Translation Workshops @ BRTC

As a Language Software Technology Consultant, one of my major role is training translators, exegetes and translation consultants on available tools, resources and software that can help them do their work well. What this means for me is that when we have workshops in our office, I will be involved in teaching. Here are some photos during our last Translation workshop with participants coming from several language groups in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon. Every time I sit in these workshops and listen to process and principles of Bible Translation, I am so thankful to God for what these men are doing to get the word of God in a language of the heart. We need to pray and support them in this noble task that will bring impact and transformation in the lives of individuals.

Consultant Training @ BRTC

March 21st through April 1 I am involved in teaching translation Language Software to Exegetes and Consultants in Training at our Bamenda Regional office. It is quite interesting and challenging because everyone one is not at the same level and also because it is a bilingual group. 10 participants speak English and 6 of them speak French. This is a learning task for me to improve on my French though so I do not mind too much. This is the kind of thing I really enjoy doing so I am having fun these days. Actually this is more of an overview because they have different activities going on so we plan to organize an intensive ParaTEXT and TW Logos training sometimes in the future for the same group.

IT Colleague for the North of Cameroon

The work of CABTAL has been expanding and the last couple of years I was being told time and again that it will be good for me to visit our teams in the North for IT work despite the fact that my colleague Marcel Nko'o based in Yaounde goes there from time to time. I didn't really welcome this idea because it is a very long way for me to travel. Maybe about 1700km or something.
Meet Nathanael here.

ParaText Training with Aghem MTTs

ParaTex Training session with Aghem MTTs in Wum. It was an excellent working session. I trained Charles, Jessica and Zang the first day. Zang one of the translators thrilled us with this question: "Please sir, who taught the computer the Aghem language that it seems to understand it so well and translates it properly in English in a very short time?" The second day I told Jessica that she was going to train Alfred with me just watching. She did it with very little assistance from me.
ParaText helps mother tongue translators in several ways. In this case, they can now produce an interlinear back translation and a free or literal back translation. At the same time they are reading through their work and making necessary corrections. Also it saves cost of paper and printing and will greatly facilitate checking with a translation consultant who doesn't speak their language.
In Weh I installed a copier/printer/scanner for the team and they were so excited as they can now print, copy and scan right there!

Work in Mmen Project

We visited the Mmen Project and trained the Mother Tongue Translators to use a feature within ParaText called project interlinearization. This will help them to do their backtranslations easily, properly and even faster hence accelerating the process of Bible Translation. We also installed a laser printer for them to keep their office up to task. Pray for this people group and their community.

Adventurous Trip to the Awing Bible Translation Office

I went to the motor park to take public transport to Awing but because I went a bit late, I could only ride on the back/top of the truck! Yes it was embarrassing but that was the only option. Riding on the back/top of the truck on pretty bad Awing roads is very scarry. You have to grab the bars with both hands and struggle to balance yourself as the wind blows seriously on you. The only good thing however is that you can see everything around including lake Awing and the beautiful rocks and countryside. So I struggle to get some shots with my camera. I am very thankful that on my way back I got a comfortable seat inside the truck. Praise the Lord for safety on these roads.

IT work in Ngwo Project (Njikwa)

CABTAL IT Service went to install Solar power and Internet service in the Ngwo Bible Translation Office in Njikwa so as to accelerate the work of Bible Translation and Language development for the team. The roads to Ngwo are not very friendly. But with the expertise of Kenga Ernest and the CABTAL Landcruiser plus the absence of rain you can be sure to make it safely.

When we arrived in Njikwa, men just showed up from nowhere and gave us a helping hand in digging and mixing the sand and cement, breaking the rocks and all that was needed to setup the platform for the solar panels.
We were very happy for the help that several men came from no where and gave us.

We were able to train the typist and other ladies to use the computer to type in Ngwo, their heart language. Lovert was very happy to be able to able to use the computer to type Ngwo - her language.

The Fon came to see what we were doing. He is very encouraging and supportive to the Bible Translation Project. He has given the Land of Ngwo to Jesus! He even invited us to his palace that night. We were amazed to get to know and hear a lot from such an important personality like the fon of Ngwo.