Ethiopia at the end of the 19th century, wrote the following: The one which Menelik called 'a man of my confidence', that was Ato Makeb, officer of the royal house. He soon earned the confidence of missionaries by becoming an edified Catholic. Later he gave his daughter in marriage to one of the better students of the mission, Ato Marsha, who was a police chief in Harar, and actually directed the customs at Jaldessa. It is not surprising that Mersha's children were brought up Catholics. Benito Sylvain, the Haitian lawyer, author and anti-slavery activist who visited Ethiopia a few times during the late 19th and early 20th century wrote: En l'absence de Ras Makonnen, retenu par l'Empereur à Addis-Abeba, pour la conclusion du traité de paix avec l'Italie, était le Ghérazmatch Banti qui remplissait les délicates fonctions de gouverneur. Il manifesté de cordiale faҫon sa joie de me voir et après avoir vidé le tedj ou hydromel de l'amitié, il me fit donner l'hospitalité chez Ato Marcha, chef des douanes de Guieldessa, dont tous les enfants sont élevés à la Mission catholique française que dirige actuellement le sympathique Mgr André, récemment promu Evèque. English translation: In the absence of Ras Mekonnen, kept by the Emperor in Addis Ababa, for the conclusion of the peace treaty with Italy was the Gerazmatch Banti who filled the delicate functions of governor. He expressed in a cordial way his joy to see me, and after emptying the tedj or mead of friendship, he offered me hospitality at the residence of Ato Marcha, Chief of Customs of Gildessa, with all the children raised in the French Catholic Mission currently headed by the friendly Mgr André who was recently promoted Bishop. Mission schools such as those founded by the French missionary Andre Jarosseau (Abba Endryas) trained a generation of young Ethiopians. Recent biographies (e.g. Ras Emru Haile Selassie) shed light on the importance of these schools. In his autobiography, Captain Alemayehu Abebe, one of the pioneers of Ethiopian aviation and the first black African pilot of a commercial jet airliner, wrote: አቶ መርሻ ከነቤተሰቦቻቸው በሐረር ከተማ የታወቁና የተከበሩ የካቶሊክ ሃይማኖት ተከታይ ስለነበሩ ምንሴኘር አንድሬ ዣሩሶ በሚያስተዳድሩት የካቶሊክ ሚሲዮን ገብቼ በአዳሪነት እንድማር ተደረገ English translation: Since Ato Mersha, along with his family, was a well-known and respected follower of the Catholic faith in the city Harar, I was allowed to attend the mission school headed by Mgr