AFRICA ALBERT SCHWEITZER : AN ANACHRONISM STILL THEY COME, ALL YEAR ROUND, 
TO SEE THE FAMED OLD MAN IN HIS STORIED JUNGLE SETTING 
. PUBLIC FIGURES LIKE ADLAI STEVENSON, STARRY-EYED U.S . PEACE CORPSMEN, 
SPINSTER SCHOOLTEACHERS REALIZING A LONGSTANDING DREAM ALL COME FOR A VISIT 
TO DR . ALBERT SCHWEITZER . AT HIS MISSION THREE MILES 
UPSTREAM FROM THE GABONESE VILLAGE OF LAMBARENE, " THE GREAT WHITE 
DOCTOR, " NOW 88, AFFABLY GREETS THEM, AUTOGRAPHING HIS BOOKS IN 
A FINE, STEADY HAND . YET, AFTER DEVOTING NEARLY TWO-THIRDS OF 
HIS LIFE MINISTERING TO THE SICK OF EQUATORIAL AFRICA AND BEING 
WIDELY REGARDED AS A NEAR SAINT, SCHWEITZER IS AN ANACHRONISM IN 
TODAY'S AFRICA . AFTER A JOURNEY TO LAMBARENE, TIME CORRESPONDENT JON 
RANDAL REPORTED WHY : ONCE, TO SEE SCHWEITZER, TRAVELERS HAD TO 
BE PADDLED THE 175 MILES FROM PORTGENTIL ON THE ATLANTIC . 
NOW THEY ARRIVE BY AIR FROM THE GABONESE CAPITAL OF LIBREVILLE 
AND PUT DOWN AT LAMBARENE'S MODERN AIRPORT, NOT FAR FROM A 
MODERN, ANTISEPTIC GOVERNMENT HOSPITAL . ON THE SHORT TRIP UP THE 
OGOOUE RIVER, THE VISITORS PASS NATIVES SKIMMING BY IN BRAND-NEW BOATS 
POWERED BY EVINRUDE OUTBOARDS . FINALLY THEY REACH SCHWEITZER'S HOSPITAL . 
SET GHOSTLIKE AMID WILD PALMS AND TANGLED JUNGLE UNDERGROWTH, ITS TIN 
ROOFS AND RAMSHACKLE WOODEN BUILDINGS ARE WORTHY OF RAIN OR THE 
HEART OF DARKNESS . CHANGELESS ISOLATION . IN THE HALFCENTURY SINCE 
SCHWEITZER CAME TO LAMBARENE WITH HIS WIFE HELENE AND PERFORMED HIS 
FIRST OPERATION IN A CONVERTED HEN HOUSE, THE MISSION HAS EXPANDED 
BUT OTHERWISE CHANGED LITTLE . AT THE RIVER LANDING THERE ARE 
ONLY PIROGUES, CRUDE DUGOUT CANOES, THE ONE TYPE OF RIVER AMBULANCE 
SCHWEITZER WILL USE . ( " BRANCARDIER ! BRANCARDIER ! " 
(STRETCHER BEARER) THE OARSMEN CRY WHEN THEY ARRIVE WITH AN EMERGENCY.) 
THE HOSPITAL COMPOUND IS WITHOUT TELEPHONE, RUNNING WATER OR REFRIGERATION, HAS 
ELECTRICITY ONLY IN THE MAIN BUILDING, WHICH HOUSES THE TINY, ANTIQUATED 
OPERATING THEATER . STERILIZATION IS CARRIED OUT IN AN OUTDOOR LEAN-TO 
AND THE ONLY TOILET IS AN OUTHOUSE FOR THE USE OF 
THE FOREIGN STAFF . WITH A CAPACITY FOR SOME 400 PATIENTS, 
SCHWEITZER'S CLINIC IS FOREVER JAMMED . THE SICK, CARRYING PAPER TAGS 
WITH THEIR NAMES, VILLAGES AND TRIBES, WAIT FOR HOURS TO SEE 
THE DOCTORS, ARE BEDDED DOWN ON STRAW-MATTRESS COTS IN DARK, STENCH-RIDDEN 
HUTS WHOSE EARTH FLOORS ARE AWASH DURING THE RAINY SEASON . 
OUTSIDE, OVER OPEN FIRES, THE PATIENTS' WOMEN RELATIVES COOK, WHILE A 
HORDE OF CHICKENS, DOGS AND GOATS (PROTECTED UNDER SCHWEITZER'S " REVERENCE 
FOR LIFE " MYSTIQUE BY WHICH NO LIVING THING SHOULD BE 
UNNECESSARILY DISTURBED) ROAM AT WILL, ADDING FREELY TO THE SURROUNDING FILTH 
. WHEN A PATIENT DIES AND HIS BODY IS UNCLAIMED, IT 
IS WRAPPED IN A FERN-ANDPALM-LEAF SHROUD, LAID IN A WOODEN BOX, 
AND BURIED IN THE BUSH . TAILORED FOR PRIMITIVES . DESPITE 
SUCH SQUALOR, SCHWEITZER'S INSTITUTION HAS A GOOD MEDICAL RECORD, AND THE 
CITY'S EUROPEANS GENERALLY CHOOSE IT OVER THE NEW GOVERNMENT HOSPITAL . 
