Translation progress

I joined Wycliffe in July 2013, and at that time there were an estimated 209 million people speaking 1,967 languages still needing a Bible translation project to be started in their language. A few months later, October 2013, the annual projections had reduced that number to 1,919 languages without Scripture. Here are the new numbers, as of October 1^st, 2014: "estimates suggest around 180 million people speaking at least 1,860 languages are understood to 'likely need Bible translation to begin.'" That means that since I became part of this organization, the number of Scriptureless languages has been reduced by over a hundred! Exciting time to be involved. The full 2014 statistics report is available online if you want to read more.

Six boxes of a newly printed version of Luke in a language of northern Tanzania are sitting in our office, waiting to be checked and sent up by truck to the receiving people groups. Praise God for what He is accomplishing all over Tanzania and right in this office!

And yet new Scripture needs are always showing up, especially from the point of view of a language surveyor. I've been doing research for some future surveys, and in this area there are speech varieties which are considered part of a language with a Bible or a translation project, but whose speakers can't really understand or use the translation because their language is too different. These speech varieties may need to be added to the language list in the near future! Pray for wisdom for surveyors and those determining where to start language projects. There's a lot of need still. 

 

                                                                                                                                                                            pictures from survey

Island survey

 Thank you for praying for our recent language survey! We got back to Dar es Salaam safely last Friday. It went very well and we now have a much clearer picture about the language situation in the two areas we were surveying. I want to share with you some of what we learned and some pictures from survey.

Ukerewe Island, from the ferry.

In those two weeks I traveled by airplane, by bus, by Land Cruiser, by ferry (two different ones) and by a smaller boat. This is our vehicle, traveling from one island to another:

We interviewed six different groups from the two language areas. In the first couple days we had to do a lot of waiting because all of the government officials we needed to see, and get permission from, were preparing for a festival, but we were able to get good information from a group of Kerewe and Kara speakers about where to go to start our research.

Part of the survey team with some islanders.

Our research: In each village, our research consisted of several parts. We interviewed village leaders to learn about the area, languages, religions, and so on. We would also do a group interview with a number of villagers to get their perceptions about the area, language varieties, and understanding of them. We asked the group to listen to stories in nearby languages and answer questions about them to give us an idea of their level of understanding. We would also ask a few speakers to help with eliciting a word and phrase list to help define the similarities and differences.

Group interview.

Taking word lists.

Our findings: We learned that both languages are still important and thriving. It looks as if Kerewe, the larger language, is different enough from the languages around it to merit starting a language project for Kerewe. The Kara group was a bit more complicated. Although they live on a smaller island with just eight villages, each village has its own distinguishable dialect. Kara is also quite similar to a nearby language as well, so it’s still uncertain what the best language variety is for the Kara to use. 

We were even able to find an old Kerewe New Testament; it was published in the 1940s and is almost unavailable, but could be a good starting point for a new translation. God was very present in this survey, clearing the way before us and bringing us into contact with the right people.

Near one village, they showed us the area's open-air museum and explained its historical and cultural significance.

For me it was really exciting to get to see that the Kara and Kerewe people, whom I spent so much time researching for my survey class last summer, are actually real people and their language is really being spoken.  Since my Swahili skills are only three weeks along, my participation was somewhat limited, but it was a good experience to get to practice with the language a little and to watch how survey works and learn more about it. I also loved the chance to get out and see more of the country, which is beautiful and diverse. 

Upcoming survey trip

                                                                             ©Fotografx

This weekend I'll be traveling again! The language survey that's planned for the next couple weeks is of a couple of languages spoken on the islands in Lake Victoria. I will be traveling with the survey team leader from Dar and a couple other workers from the language project in the Mara region (northwest Tanzania). On the survey, we want to assess the dialect situation in the Kara and Kerewe languages and find out if they should be added to the cluster of language projects in the area, or if the Kara and Kerewe peoples understand one of the neighboring languages well enough to use their already translated materials. As some of you know, I researched this survey need for a class project last summer, so it's exciting to have the opportunity to be part of the survey.

Please pray for the survey over the next couple weeks!

• for the survey team, that everyone involved would work well together and that we'd make good decisions. 
• that we would get the necessary permissions and be approved by the government officials.
• for us to build good relationships with the Kara and Kerewe peoples and the church leaders.
• for good roads and no accidents as we travel.
• for health and safety for the team. 
• that we would choose good locations for research and that we'd gather good and accurate information that will help with decisions about the language project.

Thanks! 

Pictures from language school

I spent three weeks here learning Swahili. These are in very random order.

Coffee plantation.

Volleyball!

The campsite and the valley.

I went for a hike to try to climb this. Unfortunately, the path disappeared partway up. 

Study buddies

International church.

"Waterfall." These people haven't been to the Northwest.

