WOMEN IN HISTORY- THE QUEEN OF CALABAR-FICTION

Open this door or else I would break it, it was the voice of her drunk father. Sophia I said open this door. It was another rough day for her dad who had come home drunk. Sophia and her mum stood scared and her mum finally opened the door. He welcomed her with a slap as she fell down. Sophia ran and pushed him, leave her alone! Leave her alone! She yelled but he ignored as he gave her another slap, she ran closer and pushed her dad who fell on the floor. He stood up angrily, you are leaving this house today, and he said drunkenly as he entered the room and grabbed her box. Please don’t do this, she is only eleven, her mum begged her dad who practically ignored. She slept outside throughout the night. It was a long cold night. Her mum could not sleep throughout the night as she woke up very early to bring her daughter in. Every day was a struggle as they could barely feed, pay the rent and school fee and all Sophia father did was drink every day.

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My friend works at the textile industry and she told me of the manager telling the supervisor that they needed more hands she told Sophia, I would be going there tomorrow to see if I can get the job. Mum can I go with you, I want to assist you she said, no my daughter, you have to go to school and look after your siblings. I would cope mum, please and the salary for us both would be a lot better than yours only. Her mum thought for a while. Okay, I would ask them, I would go and find out first. She got to the factory and saw other applicants outside and she stood on the queue, it got to her turn and she was hired. Please can I ask something? Go ahead said the supervisor who was conducting the interview. Can my daughter join me here? She asked, How old is she said the supervisor, she is eleven but very hardworking, please don’t look at her age, she is very hardworking, please I really need this money, my family is suffering. He looked at her with pity and he said, alright bring her tomorrow so I can see her. Sophia started working alongside her mum as a half-timer after school. By the time she was fourteen, she was working ten hours a day and became a major wage earner for the family.

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Growing up in a polluted environment, Sophia found solace and happiness in church activities. She was able to get her mind off her miserable home life. She taught Sunday school and was a dedicated member of the missionary just like her mum. She was known for being bold and could confront any one that is going to disrupt her. She once confronted a gang who wanted to stop her crusade. She stopped them and they could not. She had always loved the missionary and would jump at any opportunity to go for missionary work but she was particularly interested in a particular state in Africa called the city of Kante. Mum I need to talk to you as she sat on the chair, her mum hurriedly sat close to her, is anything the matter?, she asked, No mum, I want to go to the city of Kante. Her mum could not hold back tears, I had always wanted your brother to be a missionary but unfortunately, he left us, she cried the more. Mum I would do it for kelvin. You can go my daughter, I accept. She was excited as it had always been her dream.

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Sophia was accepted into Kante mission group. The first thing she did was to learn the language of the kante people. The city of Kante was known for slave trade and it was a deadly environment. Due to her background, she was placed in the best of places but she was not satisfied as she wanted to visit the villages and not those that are affluent but she would have to be patient. After spending less than 3 years, she fell sick of malaria and had to return back to her country for medication. She went back for treatment and used that opportunity to re-unite with her family. After spending some time, she came back refreshed and excited. Evangelism was a very slow and tedious process as the city of Kante was a very rigid and difficult city.

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Sophia was taking a nap one sunny afternoon when she heard the cry of a mother, No! Please don’t take them, please don’t take them, you know the tradition, one of them told her as they took the baby. Sophia quickly rushed there and grabbed the mother from the guards who pulled her with her babies as they left. What is going on here she asked but everyone looked at her with a pitiful face but she yelled, can someone tell me what is going on here? She yelled again. One of the villagers told her that they had a tradition that no woman must give birth to twins and giving birth to twins was an abomination and their mothers were referred to as outcasts. She stood up amazed, what kind of tradition is that, children are gifts from God and must not be killed but everyone looked and her and left. She took it upon herself to start rescuing twins and putting her life at risk. She fell ill again and had to return back to her country for medical treatment and also to see her mum and sister who were also not feeling too well.

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Sophia came back after a while and got an information that her mum and sister had died. She wept bitterly, she felt so much loneliness but that would not deter her. She asked a villager about a city she was interested in visiting, Please Sophia, we love you here, please do not go there, it is a deadly village and no missionary have ever gone there and come out alive, I do not want you to die, I won’t die she said, I would go there and come back alive. The villager went ahead to tell other missionaries about her plans but she would not listen to any of them as she was determined to go. Please Sophia, we are not ready to lose you said one of the missionaries, do you know that no one crosses the boarder and remain alive? I won’t die said Sophia, this village needs freedom. They saw it as a show of insanity. She went with other bold missionaries women but she came out alive and she had the belief that such works were best accomplished by women. She began to move to areas where no missionary had survived, Her popularity and reputation had spread round the whole village and she became a judge in the village. She lived all alone. She made sure that she found out when twins were born and took them in, she inquired from the hospital to know when twins were born so she could take them. Mothers quickly took their children to her to prevent them from being killed. She faced so many confrontations from the king of kante and the villagers, who said she had come to pollute the land but that did not stop here, she confronted them and told them that twins were not going to be killed anymore instead, she was going to house them, it was a tough decision as she had to fight a lot of battles and lots of confrontation but she stood her ground.

I would be going for my sick leave, Sophia told the missionaries. She needed to do some checkups. While walking out one day, she heard someone call her from behind, it was a cute and handsome looking gentle man, Hey beautiful, she turned back and he was sure looking cute. She replied with a slight smile. My name is Bradley, he said. My name is Sophia, she responded. They exchanged numbers and he promised to call her. Their friendship grew and he decided that he was going to marry her although, he was much younger than her. I am a missionary, the only way I can accept your proposal is if you choose to be a missionary with me, yes I would, he replied. They both travelled to the city of kante but their marriage did not work out because she was dedicated to her service much more than her personal relationship. She did not care about how she looked or cared about her hygiene, her focus was on dedicating herself to the service of the people and not too long, Bradley felt sick and had to return back to his country as he could not stand the city of kante.
She dedicated her life adopting twins and taking care of them. She was eventually able to stop the killing of twins in the city of kante. She died at the age of 67 amidst tears among the people of kante.

Source-
https://www.wholesomewords.org/missions/bioslessor14.htm
http://maryslessor.org/mary-slessor/
http://womenmissionaries.com/p/mary-slessor.html
Image source-http://google.com