FEW HOSPITALS ANYWHERE CAN OFFER SUCH A DEDICATED STAFF, OR ONE 
THAT LIVES AS AUSTERELY . EACH OF THE DOCTORS AND NURSES 
OCCUPIES A SINGLE ROOM EQUIPPED WITH IRON BED, ENAMEL WASH BASIN 
AND KEROSENE LAMP ; MEALS USUALLY CONSIST OF FRIED BANANAS AND 
OTHER FRUIT . THE OLD MAN STUBBORNLY REFUSES TO GO MODERN 
. SAYS HE : / CIRCUMSTANCES COMMAND THAT THE HOSPITAL BE 
PRIMITIVE IN KEEPING WITH THE PRIMITIVE STATE OF THE PEOPLE . 
" HE BELIEVES THAT AFRICANS ENJOY DISCOMFORT, AND THAT THEY ARE 
OFTEN AFRAID OF A GLEAMING WHITE MODERN HOSPITAL, BUT NOT OF 
ONE THAT REMINDS THEM OF THEIR VILLAGES A CONCEPT LESS VALID 
TODAY THAN 20 YEARS AGO . HIS AFRICAN CRITICS TAKE SCHWEITZER'S 
INSISTENCE ON PRIMITIVENESS AS AN INSULT, OR A NEEDLESS PROLONGATION OF 
" THE WHITE MAN'S BURDEN . " SYMBOLICALLY, THEY POINT OUT, 
HE AND HIS STAFF STILL WEAR PITH HELMETS . THE CONCEPT 
THAT THE DARK CONTINENT CAN MAKE MORE PROGRESS THROUGH INDEPENDENCE IS, 
TO SCHWEITZER, FOLLY . TOLD THAT THE PEACE CORPS IS BUILDING 
PRIMARY SCHOOLS ALL OVER GABON, AND THAT THE LITTLE COUNTRY HAS 
14 MEDICAL STUDENTS TRAINING IN FRANCE, DR . SCHWEITZER MERELY CHUCKLES 
AND SAYS OF THE BLACKS : " YOU CANNOT CHANGE THEIR 
MENTALITY . " AMONG HIS SIX DOCTORS AND 17 NURSES, THERE 
IS NOT ONE AFRICAN, NOR IS HE TRAINING ANY . SAYS 
AN UPPER-CLASS AFRICAN IN LAMBARENE : " I'D RATHER DIE UNATTENDED 
THAN BE HUMILIATED AT DR . SCHWEITZER'S HOSPITAL . " ACCORDING 
TO THE SUN . BUSHY WHITE HAIR AFLARE, DROOPING MUSTACHE AQUIVER, 
COTTON STRIPS WOUND AROUND HIS ARMS TO ABSORB THE SWEAT, HE 
IS A LITTLE DEAF BUT ALERT AS A LION . HE 
IS STILL PLANNING ADDITIONS TO THE HOSPITAL AND IS WORKING ON 
VOLUME III OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF CIVILIZATION . A FEW WEEKS 
AGO, HE ANNOUNCED THAT HE WOULD MAKE NO MORE REST VISITS 
TO EUROPE, WHICH HIS DISCIPLES TAKE TO MEAN THAT SCHWEITZER WANTS 
TO DIE AT LAMBARENE, WHERE HIS WIFE WAS BURIED SIX YEARS 
AGO . IN THE JUNGLE, THE DOCTOR HAS BUILT A PRIVATE 
WORLD FOR HIMSELF WHICH HE REFUSES TO ALTER . EVEN HIS 
TIME IS HIS OWN ; THE HOSPITAL CLOCKS DO NOT RUN 
ON G.M.T., LIKE ALL THE REST OF THE COUNTRY, BUT ARE 
SET ACCORDING TO THE SUN . AS FAR BACK AS WORLD 
WAR I, SCHWEITZER EXPRESSED HIS DISLIKE FOR THE MODERN WORLD OUTSIDE 
: " IN A THOUSAND DIFFERENT WAYS MANKIND HAS BEEN PERSUADED 
TO GIVE UP ITS NATURAL RELATIONS WITH REALITY AND TO SEEK 
ITS WELFARE IN THE MAGIC FORMULAS OF SOME KIND OF ECONOMIC 
AND SOCIAL WITCHCRAFT . " SCHWEITZER HAS MADE HIS OWN REALITY 
; HE LIVES IN THE AFRICA OF 1913, HARDLY KNOWING OR 
CARING THAT A CONTINENT AND A CENTURY HAVE PASSED HIM BY 
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