It was through sponsoring the literacy efforts here that we learned about the Digo people in the first place. Over the past 7 years we have seen the Chidigo language be transcribed for the first time in history. The New testament, cultural stories, books on medicinal plants and folk remedies, as well as children's stories have all been published and are being used to teach literacy in the tribe's mother tongue. Having a written language gives a people group power that cannot be possessed by any other means. Written communications, recording of history, and governmental representation are now becoming possible in a new way here. Thus far, we would consider the project to be a great success.
Yesterday we traveled 3 hours in each direction to visit Gideon Mbetsa, the head of the Digo Language Project, at his home in Kinango. The trip was especially grueling because of the fact that it is the rainy season and the narrow dirt roads have been washed out and become rather deadly. We decided that, with our limited time here, it would be best to get all of the information we wanted to gather about the literacy project in one long day.
We learned a lot about the literacy efforts here. Some of it was encouraging. Some of it was frustrating. All of it was difficult to interpret.
There has been a mass exodus of staff in the project. One of the literacy workers retired. One has been fired. 2 of the translators / trainers have moved on to another Project. Joseph Mwalonya, the other translator / literacy workers, has left the project to be trained as a pastor. This is excellent news because he is such a wonderful person. He is so gentle and sweet. I could not imagine a better candidate to be the first Digo pastor. However, since he has left the project, this leaves Gideon Mbetsa as the only employee and overseer of the project. Essentially he IS the literacy project. He cracked a rib in a motorcycle accident over a month ago and has not been teaching any literacy classes since then. The center has been closed and will remain that way for at least another month. He also told us yesterday that he wishes to leave the project to attend bible college in about a year and a half from now.
Over the past 2 weeks we have passed the literacy center about a dozen times or more and it has never once been open. No classes. No teachers. No visitors. Given what we learned yesterday, it all makes sense now.
He told us that when it is operational, there are general literacy classes 3 times per week. There are teacher training sessions. Also, he said, there are materials in development to be used in primary schools. All of this sounds excellent, but unfortunately that is on hold for now and we were unable to observe or verify any of it.
One bit of good news is that we were able to change our tickets to leave from Nairobi rather than Dar Es Salaam. Joseph is currently located in Nairobi. We are hoping to visit him to talk about the state of the project when he left. We will try to learn all that we can from him. We are looking forward to seeing him.
Posts
4 comments:
Hey guys,
Yeah, that's frustrating; and reminds me of why it is so difficult to maintain any kind of integrity in our giving to projects overseas and partnerships with people we can't maintain significant contact with. I'm hoping that is one thing we can vastly improve through your visit. We need someone we can trust and maintain contact with who lives there and understands the culture and values of the people, and understands us and our values and goals. I will be praying that God would show us the next steps in this and make a way for us to stay involved in a way that we can feel comfortable with. I have some questions that hopefully you will be able to address in your future posts. Were you able to find out what has been done with the money we have been sending monthly for literacy workers? Has BTL and their oversight disappeared? Who actually recieves the money? Who holds them accaountable? Can we see a statement of how it has been sent? Thanks again guys for you thorough and candid communication in all of this. Keep up the good work! We're with you!
You are doing all the right things! I can't wait to hear a report from you when your trip is complete!
You are changing the world.
Amen. I agree with John. I was asked to share this on the blog, and this seems like the best time for it:
Here's something pretty cool I want to share with everyone. I was praying for Collin and Lyndsay thur. morning and God gave me a vision of them with their hands spread out like they were giving something. There was a visible wind circling above them, and I prayed "God let your life flow through them." and I saw the wind funnel into them and then it came out of their hands. I consider myself pretty limited in understanding the spiritual realm, but what I sensed was that there is a principality over the Digo people that is holding back the Spirit of God (like Michael having to fight to get to Daniel), and Collin and Lyndsay represented a portal, a way for the Holy Spirit to be released to the people. I saw Collin and Lyndsay interacting with people and whoever they "touched" the wind of God began to blow in them and stir up their spirits. So, I'm thinkin' that getting the Word of God translated was the first step and laid the foundation for salvation, but that God wants to bring about a release of his Holy Spirit for passion and for power (like the disciples at Pentecost). I feel like the work we are doing now is just the very beginning of that release. There you go. You guys pray about it see if there is confirmation or more interpretation and what not.
That is difficult news about the state of the Digo literacy project. I will pray for revitalization of the project. It's so good that you two are there - you are getting so much done, it is amazing.
Post a Comment