Ruth B. Fisher

The first pages of Mrs Fisher's first chapter "A journey on the Uganda railroad" are a sad reminder that famine, flood, warfare and disease are nothing new in Africa. The whole book is an astonishing testament to the power of faith (and youth - Miss Hurditch, as she then was, was 25) to surmount physical and psychological difficulties. As well as describing the successes enjoyed by their missionary efforts, she gives a very good idea of the physical state of the country and of the hazards of travel. She was evidently an enterprising and observant woman who did not allow her view of the Africans to be heavily coloured by European prejudice.… (more)