MK forum

Abuse at Mamou happened long before Fanda in the 50s or before until it closed in the 70s. Our story is in the documentary All God's Children. It tells the story of only three of the families but is a very good picture of what happened and the results of the abuse in the following years. Our story is very like Fanda's All God's Children can be downloaded from discmakers.filmbaby.com/films/3663 for about $10.

A number of us have been following your site and pray for you and GRACE as they try to make things right. MKs need to unite to stop the abuse in boarding schools. Hopefully do away with them.

A Mamou sexual abuse victim tells his story on Opra tonight, Friday:

http://www.ohio.com/news/break_news/106650493.html

Thank you for being here for us, SharyHauber. Thank you and your friends for uniting with us and for taking the time to come read our stories. Together, we are stronger.

Hello, my name is Dan. I went to Mamou boarding school which was operated by the C&MA mission society in Guinea, in West Africa, for scores of years in the middle 20th century. I was sent there at the age of 7, and attended off-and-on from 1956-1962. When I was sent there, the houseparents were Jane and Delmer Smith. After many years of silence, some of the other MK's who went there were able to unite and confront the C&MA (I understand they may have changed their name - can't recall what the new name is). I had cut myself off completely from the mission world but was contacted by these other MK's and was able to testify in an official investigation by independent professionals in the mid '90's. They found and certified physical, sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse by the Smiths as well as other houseparents. The Smiths never acknowledged any fault on their part, and as far as I know, were not disciplined as agreed to by the mission society; they were supposed to get "counseling" and if they did not "repent" they were supposed to lose their pension at some point (as I recall). Mamou was a hell-hole and a nightmare for scores of us (but not all MK's who went there were traumatized as I was). It warped my personality. It was the only big trauma in my life. I had loving parents who were devoted missionaries. I blame it for my lack of academic success (I have a high IQ but dropped out of college) and the failure of my marriage with negative effects on my son's development. Many of us survivors have re-connected on facebook at a site called "Remembering Mamou" (access restricted to alumni). We have been sharing our stories for a couple of years and discussing important issues on the fb site; it has been good for us, especially learning we are not alone (many others, like me, had lost contact with the mission world). Personally I now believe that missions should NOT be organized as institutions at all. When people feel inspired to spread the gospel in other lands, they should move there and live there. Otherwise, they live in an artificial bubble of western culture and feel the need to protect their children from the local culture by sending them to boarding schools, which are always bad and often abusive..... All this to say we strongly encourage those of you who are seeking justice after being abused at boarding schools. We - scores of us survivors of Mamou - encourage and support you and most of us would be happy to help you in whatever way we can.

Thank you so much, Dan, for your post. I always wonder who in this big wide world actually knows about us, who cares, who is reading the things a few of us post on Fanda Eagles.

It is heartbreaking to be reminded that abuse of missionary children has been so widespread and so damaging for decades, in mission groups - and especially boarding schools - all over the world.

It is also encouraging to know we are not alone. We have support. There are many who understand us. I am very thankful for the internet, as it has brought us together and helped shed some light in a great darkness.

Several private Facebook sites have also been set up for NTM MKs to talk about the pain they carry from their pasts.

We welcome you to continue posting. It means a lot just to know you are there/here!

Cheers to someone who also got through the weird childhood experience and lived to tell the tale.
If we had our time over again, I doubt few of us would ask to repeat the experience, but the mark of a good human is to be able to do the best in life with the hand we are dealt and not repeat the mistakes/atrocities of those who had influence over us as children.

Dan, it's amazing that you have the attitude you do towards your parents. That speaks volumes about them/ you and your family.
Thank you for sharing. It is always so hurtful to hear another story. Thinking of the mk and what he went thru. Ugh! But we know it must be freeing for you to be able to share and encouraging for others who had a similar experience. And makes us hold on like a bulldog to the fact that this is a CRIME and we seek justice and healing for all those who were wounded.

Thanks. My parents were in fact wonderful people and loving parents. I had a brother 4 years older, and a sister 4 years younger. I know from reading mom's letters home that they had great difficulty with the distant boarding school, but it was the policy of the mission. I think my older brother may have had an even worse time than I, we never talked, and he died in 2002. When it came time for my sister to go, my parents volunteered to be houseparents. The universal reaction from kids under them was that they were "a breath of fresh air" and greatly loved - as they in turn did love the kids. But even with loving houseparents, kids still face abandonment issues when sent to boarding schools. Also, when we sought justice for crimes committed at Mamou, we found out that the cases would have to be pursued in the Guinea justice system - a major problem not just for logistics but because Guinea has been for many years a country in disrepair and confusion.

If anyone from Mamou is on this site hope to see you at the reunion in Branson Oct 5 to 8. We are meeting with ICA MKs because some of us went to both schools. We will have a meeting for Mamou alumni only also. Would love to see all the Mamou kids again. For those of you who came last year you know how great it was to see each other.

Fanda MKs plan your own retreat with no staff and I am sure you will have a great time. We chose the middle of the country so no one had to travel all the way across the country. Branson Missouri is a great spot.

Found out while at Branson that there were a lot more abusers than I had realized before. A number of them are still free now retired and many dying. Even when dead and gone the hurts remain. I wonder what would life have been like without an abusive childhood.

Mamouites I hope you have a great Christmas.