Carolyn Ford's Photo Gallery

Aari

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 00:30:37 -0600

One of the most fulfilling events of my career was the arrival of the published Aari New Testament in March 1998.

One of the most fulfilling events of my career was the arrival of the published Aari New Testament in March 1998. Here I am with translators Duba Gersi and Fikadu Babikats, looking at New Testaments from the first shipment.
It was rainy season, and the roads were too wet for vehicles, so the church leaders on either side of Duba took our mules to Jinka (18 miles away) to bring the New Testaments from there.
Now we are working on the Aari Old Testament. Here Duba and Fikadu work on revision of some of our Old Testament translation. So far we�ve completed Genesis, Exodus, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, Esther and Psalms.
Ermias Mamo, the first Aari church leader to study in the USA, has been reading through our translations and offering suggestions for improvement. I was privileged in June, 2003, to attend his graduation from Fuller Seminary with a Master�s Degree in Intercultural Studies.
After the graduation ceremony, Ermias and his wife Amarech invited us to their apartment for a lovely meal.
And graduation cake. (Ermias' wife Amarech and oldest son Ephrem traveled from Addis Ababa to the USA with me in April, 2001. God blessed them with a daughter in September, 2002, and another son early in 2004.)
EdOwen, with Wycliffe Bible Translators' "Seed Company", has worked hard to make a software version we can use to get good camera copy for publishing Aari books.
In August, 2004, Duba and Fikadu came and helped with the last Banna tutor training and then joined me in Alduba for a week. Duba worked on Aari Judges.
It was fun to have the 2 teams (Aari & Banna) together for morning devotions. Left to right are Donna Clawson, Fikadu, Getu, Duba and Ayke. We read and prayed in Amharic (the national language) since that was the only language we could all speak.
Fikadu and I worked together on Joshua, studying the maps and other helps to be sure we had the boundaries for each tribe outlined accurately.
We would go over the completed drafts together. Here Duba is checking out something from our work on Joshua.
By the end of the day we were all a bit bleary-eyed.
Fikadu (left), Duba (right) and Carolyn finished the translation and revision of Joshua and Judges in March 2005. We are grateful for the privilege of completing 45% of the Aari Old Testament.
Alex and Teresia Fellows, who were among the first SIM missionaries to the Aari people, show Fikadu a photo of some of the first Aari believers.
Afternoon breaks usually included slices of an orange. Pray for God's blessing on Duba, his wife and 7 children, as He waits for God to show him the next step in his ministry.
Pray for God's blessing on Fikadu, his wife and 8 children, as he also waits for God's direction.

Banna

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 00:27:10 -0600

I use a program called CARLA (Computer Assisted Related Language Adaptation) to get a rough draft in Banna from the Aari Scriptures. Then David, Getu and Ayke revise it to make it "good Banna". I use the revised drafts to write more rules into CARLA, so that "she" will produce a better draft of the next Scripture portion.

Sometimes I fly in a small MAF plane to Alduba, center for the Banna Literacy and Translation Project. This is the airstrip.
This is the plane.
Colleague Fred VanGorkom oversaw the building of our translation office, adding a 'guest room', where I can stay when I visit.
Banna translators David, Getu ('gay two'), and Ayke ('I Kay') work well together.
I use a program called CARLA (Computer Assisted Related Language Adaptation) to get a rough draft in Banna from the Aari Scriptures. Then David, Getu and Ayke revise it to make it 'good Banna'. I use the revised drafts to write more rules into CARLA, so that 'she' will produce a better draft of the next Scripture portion.
Since June, 2002, Donna Clawson has been on site at Alduba to coordinate the Banna literacy and translation work. By the end of January, 2004, we hope to have a system to communicate with each other by e-mail when I am in the USA. Update (6/23/04): We now have e-mail communication between Longview, Washington and Alduba by shortwave radio. We have to keep to 'plain text', but I can send CARLA drafts directly.
Mark's Gospel has been published in Banna, and we have a revised draft of Matthew and 1 Corinthians. I am currently working on a CARLA draft of 1 Corinithians. Donna and the translation team have drafted Genesis without a CARLA draft, but they still find the CARLA drafts helpful and want me to produce them as quickly as possible.
David has been with the team the longest. He is hearing impaired due to an ear infection after he was grown. With the help of a hearing aid he can hear quite well, and God has gifted him in language. We rely on him to recognize mistakes in spelling and tone-marking.
Getu is a musician, artist, and very good on the computer. It has been a joy to watch him grow in his understanding and commitment. He the lay-pastor of the local church in Alduba.
Ayke is the newest member of our team. He worked in the clinic for many years with our SIM nurse Sharon Smith. When the clinic was turned over to the government, he expressed interest in joining the translation team. His gentle, cooperative spirit is an encouragement to all of us.
Ayke
Ayke sometimes rides a bicycle to work.
Getu
It was hot when I first got to Alduba February 14, 2005. Maybe that's why Getu (left) doesn't look so happy here.
Now he and Ayke (right) are both smiling. We went through their revised draft of Luke's Gospel and revised it some more through chapter 16.
Banna Literacy Project Manager Donna Clawson worked with us and made an interlinear text (Banna and English) as we went along.
The last week I was in Alduba we got good rain, so Getu and Ayke put on warmer clothes, and we were all more comfortable.
And of course we were all smiling because God had enabled us to get a good draft of Luke 1-16.

