IT & Language Software Training

December 4-8 was the time I have been looking forward to for quite a very long time. This was just the beginning of something that is bigger than myself. My desire is to see capacity building unfolding for the team that I am leading at CABTAL. This week was a wonderful opportunity for us to combine IT and Language Technology together in one workshop. After all, this fits in well because these guys are going to be doing both simultaneously. I am so thankful for the support of my mentor/coach (Martijn de Vries) and my supervisor (Emmanuel Keyeh). These encouragement from the beginning, their support and ensuring that this workshop take place plus being there as part of staff made a great impact.
We spend time to pray, share ideas, learn from one another and build the team that we really need.

Cars

Vehicles are very very useful when they work but when they break down, they are equally very very troublesome. This day I came back with a guest and we were going out for lunch but the vehicle was not pulling on well. As if that was not enough, is started getting overheat. Thank God that I had some water in the boot. Apparently, my wife said she was not having any issues with it because she was putting water every morning before driving. These ladies are so careful more than us guys. Photo courtesy of Martij de Vries.

2 Gospels ready for the Mankon Community

The Mankon community has been working really hard for quite sometimes now. On the 2nd of December, they will dedicate the Gospel of Mark and Luke and get it ready for consumption in their community. These ladies were so excited to see the copies and hold it in their hands. Above all, they were able to have the App that that I made right in their phones. They eyes beamed with a lot of joy as they scrolled through it. Now they have these gospels readily available for consumption. Our (CABTAL) Church and Scripture Engagement Officer (Bolak) has a plan of how they are going to organise the different dedication events and how to distribute the App. This is going to be an excellent Christmas gift to the entire Mankon community.

RBM Planning in the Grand South (CCC)

November 20 - 24 saw a very busy week working with language teams in the Greater South. This was the first time for Language Technology and IT to be part of the planning with the teams. Lots of issues came up and some were resolved immediately. From these meetings, it is clear that the LT service has to work very closely with the translation team as well as other teams. The following teams were present:
1) Numala
2) Nuasue
3) Bakoko
4) Tuki
5) Bekwel
6) Bagando
7) Njyem
8) Nzime
9) Lefa
10) Nulibie
11) Mengaka
12) Memema
13) Megambo
Some of these people I already knew and they came with several IT and LT problems that I was able to resolved. It was a great time and a great challenge and opportunity to practice some French.
We now have a global view of the country wide situation and will plan workshops appropriately.

TPC 1 in Kumba

For two weeks in November of 2017, the translation service at CABTAL organised a workshop for three language teams (Balong, Bafaw and Bamboko) in the Kumba town of the South West Region of Cameroon.
I was invited to teach an introduction to translation software. This was really awesome and neat for me to do this. The teams were so excited to begin engaging with translation software right from start. We had a very good time together.

RBM Planning in the Grand North (MRTC)

We had an excellent time planning with the following teams in the Greater North (MRTC)
1) Mofu Gudur
2) Matal
3) Mbudum
4) Pana
5) Buwal
6) Moloko
7) Madar
8) Gavar
9) Marva
10) Tchouvok
These men came from far and near to plan look at what has happened and then plan work for the coming months. It was good to get to know them, their environment, their difficulties. It was also a blessing to see how some of them with very little or no training has been able to do quite a lot especially in ParaTExt.
Some of these teams have really advanced and some are still way behind. I am looking at organising two ParaTExt workshops; one for beginner/intermediate and one for advanced ParaTExt users specifically targetting those who are getting close to typesetting.

We got to experience life in Maroua and went out to visit one of the projects - Matal in the Mandara mountains.

Oh I got to meet my cousin Novel and her baby Mariet Berinyuy and her husband. It was really awesome to see her again after a couple of years. As soon as she heard that I was around, she didn't waste any more time to go see me.

We had fun shopping in the markets and it the Muslim prayer time so most shops were closed and everyone was set for prayer looking at one direction. So funny I bought a tea spice and took it to Bamenda as a very nice teat just to discover from my wife that it is very common in Bamenda. She even had a handful of it. All my colleagues did same and at least one also learned from the wife that it wasn't really a treat.

We had fun on the way shopping for water melons and yams. We also stopped for a few photos on the on the bridge with the sand rivers!

I was able to visit Kadada my colleague and his wife and daughter. It is really nice to get to see the environment and the people. It really helps to relate and connect with the people.

There is a lot of steak and chi (tea) in the North so you can always eat and drink tea spiced with limes. Drinking water can really be a luxury in the North so there are earthen ware pots in some street corners providing fresh water for everyone. I didn't take a drink though but I posed for the photo.

For me, it was also a working session in the North as I was able to resolve some problems and also provide Internet Connectivity for some language teams.

Everything went so well except for the 70 hour round trip! Yes 35 hours to Maroua and 35 hours all the way from Bamenda to the Extreme North of Cameroon. 70 hours is two weeks of work plus you came back again tired. Such journeys should really be undertaken by air.

Thank you Lord for the opportunity to serve you far and near. Please give me the wisdom, strength and good health to do that which you have called me to do for you so that your people may come to have a relationship with you as soon as possible.

Internet Connectivity for the Bakweri Language Team

I had the privilege to visit the Bakweri project in Buea lately. They had somes issues with their laptop as well as needed to backup ParaTExt data and do some updates. I got there and to their surprise, I had an Internet modem for the team. I had it setup quickly and educated on how to use it. I also spend time looking at their computer problems and got them all fixed. The team was so excited and really thanked CABTAL and the donors for giving them this most needed gift just at the right time.

