Spring 2014

3
Tanya s Times Other NGOs come to give us food and water, which is good. But you have given us something that is better that will last - you have given us knowledge!Trainee teacher at Mahad IDP camp, following a basic teacher training. Prayer Points: Health and encouragement for teachers who are starting mother tongue literacy pro- grams in the camps for dis- placed people. Provision of food, clean water and shelter, especially during the start of this rainy season, for those affected by the con- flict. Humility and wisdom for lead- ers of this country so true and lasting peace can come. Wisdom in how to work in this changing environment. A New NormalIt feels a bit as though Spring has arrived here in South Sudan, as it pours down rain outside my office. The rains seem to have come early this year, which is not good news for the over 1 million people who have been displaced by the unrest in this country since December. While things in Juba remain calm, there is an increase in military presence in the city, and fighting continues in other parts of the country. When I returned in March, I prayed for some guidance and creative ideas for how to use SILs resources and expertise in this new situation. As a result, Ive had a learn a whole new vocabulary surrounding Education in Emergenciesor EiE, in order to know how to engage with other NGOs and the Ministry of Education during this time. While its always interesting to learn something new and add some new vocabulary to my repertoire, its heartbreaking to see first-hand why this country has moved from doing developmen- tal type education activities to this new normal of education in emergencies. God answered my prayers in this new situation through a Danish NGO called IBIS. Their current program manager is a South Sudanese man who knows first hand the value of literacy and educa- tion in the mother tongue of the learner. William is not only motivated to see people from his lan- guage community involved in literacy & education activities, but he wants to see members of other language communities enjoy the benefits of becoming literate first in their own language. On a couple of different occasions, William has taken me to two of the camps for Internally Dis- placed People (IDPs) right here in Juba. One of the camps is a bit more informal and houses over 3000 people from three language communities who have fled fighting in their home state of Jonglei. The other camp is a formal site, set up by the UN for the Protection of Civilians (PoC), and houses nearly 25,000 people from another major language group. SIL was asked to train teachers in IBISs program, so they could add a component of basic mother tongue literacy for the children of these camps. I was able to give some volunteer teachers a crash coursein how to use their mother tongue books to teach literacy to children. I hope to con- tinue our partnership with this organization with more teacher training, providing some more moth- er tongue books, and some monitoring of the classes as they get started. The Newsletter of Tanya Spronk, serving with Wycliffe Canada Spring 2014 IDP kids playing games in one of the camps in Juba, supported by various NGOs

description

Tanya's Newsletter

Transcript of Spring 2014

Tanya’s Times

“Other NGOs come

to give us food and

water, which is good.

But you have given

us something that is

better that will last -

you have given us

knowledge!”

Trainee teacher at

Mahad IDP camp,

following a basic

teacher training.

Prayer Points:

Health and encouragement for teachers who are starting mother tongue literacy pro-grams in the camps for dis-placed people.

Provision of food, clean water and shelter, especially during the start of this rainy season, for those affected by the con-flict.

Humility and wisdom for lead-ers of this country so true and lasting peace can come.

Wisdom in how to work in this changing environment.

A New “Normal” It feels a bit as though Spring has arrived here in South Sudan, as it pours down rain outside my

office. The rains seem to have come early this year, which is not good news for the over 1 million

people who have been displaced by the unrest in this country since December. While things in

Juba remain calm, there is an increase in military presence in the city, and fighting continues in

other parts of the country. When I returned in March, I prayed for some guidance and creative

ideas for how to use SIL’s resources and expertise in this new situation.

As a result, I’ve had a learn a whole new vocabulary surrounding “Education in Emergencies” or

EiE, in order to know how to engage with other NGOs and the Ministry of Education during this

time. While it’s always interesting to learn something new and add some new vocabulary to my

repertoire, it’s heartbreaking to see first-hand why this country has moved from doing developmen-

tal type education activities to this new normal of education in emergencies.

God answered my prayers in this new situation through a Danish NGO called IBIS. Their current

program manager is a South Sudanese man who knows first hand the value of literacy and educa-

tion in the mother tongue of the learner. William is not only motivated to see people from his lan-

guage community involved in literacy & education activities, but he wants to see members of other

language communities enjoy the benefits of becoming literate first in their own language.

On a couple of different occasions, William has taken me to two of the camps for Internally Dis-

placed People (IDPs) right here in Juba. One of the camps is a bit more informal and houses over

3000 people from three language communities who have fled fighting in their home state of

Jonglei. The other camp is a formal site, set up by the UN for the Protection of Civilians (PoC),

and houses nearly 25,000 people from another major language group.

