Tuesday, November 20, 2018

October Highlights 2: Workshop in Goma

The last week of October and first week of November, I (Jennings) traveled to Goma to work with four teams that are in the early stages of translation. At the moment, they are midway through the translation of Luke's gospel.
A large part of the workshop focused on using Paratext software. I tried to use some adult learning techniques I had been reading about. A few weeks before the workshop, I asked the project managers to find out what the translators most wanted to work on, that would be most helpful to their work going forward. They answered that they really needed work on computer software (Paratext), key Biblical terms, and exegesis. I tried to make sure there would be lots of practice and repetition, so that they would remember what they learned. One day, I gave them an exercise to do and joked that it was a "quiz". They seemed to like the idea, as a challenge, so we had an exam at the end of the workshop. This was to help them feel that the certificate they received reflected a real, measurable accomplishment.


We tried something new that had been recommended by other translation consultants: role-playing. This was part of an exercise on exegesis. Each translation team was given a passage in Luke to study. They had to identify translation difficulties, including key Biblical terms and cultural aspects of the Bible that would be different from their own culture. Then they would act out the scene, in their language. This forced them to grapple with what exactly happened in the passage. They seemed to really enjoy this part, and enjoyed watching each other. One team had Luke 24.1-15, where the women come to the tomb and discover that Jesus' body is not there. As they were preparing, I saw them realize that they would be playing women (and an angel). I was curious what they would do with this... would they play it for laughs? Would they not want to do it? They chuckled, then went immediately into action. The result was touching. They played it completely straight, with great tenderness, I thought.
 
The women with the spices used to treat dead bodies.
The empty tomb, depicted by an empty box, with a rock in front of it, depicting the stone that had been rolled away.

Rev Masumbuko leading a discussion on key Biblical terms.


These ladies are the wives of translators. They have formed an organization called "carrefour des femmes chrétiennes pour le soutien de la traduction de la bible" - "Intersection of Christian woman for the support of Bible translation". They meet each month to pray for the translation, they organize family worship in their mother tongue so their children can learn to use the translated Scriptures, and they contribute to a common fund that they use to finance activities to help support their families. This is the first time I've seen such a group in the Congo.

As it happened, a one of the translators of the Fuliiru Bible was passing through Goma while the workshop was going on. He was on his way to participate in a workshop in Kindu, doing oral Bible storying with several languages. He agreed to come greet these new translation teams. He encouraged them by describing the impact that the Fuliiru New Testament, published in 1999, had on the Fuliiru community: people understood the meaning of Scripture better than they had with the Swahili Bible (which some people could not understand), and they began holding church services and writing Scripture songs in Kifuliiru. It was a great opportunity to bring together a highly-experienced translator with these men just starting out.

Masumbuko (at left) helping a Kobo translator. Some of the participants are quite comfortable with computers, but others are still getting used to the basics.


Masumbuko using photos he took in Israel in May, to explain Biblical terms like "temple" and "tabernacle". The participants were very curious to hear more about Israel.

Mount Nyiragongo - an active volcano - dominates the landscape. The city is located between the volcano and Lake Kivu, one of Africa's Great Lakes.


Final highlight for November: the dogs get a bath. They strongly dislike this, so we don't do it very often. They took it well this time. Puck (left) dries quickly, but Elikya (his mother, right) has woolly fur that takes a long time to dry. She does not appreciate being rubbed with a towel, she prefers to roll around in the dirt to dry off.

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