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Thursday, 15 May 2008.

PROJECTS

UGANDA

Since the year 2000 No Frontiers has been assisting with Bible translation into a major language of Eastern Uganda called Lumasaaba. This Bantu language - also known as Masaba, Lugisu or Gisu - is spoken by just over one million people in and around the city of Mbale in the foothills of Mount Elgon, an extinct volcano on the border with Kenya.

Lumasaaba is made up of four main dialects - North, Central, South and Manjiya, and these in turn comprise a number of sub-dialects. This dialect variation has presented problems in establishing a standard spelling (orthography) for the language, and this has presented considerable difficulties to Bible translators.

The Bamasaaba - the people who speak Lumasaaba - had the New Testament in their language for a number of years, but it is now out of print, and very unlikely to be reprinted. It was felt by many people that the orthography used in this translation was confusing, because of the attempt by the translators to accommodate all the major dialects.

A Major Need

Because around 40% of the Bamasaaba are Christians, the need for the Scriptures in Lumasaaba is now acute. In terms of number of speakers, Lumasaaba is in the top 7% of African languages, and is in the top 4% of African languages, which do not yet have the full Bible. If such a language existed in Europe - especially with a large Christian population - it is almost certain that the Bible would have been made available a long time ago. Therefore the needs of the Bamasaaba cannot be overemphasised, and this is what has motivated us to become involved with this project.

The Bible Society of Uganda is currently working on a new translation of the New Testament, which is a long-term project. To meet an immediate need for the Scriptures, we have been privileged to produce a thorough revision of Mark's Gospel in a new and clearer orthography based on the main dialect, as well as a translation of a number of Old Testament portions - Genesis 1-3 (The Creation and Fall); Exodus 20 (The Ten Commandments) and the book of Jonah.

This high quality booklet, called "Shilomo she Bulamu" - "Word of Life" - was published towards the end of 2005 and 10,000 copies have been sent to Uganda where they are being distributed. The booklets are being sold at the very low price of 500 Ugandan shillings (about 14 pence as at the time of writing - September 2006), and the Anglican bishop of Mbale is spearheading the distribution. Initially the booklets have been sent to all the Church of Uganda (Anglican) parishes, where the local clergy are encouraging their parishioners to buy copies. The booklets are also being sold through a bookshop in Mbale - Uganda Bookshop.

The new orthography has been received well and sales of the booklet have been steady - not as rapid as we expected, but not surprising in view of the difficulties of literature distribution in a predominantly rural and economically poor area.

Although, for this project, No Frontiers has been officially working independently of the Bible Society of Uganda, we have had their blessing and support, especially through the assistance of one of their representatives who is a native Lumasaaba speaker.

Click here to read the full Lumasaaba text of Genesis 1-3, Exodus 20, Jonah and Mark.

We look forward, in due course, to giving more information about the distribution of this booklet.

Allistair Graham, Manager