the school, American
who has been doing missionary work in
Egypt for 20 years, told Miss Cass of the marked
increase in the desire for education in the last
decade. The graduates of the schools who become
Christians Immediately go out and teach, some of
them in schools, others into the homes where they
teach mothers to read and write and something of
health and sanitation.
The school has twelve grades and corresponds
to our junior high school, Most of the girls wear
western clothes and last year one of the young
women dared to come to school without stockings,
informing the shocked teachers that it "the
latest style" They, however, willing to be con
sidered back numbers, to keep stockings on their
pupils and the daughter of fashion had to fall in
line at the behest of the missionaries.
All of the young women wear the habara, one
piece heavy black silk cape some have one end
formed into hood, others wear the turban of black
velvet the latter the most popular with the young
women. Only society women affect the veil which
is both expensive and becoming to their style OF
beauty.
The missionaries and teachers had an American
table The girls divided into first and second
class pupils 1T is a country in which money talks.
olives in oil, fruit and bread for their breakfast
with Jam on Sunday mornings. The second class
girls have cereal. bread and cheese with molasses
from sugar on Sunday morning. The midday
meal is much like dinner, consisting of meat
vegetables, rice highly seasoned in sauce bread
and fruit The second class girls often have the
meat omitted from their meal and substitute
cheese much like cottage cheese would he,
pressed down into cakes, dried and cut.
There is a growing interest in sanitation through
out Egypt and though in parts of Cairo the
women go to a common hydrant with their water
pots to get water, the water is city inspected The
better homes and those of English and American
residents have modern sanitation and the conven-
fences of their English and American homes
In Cairo there are nine Protestant Evangelical
churches under the direction of the Presbyterian
Mission Board. There are also Catholic missions
Dutch Reformed and Episcopalian missions under
the c. NJ S. Miss Cassl had the pleasure OF doing
some work with the Egyptian Christian Endeavor
movement manned entirely by Egyptian young men
who are sincere and earnest Christians and of high
caber.
The new patriarch of Egypt and Abyssinna is
doing a great deal more to spread education among
the Copts than his predecessor did. He, as well
as the Moslems realize that the development of the
country rests on education and the government has
undertaken government inspection of schools sup
ported by the government for both Copts and Mos
lens though there is free school nor compulsory