Farming

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 00:26:19 -0600

Plowing with oxen.
Especially on the side of a hill where plowing with oxen is difficult, the Aari use these 'digging sticks' to break up the soil.
Jonah and Joshua (Bible names are popular among Christians) show off the cabbage patch they planted behind the duplex where I used to live in Metser.
Lauren (short-term missionary in Alduba 2003) stands beside a mango tree. Mango is one of my favorite fruits, and they aren�t so expensive in southwest Ethiopia.
Lauren picks a ripe mango.

Scenery

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 00:25:26 -0600

Alduba (Banna area) at sunset
Winding road
Stuck in the mud (road to Metser, where Carolyn lived among the Aari people for more than 10 years)
Omo River (southwest of Aari and Banna) - The Aari and Banna languages are classified as 'Omotic'.
Wilderness
Missionary kids and their pet turtle (photo courtesy of Jimmy Cox)
Waterfall

Banna Primer

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 00:23:25 -0600

Photos of the Banna primer construction workshop held in September, 2003.

Five Banna speakers joined David, Getu and Ayke to help us construct the Banna primers.
Two of them could already read a little bit. On the first day of the workshop, we had Ayke and Getu show them how to spell in Banna. Here Ayke is working with Sani (pronounced "Sunny").
Donna Clawson, coordinator for the Banna Literacy and Translation work, had prepared word lists to use in the primer construction workshop. She also arranged for all of us to eat the midday meal in her home - the national food, "injera b'wat." Click here for an "injera b'wat" slideshow.
Eamon Anderson, a missionary from New Jersey to Gypsies in Romania, had come to help us in the workshop. (She hopes to do primers in the Gypsies� language.) She and I decided to share one plate at mealtime, since even together we couldn�t finish a whole injera (the sourdough bread, shaped like a huge pancake, on which Mago is adding stew). We break off a piece of injera and wrap it around a bit of stew, then pop it into our mouth. mmm mmm good!
We started each day with a Banna praise chorus and a devotion led by one of the workshop participants. David is leading in this photo. Can you tell he loves to sing?
James Kigamwa (standing) came from Kenya to lead our workshop. I was impressed by his wealth of experience, his commitment to ministry, and his insight into what will and won�t work in a literacy program. Here he discusses with one of the teams the lesson they are writing. (On the fourth day of the workshop we divided into three teams in order to progress more quickly.)
James was able to keep us all encouraged and in focus. Here Sani, Jammo and Getu smile during a brief respite from the intense concentration required for writing primer lessons.
When a team finished writing a lesson, James and I would go through it with them, checking to be sure they had used only the characters taught up to that point in the primer, and that they hadn�t gone over their quota of new words. (Too many new words in a lesson make it difficult for a new reader.)
Then the team leader (here it's David) would write the new words on a piece of newsprint taped to the wall so that all the teams could use those words in subsequent lessons.
Sharon Smith, who works with the church leaders in teaching and evangelism, graciously set aside her other work to help us for the 2 weeks of the workshop. When a lesson was completed, she and Eamon would copy it into the primer lesson outline, adding "boxes" for teaching and drilling the new words.
On the last day of the workshop, after we had completed a draft of all 3 Banna primers, we invited several government and church leaders to a celebration feast.
Before the meal was served, David (left) and Jammo (holding the pointer) demonstrated how a primer lesson is taught.
Jammo was the "student", and though he doesn't know how to read yet, he was able to point to each of the 2 picture words taught in Lesson 1.
On our first Sunday, James preached in the local church. He spoke in English, I translated into Amharic (the national language), and Ayke translated that into Banna. It will be SO MUCH easier when they have the Scriptures in their own Banna language!