SIL was asked to train teachers in IBIS’s program, so they could add a component of basic mother

tongue literacy for the children of these camps. I was able to give some volunteer teachers a

“crash course” in how to use their mother tongue books to teach literacy to children. I hope to con-

tinue our partnership with this organization with more teacher training, providing some more moth-

er tongue books, and some monitoring of the classes as they get started.

The Newsletter of Tanya Spronk, serving with Wycliffe Canada Spring 2014

IDP kids playing games in one of the camps in Juba, supported by various NGOs

Contact Me

Wycliffe Bible Translators

4316 10th St. NE

Calgary, AB

T2K 6K3

PO Box 628200

Orlando, FL

32862-8200

+211 918 613 387

Home Address:

151 Valley Ridge Green NW

Calgary, AB

T3B 5L6

[email protected]

On the Home Front In my last newsletter, I reported on what I was doing at home in Calgary… and this

newsletter, I feel like I also need to report on what I’m doing at home… in Juba! It

really was good to come home to Juba, to see my friends and colleagues here

again. It has taken a while for people, both South Sudanese and expatriate, to

trickle back into the country, the first topic of conversation is always, “Where were

you on December 15 (the night that fighting broke out in Juba)?” Somehow, shar-

ing news and stories of what has been happening in this country helps us all to

deal with some really, really bad situations. Thankfully, Juba itself has been calm

since December, but terrible fighting continues in other parts of the country.

It’s been hard to see the changes that have happened so quickly here since De-

cember - an unfortunately, this time, it’s not been changes for the better. All of our

South Sudanese colleagues have been affected in one way or another by this cri-

sis, either directly by losing loved ones in the fighting, or in other ways, such as

seeing prices for basic commodities rise. One of the Dinka Cam teachers that I

trained, who was also a pastor in the local church, was killed during fighting in his

hometown. While not as serious as losing loved ones, plans here in Juba for meet-

ings or errands are often interrupted while marches or searches of various sorts

take place on the streets here, lending even more unpredictability to an already

fluid situation. As an office team, we have taken a lot of comfort from our prayer

times together, where we have read from books such as Jeremiah and Isaiah, be-

ing reminded that these sorts of situations aren’t new to God. He has been with his

people before in such situations, and in the end, He will redeem it for His purposes.

www.wycliffe.ca

www.sil.org

Murle New Testament Reprinted! I had the privilege of attending a dedication ceremony for the reprint of the Murle New

Testament! This book has been in high demand for a few years now, so finally, 8000

new copies arrived in Juba a few weeks ago. As we all stood to watch the truck pull into

the compound, one of the Murle translators (who is now working on Old Testament trans-

lation) said to us, “When the people who fled the fighting in their area arrived in Juba,

they didn’t ask for food or clothes… they asked for copies of the New Testament to re-

place the ones they had lost.” At the dedication, I looked around at those who still had

their New Testaments, and those books were very well read! I have never seen so many

people in South Sudan actually reading!

What’s Next? Thankfully, our work here in Juba continues on! It seems that because “normal” educa-

tion activities have been interrupted due to the conflict, NGOs that are implementing EiE

activities are much more open to considering using South Sudanese languages in their

literacy programs! So this means that I’ve been as busy as ever—passing on advice and

materials to others, updating books and materials in other languages, and planning for

more teacher trainings in the near future.

I also have a little holiday planned in May. My friend and colleague, Jackie, who has

been my supervisor for the last 7 years and my roommate for 5 years, is getting married

in the UK to Wes, who is the Translation Coordinator for our SIL Group here! My sister is

going to come meet me in the UK, and we are going to attend the wedding and spend

two weeks relaxing and being tourists in and around London. It will be a much needed

break to celebrate a happy occasion!

Once again, thank you for your continued support and prayers for the work here in South

Sudan. Peace, Tanya

Demonstrating literacy games to some new

literacy teachers in the IDP camp.

I was amazed to see so many people, especially wom-

en, taking out their well-read New Testaments and

reading along during the dedication of the reprinted

Murle New Testament. 8000 copies are now in Juba!

Left: Kids learning in an

informal class in the IDP

camp.

The only woman trainee

teacher. She was a

teacher many years ago,

but had lost the motiva-

tion to teach. She said

our training renewed her

passion for teaching the

children in their commu-

nity.

Below: A few photos of

home. Zane in his usual

position, my front step

and some of my week’s

groceries.