Ngombe couple, Congo, ca. 1900-1915

Black and white lantern slide showing a Congolese couple, speakers of the Ngombe language, a Bantu language spoken by people living beside the Congo River. The husband wears a round-necked shirt, trousers and belt. His wife wears a light, smart European style dress with a flower pinned onto it and a head-wrap. Note the scarification designs on the faces of the couple. This slide comes from a collection generated by missionaries working for the Congo Balolo Mission, a mission begun in 1889 under the supervision of the East London Training Institute for Home and Foreign Missions that developed into the interdenominational evangelical mission Regions Beyond Missionary Union after 1900.