I then move on to visit my sister-in-law who is a graduate student at the university. By 5pm, I was at the Moghamo bus station to head back to Yaounde. To my greatest surprise, the bus didn't leave until 6pm. If I had know, I could have used this time to visit another classmate of mine. While in Douala, the traffic on the Bonaberi bridge was so bad and that took us over 2 hours to get across Douala town.

We finally got into Yaounde by 1:30am. I got a taxi to take me to CABTAL. I noticed 3 men in the taxi and I felt very uncomfortable. I began praying that the Lord should really protect me. The driver then told me that they will have to take a back road to leave another person in another neighbourhood before going to my destination. I told him that he could rather leave me. He insisted that it was dangerous to leave me at that point and at that time of the night. I almost accepted to go with them but the Lord lead me to refuse and he dropped me near the cross over by Nsam in Yaounde. I felt very scarred at that point as I had to carry my suitcase trying to head back to the direction of the bus station. The Lord just sent a bike and he took me to my final destination. When I narrated the story to my wife the following morning, she told me that several people are known to have been robbed in that neighbourhood. The Lord must have really been with me then. How I praise you oh my Lord for protecting me from the hands of the evil one.

Travel Cameroon to CABTAL projects

Traveling in Cameroon these days is not fun especially if you take public transport. Passengers are at the mercy of the police who will often ask them to alight from the bus and each show their identity document, cross to the other side of the check point and then wait for the bus there. Sometimes some passengers are fade up with this and don't want to do as demanded by the police, sometimes they are very tired and it takes time to get out of the bus especially at night to cross to the other side. Other times you are not even sure of your belongings. Even in the night bus, the situation is not different. In any case you can only be thankful to arrive safely at your final destination.
May the Lord Himself calm down the political crisis in Cameroon.

This particular situation is very painful if you have to spend 35 hours traveling from the Extreme region of Cameroon through the Garoua-Bulai high way to Yaounde and then continue to journey to the NorthWest Region of Cameroon. The Garoua-Bulai strip of road is very well paved but the Road from Yaounde to Bamenda is not that good.

CABTAL projects are found all over Cameroon and some of them are in very remote locations. Traveling to these site locations requires some sacrifice, guidance and protection from the Lord almighty.

Scipora's story

Lilian and I have known Scipora for a couple of years now. We came to know about her through our missionary friends Ed & Roberta Simons with Hope Ministry Inc. They asked if we could take care of Scipora and her other sisters on their behalf. We started this and gradually we have become one big family with Scipora and her sisters as well as Ed and Roberat. Scipora and her two sisters are orphans and live with their Mom out in the village of Babanki. Even though they are poor, their are very rich spiritually as they are so dedicated to Christ. Scipora has been very hard working and has completed her her high school. She wanted to go to University and we started thinking that if could be good if she could have a job along side while studying. The Lord provided an orphans home where she now live, work and study for her degree in Education.
I was able to visit her last week on my way back from the University to see her environment. Scipora and her sisters have truly made us proud. She is an example of someone with no background that is carefully sincerely walking with the Lord and the Lord is blessing her immensely. This brings to mind Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the Lord in everything you do, and he will show you the right way.

Internet Connectivity for the Mankon Project

The Mankon team is one of our partners in Bamenda. This project is not very far from the CABTAL office. In fact it is the nearest project so far to the office. One can actually drive there through the backroad in 30 minutes. A week ago when I was in Maroua, I got a call from their translator Folera Fon that they were having issues with ParaTExt software not coming on so they could hardly work. When I returned to Bamenda, I had plans of traveling again pretty soon but I was determined to meet this team before traveling. First to solve their problem and secondly, to setup the Internet for them because if they have Internet access, I could have solved problems remotely.

Tuesday November 14, I was to travel to Kumba on the night bus. I took the pains to visit the Mankon team. This was a difficult decision because I was not very ready yet but I equally know that from Kumba, I am going to Yaounde so it will take me two weeks to see the Mankon team. I drove there and meet them. Took care of their software issues and other problems. Got the modem installed for them and showed them how to use it. I also educated them on the limited nature of the Internet and gave them some good counsel on how to value and use it wisely as a gift from God to do His work.

The team members were so happy to receive this gift and expressed that it will truly help them to backup, send reports, do literacy classes online and send/receive ParaTExt files as well as download ParaTExt updates and antivirus updates. The needs they have for this equipment is just the reason for which we are providing.
It is our prayer that this will be a blessing to the team and speed up the work of Bible Translation and language development among the Mankon people.
The translation coordinator and the literacy coordinator deeply express their appreciation to CABTAL and to the donors for this gift in time.
I personally thank Bill Mayes, the Africa Focused ICT Services Coordinator for doing everything possible that CABTAL projects can benefit from this Internet Connectivity funding.

Matal Project in Mora, Mayo-Sava, Maroua, Extreme North of Cameroon

The Mandara mountains in Far North (Maroua) Cameroon, Mora sub division in Mayo-Sava division is home to several people groups especially the Matal. It takes quite some effort to reach Matal community but it is worth it because then you see this hard working people who not sparing any effort to see that their Bible is translated. For me it was good to see where the translators live and work daily. When I relate with them remotely, I can now have a good understanding of context and situation. This trip helps me appreciate the work of my colleagues on the ground. Pray that sooner, the Matal people will finish translating the entire Bible in their language. I did enjoy the stonny mountains, the cotton fields, the scenery and the people.

Do you struggle to get water? Have you ever thought of bathing or doing laundry as a luxury? Pray for several people groups in Extreme North Cameroon who really struggle to get the precious liquid. This kid is excited to find water beneath the sand.
No wonder why Jesus said in John 7:37-38 "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink" (a kilòŋ kí yúm wír, wù wìy, e yèn mo, e rə̀r kilòŋ kfə́) - NIV & Lamnso' Bible