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Tanya's Times: Zooming On!
Tanya's Times: Zooming On!
Tanya's Times: Zooming On!
Times
Summer 2020
I’ve planned for potential projects and activities for the coming year (via Zoom), have The Tennet New
had a number of meetings related to a new part time role (see page 2 for that) Testament was
(again, on Zoom!), and have enjoyed connecting with folks working in education supposed to be
dedicated and
more widely via several informative webinars (you guessed it— on Zoom!). In my
distributed in April. Pray
personal life, I still join my Saturday afternoon Bible study group (by Zoom!), and
for the community as
connect with my church in Calgary (also- Zoom!), and met my professors and fellow they make new plans
students with whom I’ll be studying with in September (all on Zoom). for that celebration.
In order to keep the work of language development and Bible translation going, our I travel to Canada on
office here has been slowly opening up. Rooms in the guesthouse and conference September 9. Pray for
rooms have been converted into office space, allowing for more distancing between health and good
co-workers. Meetings that would normally happen in the conference room have connections on the
been done outside, under the shade, and have been limited in the number of people way.
meeting together. Of course, we have had to postpone some of our planned
activities, but it’s amazing how much we have all still been able to accomplish
through some careful planning (both on and off line) and flexibility.
Virus Awareness
Even while working from home, I’ve been able to continue to serve various language communities by
coordinating efforts to translate more health related materials, in partnership with a consortium of NGOs called
the ‘Health Pooled Fund’. They designed the materials and got local artists to illustrate posters and leaflets with
more information about why it’s important to keep physical distancing and wear a mask, and how to keep hands
and home clean to help stop the spread. Many of the messages that are being developed are useful not just for
preventing the spread of COVID-19, but also to prevent the spread of other common diseases here such as
cholera and typhoid. We received a lot of positive feedback from communities and NGOs in the health sector on
the first set of posters (and accompanying radio messages) which were produced in over 30 South Sudanese
languages. It was the first time health messages had been produced and distributed in so many languages, and
funders, community health workers and NGOs have now seen some of the benefit of reaching people in their
own languages. More importantly, people in those communities have seen the value and worth of their
language to convey important and potentially life saving messages. It’s not just English that can be used for
important messages!
I’ve been meeting and interacting with other SIL colleagues around Africa (via Zoom, of course) to share
resources and ideas for how we can use our expertise in language development and translation to help people
stay healthy. SIL International has been working around the world to help with health messaging in hundreds of
languages under the motto, “Spread the word, not the virus”! You can see a database of COVID-19 related
materials, see examples of materials in various languages, and find out more on the SIL website.
Thank You!
Once again, I want to say thank you to each of you who has supported the
work of language development, literacy and Bible translation here in
South Sudan. These past few months have not been easy for most
people, as we all make adjustments and changes of plans, and face an
uncertain future in many ways. I do feel blessed and encouraged by so
many of you who have continued to support the work financially, through
prayer and through emails and keeping in touch. I hope that this
newsletter gives you a little glimpse into what that support has been able
to accomplish in the lives of the people here in South Sudan. Many have
been “extra” generous at this time, too, which has gone a long way in
helping to provide masks and handwashing stations, as well as to help our
South Sudanese staff with some extra expenses due to rising costs of
transportation and basic food goods.
For those of you in Alberta, please do be in touch in the Fall, as I’d love to
catch up in face-to-masked-face! Peace, Tanya
Veggies get delivered to our
compound, and I’ve had more time
to be a little creative with my meals.
Zane (the cat) has not had much of a
change in lifestyle.