Kribi Leadership Meeting

In January ending of 2019, the CABTAL leadership team had a meeting in Kribi. This was a time for the leadership team to pray, look back, look at the present and look ahead to see how the Lord is leading the way. It was also a time to begin working on the Strategic plan for the next couple of years.

LT Connect, IT Connect and ICCM Francophone Africa

LT Connect or mini Outilingua: The task of Bible translation and language development is very enormous and requires the work of Translators, Linguists, Literacy staff, Scripture Engagement workers etc. All these people require specialized computer applications to be able to carry on with their activities. It is the role of the language technology worker to ensure that everyone who needs a special piece of software is well trained to use it. For this reason, LT Connect makes the resources and tools available so that IT staff, who are not necessarily LT workers, can help. Primary reason for this is because there are hardly any LT workers to begin with. For me, this is also a beginning point in training LT workers.

LT Connect participants

Joined IT Connect and ICCM Conference:    
IT Connect is an annual training event of IT staff serving in Bible translation with SIL International and Alliance Organisations in Africa. It is a time to connect and share updates on what is going on in our areas of work. Learn from one another, share challenges and above all, be in a community of practice, with the knowledge that IT is one of the core services in the success of  Bible Translation.

ITConnect and ICCM Participants in Burkina Faso

How was LT Connect done?
During the 2.5 days LT event participants  were basically given language technology tasks to resolve. Although resources were available such as the above website, ask other LT experts, the expectation was that they wrestle with these tasks first and determine what they could do to resolve them.
For some staff this was very challenging and for some it was less of a challenge. For my team (Etienne and Kadada), they found it easy because I have included them in LT events that I organise so they can learn bit by bit. Besides supporting IT related issues we are very willing and able to also support LT related issues. We would welcome more LT related support requests.

CABTAL team to Burkina Faso in Jan 2019

How was IT Connect/ICCM done this year? This year, IT Connect and ICCM participants were given topics to prepare and teach (facilitate). This was not easy for most of them because they are not often involved in training but in the end, it was an idea that they really appreciated. They want to facilitate lessons more and more so as to be comfortable and capable in their different roles. There were several topics to choose from.

Next steps: We expect that every participant will take what they have learned, discuss with their leadership and see how it can best be applied in their context according the needs in place. We also expect to see a wider community of practice amongst colleagues harnessing the available technology to expedite the work of Bible translation and language development in Africa.

My role in these events: Initially, I had heard that Francophone IT staff are really struggling. In my role, I get in touch with them once in a while as we work in an IT community  of practice offering help to one another. As one of the conference facilitators, I worked with three participants preparing teaching modules. This was an opportunity for me to coach them to do this successfully. I was equally involved in interviews with the participants in finding out how things are going for them in their locations.

Meeting with Douada IT staff @ SIL Niger

Photo pose with Ziba Dieudonne, IT staff at ANTBA

Bye bye Bamenda and welcome to Yaounde

January 4th, I finally received the administrative letter that I have been transferred to serve with CABTAL officially from Yaounde. This news brought a lot of immediate changes to us as a family. We had to make very quick but now confirmed decisions. We have been making plans to send Caritas and Marie to Yaounde to school there but we had a hard time finding a boarding school for them or someone to house both of them for us even in the meantime. So the new of the transfer just confirms that God wants us to move at this time. As we planned to travel on Saturday the 5th, we heard word that there is going to be a ghost town beginning that Saturday until Wednesday. We were really disturbed because if I don't leave for Yaounde immediately, I will miss my flight to Burkina Faso on Tuesday the 8th. A friend advised that we leave very early that Saturday and we finally left Bamenda at 6:30 AM. We were going and observing the road and felt very very safe once we crossed from the NW region to the West region (from English speaking soil to French speaking soil). 

We praise God for guiding us out safely because later on, we heard at least one vehicle was burnt down to ashes as they tried driving in town. It was a very long ride to Yaounde but we made if safely in one piece. We were highly welcomed to our apartment in CABTAL. We had been offered this to be there for 2 to 3 weeks while looking for a place of our own. This was a very beautiful apartment with a very nice view of the Eastern part of Yaounde. Our girls really enjoyed staying at the guest house and got a good reading spot outside amidst the fresh air and beautiful view. 

