Latest News #287– Tanzania
August 25, 2004

Prime Minister attends
launch of Iraqw Bible                   By Stein Mydske, UBS Fundraising Consultant

Government officials and ordinary people came together for the launch of the Iraqw Bible at Waama Bible School near Mbulu, Tanzania, on July 25, 2004. More than 1,000 local people attended the ceremony, which lasted more than four hours. Photo: Norwegian Bible Society/Stein Mydske (TAN04DJ-15.JPG)

TANZANIA — The Prime Minister, Fredrick Sumaye, was a special guest among more than a thousand people who attended the launch of the first complete Bible translation into the Iraqw language in the Mbulu district in July. The district is home to the Iraqw and Gorowa peoples, who together number more than half a million – including Mr Sumaye's own family.

The Prime Minister presented a plaque on behalf of the Mbulu diocese to the translator and former missionary Frøydis Nordbustad commemorating her life-long commitment to the Iraqw people. Ms Nordbustad, one of the translators who completed the translation of the New Testament into Iraqw in 1977, retired to live in Norway. But in 1991 the Mbulu synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania invited her out of retirement to work on the Old Testament translation project which then took 13 years to complete.

Several speakers at the ceremony in July acknowledged her dedication to the work. She worked on the Old Testament translation with a team of six who included Bishop Yoram Girgis who died in 2001. Others checked the work and two members of the Gorowa tribe were engaged to ensure that the Iraqw text also would serve their people. Other partners and supporters of the work included a Norwegian Support Group, represented at the celebration by a group of eight women from Norway, the Norwegian Bible Society and the Bible Society of Tanzania.

Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye makes a presentation to translator/exegete Frøydis Nordbustad at the launch of the Iraqw Bible at Waama Bible School near Mbulu, Tanzania, on July 25, 2004. More than 1,000 local people attended the ceremony, which lasted more than four hours.Photo: Norwegian Bible Society/Stein Mydske (TAN04DJ-30.JPG)

In addition to Mr Sumaye and his wife, who arrived by helicopter from the capital, Dodoma, Mary Nagu, Minister of State in the President's Office, and several other government officials attended, as well as church representatives from various denominations.

The people to whom the new translation means the most however, are the local Iraqw-speaking population. More than a thousand attended the four-hour ceremony, the oldest Ayubu Galago, 100 years old, and the youngest a child of less than a year. Three church choirs sang and danced.

In his greeting Mr Sumaye focused on the importance of teaching people to read and write their own language. For three months preceding the dedication ceremony churches from various denominations in the Mbulu district offered literacy courses teaching people who can already read and write Swahili to read and write Iraqw. Some 152 literacy courses of this kind were held with between 10 and 20 participants in each group. The participants ranged from young teenagers to 70-year-olds.

A street market in Mbulu, Tanzania, where the Iraqw Bible was launched at Waama Bible School on July 25, 2004. More than 1,000 local people attended the ceremony, which lasted more than four hours. Photo: Norwegian Bible Society/Stein Mydske (TAN04DJ-39.JPG)

After completing the three-day course, each took a written test and many of the participants will go on to teach others. There are also literacy courses for those who cannot read and write at all. All are aimed at the general public and use both secular and biblical texts. In addition the Iraqw New Testament is available on cassette as part of the Faith Comes By Hearing program run by the Bible Society of Tanzania.

At the end of the ceremony, the Iraqw Bibles went on sale at a special discount. The normal price will be TSh5000 (US$4.70), but for July 25 they cost only TSh1000 (US$0.90). Many purchasers naturally started reading them straightaway.

"Is Christianity really for the Iraqw people?" an old lady exclaimed to one of the translators. "I thought it only was for those who spoke Swahili!"

"God now speaks directly to me in my own language!" exclaimed someone else. "This is the greatest day in my life!"

Among those who spoke at the launch…

The Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, Dr Samson Mushemba, gave the main sermon at the Iraqw Bible launch and Zebedayo Daudi, Bishop of Mbulu Diocese, led the ceremony. There were Bible readings in Swahili and Iraqw.

In the three months running up to the launch of the Iraqw Bible at Waama Bible School in Mbulu, Tanzania, on July 25, 2004, three-day 'transitional' literacy courses were held at the Roman Catholic Church in Daudi for people who could already read and write in Swahili. Separate classes were held for those who could not read or write at all. Photo: Norwegian Bible Society/Stein Mydske (TAN04DJ-67.JPG)

Dr Aloo Mojola, UBS Africa Regional Translation Coordinator, gave a speech focusing on the UBS principles that apply to Bible translation work. These principles, he said, should secure the quality of the translation, make sure that it serves all churches and that all churches are represented at all stages in the translation process. He also highlighted the role of the late Bishop Yoram Girgis, as well as of Frøydis Nordbustad, in the translation work.

The Rev Albert Mongi, General Secretary of the Bible Society of Tanzania, emphasised the importance of vernacular translations to the Bible Society's policy of serving all churches and people groups in Tanzania. A total of 130 local languages are spoken in the country as a whole.