Dayle and I were both in Congo from April 1-29, 2009, in the towns of Bunia then Isiro. We plan to update this blog every few days. Look for the Easter edition to appear a few days after Easter. We hope to report in detail on the Easter service we attend. The purpose of the trip is to lay the groundwork for starting translation in many more languages in 2-3 different parts of the country. We will need wisdom, tack, an ability to really hear what church leaders are saying, not to mention good health and safety.
Good news
Sunday April 26 Dayle and I celebrated the end of something a bit different. For two weeks the simple church in the village of Abone had housed an event which could save many lives. About 25 Christians from around the area were trained to use a book about HIV and AIDS. The book tells the story of a young girl who is orphaned when her parents die of AIDS. The scientific facts are brought in alongside a Bible-based message about preventing AIDS and caring for those suffering from the disease. We have Congolese translating the book into local languages. The translation is done for the two languages around Abone; Mangbetu and Mayogo. Those trained will return to their home villages and use the book there in their own language thus guaranteeing that the information will be understood and increasing significantly the chances that it will change behaviors. After the celebration a makeshift recording studio was set up under a tree. Each group sang songs they had composed about HIV and AIDS which were recorded for use with the book and on the radio.
One of the songs goes:
AIDS is in our villages
AIDS is in our homes
It does not have a cure
No medicine can drive it away
We must protect ourselves
We must protect ourselves
Translating a book on AIDS into a local language is not as easy as it might sound. A number of the concepts do not have words in the local languages. So the translators had to use the same principles and techniques we use in Bible translation for similar situations – how do you translate “You sins will be white as snow” where there is no snow? By using these same Bible translation techniques, we are able to get life-saving and life-changing information about HIV and AIDS into a language everyone understands. A person’s mother tongue touches the heart in a way other languages do not – something that is very important if one is aiming at changing behaviors, as one is with AIDS education.
We are increasing using the power of the mother tongue and the techniques of Bible translation to put other documents into local languages to give people life-critical information. One of the realities of Africa is that many Africans are cut off from such information because of language barriers.
Going to church.
This cute little boy is headed to church in Isiro. (The picture is from a previous trip.) He is carrying his stool on his head to sit on during the church service.
He is the son of Pastor François Atulu, who is responsible for Bible translation in one of the churches in Congo. I was on my way to church with him and his family one Sunday when I snapped this photo.
There are LOTS of children in church services in Congo. Like many African countries, half of the population of the Congo is 15 years of age or younger.
Volcanoes
Scientists are saying that two volcanoes in eastern Congo are showing signs of erupting. We will be several hundred miles away from them, but a team of Congolese translators live and work in Goma at the foot of one of the volcanoes. You can see an early news story at:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUKTRE52T6ZA20090330
Titles
When Dayle and I arrived at the Bunia airport on April 1, Dayle introduced herself to the driver sent to fetch us. She asked him, “Who are you?” He responded, “I’m the driver”. But Dayle, of course wanted his name so she asked, “But what is your name”. “Bahati”, re responded. His reaction is typical of a preference for titles over names in Congolese society. The wife of the most prominent MAF pilot here is known as “Mrs. Pilot”. When we lived in Burkina Faso, I was known up and down the street we lived on as “Matthew’s Father”.
This preference for titles over names is even true among people who know each other well. The afternoon of our arrival Dayle and I are standing in front of one of the main buildings of the Christian university where we are staying. We are catching up with two of the professors we know well. We see the Rector’s wife coming, who we also know well and who is a close friend of the families of the professors we are taking with. One of them says, the Rector’s wife is coming. Dayle looks up and says, “Oh, its Feli!”. In those two sentences I heard the Congolese preference for title and the American preference for first names. The staff here almost always call each other by a shortened form of their title. So they are “Rector”, “The Academic” (for the academic dean), or “The Administrative” for the Administrative Secretary.
This preference for titles helps in some translation tasks and even gives the Congolese an edge in understanding some parts of the Bible. “Jesus the Christ” makes a LOT of sense to them, for example, whereas we make it sound like a name – Jesus Christ.
I try to enter into the culture, but it is quite a shift to leave my anti-formality and “pro-friendliness” feelings and use titles. I tend to fill the use of titles with the meanings it has in my own culture – formalness (instead of friendship, or perhaps even stuffiness. Sometimes even the simple stuff in cross cultural work requires effort, and even after doing it for 30 years.
Dayle in Bunia with Ed
Here we are on the campus of the Shalom University of Bunia. We look across the plains of Ituri province to the mountains in the distance. It is beautiful. But even more beautiful are the feet of the Congolese here preparing to bring the Good News in the form of a translation of the Bible to the many peoples of the Congo who don’t have it. Yesterday I spent two hours with Kabucungu Hand-jinga, the head of the Bible translation department here. He is just bursting at the seams to get translations going in more languages. I wanted to tell him to move ahead on everything. It was so moving. But, I had to put some realism into his enthusiasm or he would have translation expanding so fast the trainers would be totally burnt out. That was really hard – dampening that kind of enthusiasm. Lord, send more people. Lord, make Kabucungu’s vision come true.