Picking rice to cook

Lilian had gone back to Yaounde so the girls are taking care of the house

On Monday, we got admission for our girls in a school nearby and paid all the tuition. The head teacher was kind enough to reduce a little bit so that we will not pay the full amount. This was very good for us as we had paid a huge sum too in Bamenda. They are really settling down well in school and making new friends. 

While I left for Burkina Faso the following day, my wife continued looking for a house for us. This was a very difficult experience for her for two weeks but finally, the Lord led us into a very beautiful house. We finally got a contract done, had electricity and water setup and we are in there now. We are really enjoying the premises. The site is really good and accessible. We are only battling with mosquitoes.  Our things also arrived safely from Bamenda. Parking from our house and my office was done all in my absence. My wife did an amazing job with the help of my brother Terence and my colleague Eliot. 

Our house in Yaounde. We are on the 3rd floor

This is our street. Our house is number 212

Happy New year? No not really

On a new year day, it is common to hear everyone saying happy new year!, bonne annee! For us in our neighborhood in Mbessi-Nkwen, Bamenda the year began in an somewhat different way. We woke up this morning 01 Jan. right into a terrifying scene in our neighborhood. My next house neighbor - a police officer was attacked when he woke up and opened his door. He managed to escape at gun point shouting for help. Other neighbors already traumatized with what they saw, quickly alerted us. Just as we were talking, we heard gunshots not very far from us and we were really terrified not sure if the worst might have happened. Looking over our fence, I could see someone destroying the car belonging to the policeman. Since they could not get a hold of him, they took his wife away. The policeman later came back with his colleagues, observed the environment?? and took his damaged car away. One hour later, the boys (separatists) came back again in their numbers all armed and were angry that the vehicle was taken away. There are gunshots just around us as I am writing so the atmosphere is quite tensed for us. Please pray for peace and calm for our neighborhood. I managed to get a few photos.

Children's Church

Lilian is very passionate about teaching kids. They also seem to enjoy her very much when she spends time with them. During the last Sunday of December, she invited me to teach the kids with her. We use to do this together a couple of years back at our formal Church Redeemer Baptist Church. I did enjoy my time there and could also appreciate the patience needed to take care of children.
One thing about children is that they play and learn at the same time. Some are quite distracted, some are very serious. You need to care for them all at the same time. You also need a couple of guides or assistant teachers to be successful in a typical children's church. Teaching is truly a very noble job and education is our best friend.

Zion Baptist Church Mbessi - New Church Plot

For seven years, our Church has been meeting in the Mbessi sub chief palace. We have been very thankful that God provided this place. It has been a wonderful place whereby many stop and say wait a minute is this a Church? The reason is that there are a couple of masquerade drawings on the front outside wall of the Church. For many Christians, they do not in anyway want to associate with anything of that sort.  However, it is no longer comfortable because the population has grown and the space is no longer enough. God has blessed us to purchase our own piece of land just nearby. It has a very nice view and we are beginning to excavate it and get it ready to build a temporary church house. When we must have had enough money in future, we will then build an appropriate church house on this land. Praise the Lord for providing this Zion hill for us. The men, women and youths came out in their numbers to appreciate God for this land and to begin work on it immediately. Not very long, we discovered that we the humans cannot do the work that machines can do despite the desire. So we had to get a caterpillar to level the land for us.

8th Convocation of the University of Bamenda

8th December 2018 was a wonderful day with mixed feelings for graduates the University of Bamenda. Despite the University organizing the event, students kept getting threats so with the insecurity, this becomes a challenge. However, we were able to brave it and travel to the University that Saturday morning. On the way, the streets were nearly empty but for the several soldiers who were on guard. Early, that morning, the major road leading to the University was blocked but the military came around and opened it. As we drove by to the University, we could see two casualties.

The convocation ceremony didn't begin as early as planned due to such challenges. Not all the graduates showed up for obvious reasons. 

It was a great event and students were encouraged to be ready to face the world and be proactive with solutions to the problems that will demand their expertise. For me in particular it was a good time to celebrate the faithfulness of God over the past few years for leading me successfully through this Postgraduate studies. It has not been very easy taking these courses but it has been very rewarding to see how I can come in to be prepared and go out to serve better.