Ten things that are different in Tanzania

1.     The moon…it’s sideways! I guess it's because I'm in the southern hemisphere?

2.     The ocean is SO WARM. Depending on where you’re from. But to most of us newbies, it feels like a hot tub.

3.     Telling the time: in Swahili time, the day starts at 6 in the morning. So 9 am is 3 o’clock, noon is 6 o’clock, and so on.

4.     Mosquitoes are scary. In Dar I found one in my room right before bed and spent ten minutes trying to hunt it down. You can buy weapons that look like small tennis rackets and zap mosquitoes when you swat them. 

5.   The plants. Including awesome Dr. Seuss-like trees, like this one. 

6.     Only 12 hours of daylight. But in my current location the stars are incredible! 

Too bad you can't see them in this picture; you'll just have to come to Tanzania!

7.      When it’s dark, it’s really dark. In most areas there aren’t street lights: seeing pedestrians and bicyclists can be difficult!

8.     I don’t go barefoot. At least not very often.

9.     Church services often last three hours.  A lot of it is standing up.
10. Geckos are everywhere! They can be the size of your finger or two feet long. 

This one is about a foot long.

P.S. I have a lot more differences, but these are some random ones you might not have thought of. :)

A Day in the Life of an Orientee

Two weeks of orientation done, one still to go! This is what I’m doing in a typical day of orientation:

7:00 am: Around the time most of you are waking up and starting your morning, our afternoon has become evening and we’re getting ready for dinner…maybe relaxing or studying Swahili or finishing some other homework from orientation sessions. Dinner is at 5:30 (7:30 am West Coast time). So far, African food is great! Beans and rice are a common theme, but sometimes we have a number of different dishes in one meal to sample from.

9:00 am: For me, it’s dark by this time (7 pm), which is hard to get used to! I often feel sleepy early in the evening. I do a variety of things at this time—studying, watching a documentary for orientation, playing tri-lingual Scrabble with my Dutch friends, and so on.

12:00 pm: By the time you’re eating lunch, I’m in bed! I haven’t had any trouble sleeping, which is pretty normal.

My bed, complete with mosquito net.

8:30 pm: It’s late in the evening on the U.S. West Coast when I wake up. I love that I wake up every morning and know that it will be sunny. (It might not be sunny the whole day…as I write there is a huge downpour.) I go running when it’s light out but before the sun is up all the way. This is one of the times I have a chance to go off the compound, and it’s so much fun! Tanzanians are very friendly, and I practice Swahili greetings with everyone I pass by. I wouldn’t run later in the day because it’s too hot, even though this is winter in Tanzania. But I sit in a classroom for hours of most orientation days, and running makes me feel more alive.

Picked these up under a tree on a run. They smell SO good.

10:30 pm: After breakfast and a shower (we do have hot water, although it took me a couple days to figure out that I just needed to flip the heater switch to get it) orientation classes start (by this time, lots of you are in bed).  Some participants are American, some are Dutch, and some are Texan, and we are taught by British, Dutch, Canadian, American, Austrian, or Tanzanian SIL staff.  We’re learning all sorts of things about living in a third-world country: finance, security and contingency, African worldview, getting around Dar, spiritual vitality, basic Swahili, technology, SIL office tour, government advocacy, Tanzanian hospitality, staff rules & handbook, cooking, religion in Tanzania, etc.

12:00 am: When it’s midnight for you, we are taking our mid-morning chai break. “Chai” is the Swahili word for tea.

2:30 am: Lunchtime! Lunch and dinner are both outside, under a shelter called a banda. It’s mostly in the 80’s and humid…so far I love the warmth but not the humidity! We have an hour break and then go back to orientation. For the first week Swahili learning was in the afternoon and was my favorite part, but since then it’s been replaced by other sessions. This will be resumed later at language school…and hopefully practiced in the meantime.

The banda. 

4:30 am: At this point we are done with classroom sessions for the day. If there’s nothing else we need to attend, we will often relax under the banda to study Swahili, etc., or take a walk down to the duka (shop) to pick up drinks or small items we need. By this time, it’s starting to get light on the west coast!

So far I’ve had a very easy adjustment to Africa: no jet lag, no sickness, and only one sunburn (while learning to snorkel in the Indian Ocean on our day off…worth it). Looking forward to the next few weeks! Until orientation is over, I’m very easy to contact by email…feel free to say hi and/or ask me questions! 

19 days left

…until I leave for Tanzania! Here’s the rundown of my schedule once I get there:

July 28^th: 3-week orientation program (Dar es Salaam)

August 15^th: 3 weeks of language school (Iringa)

Sept 6^th: work with survey team (in Dar) preparing and carrying out a survey to the north

After that: More language learning and survey work.

Please pray for these days of packing and planning, and for travel safety and health as I settle in and get oriented!