Ngagupai: I love African names. It is fun to run Nessiel Nodjibogoto, Mbainodji Nektobkor or Kabucungu Hand-jinga off my tongue. Friday evening I met with Pastor Ngagupaï, pronounced Ng – gah – goo – PIE. It is a great name, but I can’t help having a little fun with it. I wonder if he has neighbors named Coconutpai. In any case, none of these names are Asamericanaasapplepai.
Ngagupaï speaks the Zande language. There are millions of Zande speakers spread over three countries: Congo, Sudan and the Central African Republic. There is a translation of the New Testament in Zande; done many years ago. But many Zande find it very hard to read. So much so that few even try. The alphabet does not represent the language very well. It has five vowels, but linguists think that there are at least seven and perhaps nine. In any case, the church leaders want to have a translation in Zande that everyone can read and understand.
Nagupaï was THRILLED to hear that Zande is a high priority. He wanted to know what to do. and the next step is to choose the translators and train them. So we prayed for Pastor Ngagupaï and the Zande translation and sent him off. He has his work cut out for him. The Zande area is big, the roads are poor and a rebel movement, the LRA, has come into the area and is causing lots of problems. Over 1,000 have died in their attacks and over 100,000 displaced. Travel is dangerous because of LRA attacks There will be hard choices to make. Some of the best translators may already be beloved pastors or teachers. People will miss them if they are reassigned to translation. In many ways this next and very important step – the choice of the Zande translators – is out of our hands. It is in the hands of Ngagupai, other church leaders and, of course, the Lord. Even an injection of money probably would not help that much. It is not a task we could call Aseasyaspai
I spent two days with this group of fun guys. They are all involved in Bible translation and they are all smarter than I am – two PhDs and five MAs, all in translation and related domains. So here we are talking about what training and education we need to give to Congolese translators to ensure quality translations and out comes stuff like, “we must have a a spiritual calling and give spiritual service”. One of these men lost a son in a tribal conflict with a tribe of one of the other men. I think that I get to meet some of the best people in the world.
Easter worship service
Dayle and I felt like we really celebrated Easter. The church service we attended was a wonderful and joyous celebration. I have posted a detailed description at Easter_2009
Life is hard for most people here in Congo. These two ladies are wives of theology students at the Christian University. They have to go up this hill each morning and bring back about 45 pounds of clean water, so that they can cook, drink and bathe. When we were in Burkina Faso, the ladies carried everything on their heads, but here many use tump lines over their foreheads to support the weight.
We are so glad to live in an era of technology, especially when it comes to communications. In the evening on Easter we were able to make phone calls to our son Mark and to Dayle’s parents using Skype. Only two cents a minute from the Congo to the USA!
Dayle and I attended the dedication of five books of the New Testament and a dictionary in the Ndruna language. At one point the “Chief” of the area gave (in photo) a history of translation work in Ndruna. He said that as a child the only primary school near enough for him to attend was Catholic. In the religion class he was taught to pray in Latin. He even recited a few lines he still remembered from those many years ago. He was disappointed and frustrated that he could not understand anything of what he was praying. So in 1942 he and some others decided to try to translate the Bible into their language – Ndruna. They had all kinds of problems because they did not know enough. Today, he said, he is so happy even though it has taken many years, because the translation is very understandable and all the Ndruna can know God’s Word. He is also convinced that the work will be completed, because the translators are so well trained that even if the assistance from Wycliffe is cut off, they will be able to continue on their own.
This is forty dollars in Congolese francs. The largest bill is 500 francs which is worth 60 cents. In Isiro, where I am writing this, most items of any value over $20 are priced in dollars while local produce is priced in Congolese francs. So we do not often need to carry around chunks of money this big. The Congolese franc has lost about a third of its value against the dollar in the last year and inflation is just below 60%.
On Wednesday April 22nd, we connected with Pastor Atulu and walked around Isiro to get to know the town. We stopped at this shop, which was the only place ot get a cool drink – cool cokes at about $2 per bottle. Dayle and I offered one to Atulu, who otherwise would never by one. This shop is one of the biggest in town and you see about half of it in this photo.
It is the begging of the rainy season here. It is quite dramatic when the storm fronts laden with rain come through from the east. The good thing is that we can see it coming for 10 minutes before it hits, So there is time to take clothes off the line or get home. Before the rain comes the air gets still and the humidity, which is already high, goes up. If feels heavy and the slightest exertion causes me to break out in a sweat. With the rain comes wonderfully cool air. The rains often come in the late afternoon or evening, so we are blessed with cool nights for sleeping.
(This blog originally appeared in a different format. It was republished in March 2012)
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