Rachel Gabler

PYGMIES

 

Father:  Where is Sister Ruth?  Have you seen her or the family?

​

Mother:  Not today.  She was at the women’s meeting yesterday.  Why?

​

Father:  The Chief wants to gather their family together.

​

Mother:  Why?

​

Father:  I think there are going to be problems.  The other villages have been pressing him to get rid of the pygmy families.  Perhaps he will force them to leave.

​

Mother:  What!  That is not right.  They are in our church.  We must protect them.

​

Father:  Perhaps.  But the Chief says they should not be with us and that they are not human like us.

​

Mother:  Really?  Why does he think that?

​

Father: You know how everyone believes.  He says they are so different that they cannot be human.  We don’t agree, but it is a serious problem.

​

Mother:  That is what the church is here for.  To help with problems.

​

Father:  I don’t know what to think.  The other villages say they are so different they can’t be human. 

​

Mother:  I know Sister Ruth is a child of God.  That tells me she is human.  And if she is, any pygmy is human and can be a child of God.

​

SFX:  PETER ARRIVING FROM SCHOOL.

​

Peter:  Hello, Mother, Father.

​

Parents:  Hello, Peter.

​

Peter:  I have an assignment from school.  We are studying history of our country during the colonial times.  I need to speak to Grandfather and Grandmother about what they remember.

​

Mother:  I am sure they will enjoy talking to you.  They will have a lot to tell you.

​

SFX:  Interval.  Conversation later.

​

Peter:  I talked to Grandfather and Grandmother this afternoon.

​

Mother:  I know.  You were sitting with them a long time.  What did you learn?

​

Peter:  A lot.  There were good and bad leaders from the white people. 

​

Father:  As there are good and bad leaders everywhere.

 

Mother:  What else?

​

Peter:  The bad ones treated us Africans very bad.  Sometimes they moved tribes around so they couldn’t associate with each other.  Grandfather was forced to move away from his mother and father.  He never saw them again.  He was beaten and sometimes starved.

​

Mother:  I know.  I have heard him tell of these things.

​

Naomi:  How could the white people do that?  Poor Grandfather.  No wonder he hates anything about white people.

​

Peter:  The white people who did this did not think black people were human.  But other white people did not agree and tried to help. 

​

Father:  I have heard this too. 

​

Naomi:  Did the ones who tried to help think we are human? 

​

Mother:  They must have. 

​

Father:  So we are human. 

​

Children:  YES!

​

Father:  So what makes someone human?

​

Naomi:  One time you said it was because we are made in God’s image. 

​

Mother:  Yes.  That is right.

​

Peter:  Humans are three—body, soul and spirit.  Animals don’t have a spirit.

​

Mother:  Very good.

​

Naomi:  So the colonial white people who didn’t think we Africans were human didn’t understand that?  What did they know about God?  We know He is three—Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  It is not easy to think about, but we know that.

​

Father:  Yes, we do.  Perhaps the bad colonialist didn’t know God.  But we do.  I think I know what God wants me to do. 

​

Mother:  Yes, and I will support you.

​

Children:  What are you talking about?

​

Father:  Your mother and I have been discussing the pygmies.  Some people want to get rid of them.

 

Peter:  But are they human?

​

Mother:  But are we human?  You said some colonialists didn’t think Africans are human. 

​

Peter:  Yes, but they live in the jungle.

​

Father:  So where you live says whether you are human or not? 

​

Naomi:  They don’t look like us.  They are short.  Even the adults are short.

​

Mother:  So being tall makes you human?  I know a lot of people who are short.  Even some white people.  Almost as short as the pygmies.  Are they less human? 

​

Father:  (LAUGHING)  Maybe the taller you are, the more human you are?!!

​

Peter:  Of course not.  What bothers me is they smell. 

​

Father:  I know what you mean.  I wonder why they are such good hunters when they smell so strong.  They probably aren’t able to bath properly. 

​

Mother:  And they are cooking on fire all the time and sitting around the fire.  What people eat gives them a smell.  Pygmies eat different food than we do.  But children, we are speaking in our house.  We must not talk like this outside with other.  It would not be kind.

​

Father:  Yes.  Remember that children.

​

Children:  Yes, Father.

​

Father:  I am most concerned about how much they use witchcraft.  I have heard they are in it very much.  Even more than our tribe.

​

Mother:  Yes, and we know all the problems and fears that go with witchcraft.  Imagine how it must be for them. 

​

Peter:  They don’t go to church.

​

Father:  That is why they need to hear about Jesus.  He can help them with their fears, like he helps us.  I don’t think they even have a church.

​

Mother:  Sister Ruth is in our church and none of what we have said is true of her. 

​

Father:  Perhaps that is how the ancestors lived and looked and even smelled a thousand years ago.

​

Mother:  I wonder what God thinks of the pygmies.  Jesus died for them. 

​

Father:  Yes, he did.  Just like he died for us.