From the Ladies Auxiliary to the Mennonite Village Museum, Steinbach, Manitoba

by Mrs. Jessie Neufeld
Randolph, Manitoba

Manitoba History, Number 4, 1982

Do you ever think of the role of the woman in the past? Her first duty lay in creating a home, be it in a Semlin, log-house, house-barn or other dwelling. She raised a family, taught them, kept them clothed and fed. She had to keep the fire going for all the cooking and washing to be done. She also had a garden to tend. She spun, knitted, sewed all the clothing by hand and helped in the fields when needed.

Rosenbach, North of Winkler, 1919. On porch: Frank Enns, Isaac Wiens, Rev. Welhelm Friesen, John Brown, Mrs. John Brown, Mrs. W. Friesen, Mrs. Isaak Wiens, Mrs. Frank Enns, Mrs. Peter Dyck.
Courtesy Conference of Mennonites in Canada Archives.

But many a housewife was also, because of a need, asked to become a Sister of Mercy. I am speaking of the mid-wife (Hebamme). She came face to face with life and death as she ministered to those in need. Since doctors were scarce, she was there when a women went into labor. She wiped the sweating brow and gave encouragement to the tiring body. And when the new babe was tucked away, it was she who often stayed to set the house in order and hush the other little ones so their mother could sleep and regain her strength.

She was also called upon when death took a loved one. Her gentle hands lovingly gave comfort and prepared the body for burial and with simple taste made a home-made coffin look less foreboding.

Do you know of such a person? I have the good fortune of having such an Aunt still living in Grunthal. As a child in the old country she accompanied her mother to those village homes in need of care. She continued her work of love in Canada.

We cannot and should not forget these women in mission from our midst.

Our children and neighbours need to know about them. As an auxiliary we have been asked to look into a meaningful Monument to the Pioneer Women (past, present and future). New trials are being blazed, even today, by women in mission. Please God, may we always find them in our midst.