On our second Sunday, James preached in a church a half hour�s drive from Alduba. This time Sharon (center) translated into Amharic, and Garsho (right) into Banna. Afterward Sani invited us to his home for shofro. Eamon (left) is holding a "coffee cup", a half-gourd about 10 inches in diameter!
Bekelech oversaw the cooking for our Banna primer construction workshop. A tea kettle is heating on the kerosene burner. Her two children play as she works.
After the feast celebrating construction of the Banna primers, the cooks and their children relax over their own meal.
We held our first Banna tutor training in Alduba August 7-13, 2004. Twenty-nine Banna believers came for the training. Tabby (our station manager's wife) helped interpret. Here she shows one of the primers.
Gideon (top right) came from Kenya as a co-leader of the training. I�m supposed to be interpreting from English into Amharic for him, but it looks like I got carried away and added my own two-cents-worth.
The class was held in a large tent. Banna translators Ayke, Getu and David were among the trainees. Here Ayke practices teaching a primer lesson.
Each afternoon we divided the trainees into groups of 4 or 5 so each could have a turn practice-teaching a lesson. Birhanu was one of the seven who absorbed the training well enough to begin teaching others right away when it was over.
Lesson 1 of the Banna primer. The trainees practiced teaching this and other lessons to each other. Can you guess the first 2 "picture words"?
We had a "shofro" break mid-morning. Shofro is a hot drink made from coffee shells. It has a coffee flavor with less caffeine, and the Banna-Hamer people find it very refreshing. Boiled corn and (dry) beans make a nice snack to go with it.
Patrick (left) and Gideon (right), the leaders of our tutor-training workshop, pose with one of the evangelists who came for the training.
Trent and Tabby�s dogs had to get in on the group photo at the end of the workshop.
We held our second Banna tutor training in Turmi, 3 hours's drive south of Alduba. I grieved for the women in Turmi, who wear iron �necklaces�, carry heavy loads of wood, and show in their faces their need for the light of the Gospel.
Since Ayke and Getu had taken the training in Alduba, they now helped us with the teaching. Here Ayke demonstrates how to use flash cards for reviewing a primer lesson.
We held our classes inside this building. Having "walls" that could be propped open made for better lighting and cooler air.
Getu asks for a volunteer to help him demonstrate the pre-reading exercise.
Shello (top left) had come to Turmi for medicine but ended up in our classroom, so Getu taught him to do the pre-reading exercise.
He did so well that the next day Getu taught him Lesson 1 of the primer. Everyone became excited when he was actually able to read the sentences in the lesson.
He sat with the class (front right) for two days before returning home. When asked if he would like to learn to read, he said, "Yes!" Pray that someone in his area will teach him. Pray that he will come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord.
Some of the groups met outside for their practice teaching.
We celebrated Donna's birthday in Turmi during one of the trainings. We had no way to make or buy a birthday cake, but she brought out some cookies she had made, and Patrick, Gideon and I sang "Happy Birthday". It was a joyful celebration.
Our second week in Turmi we held a tutor training for evangelists' wives. Here Ayke works on his lesson while Getu teaches.
Group photo of evangelists' wives and their teachers. Duba and Fikadu came to help with the training, and three of the evangelists who couldn't join the earlier training learned with the women.
After group photos of the trainees, I asked to take one of the children. We need to reach these little ones while they still have their whole life to live for the Lord.
Seven of the trainies from our first Banna tutor training qualified to teach the primers to others. I visited Ayke's reading group, which met at 8 p.m., Monday through Friday, in a room with solar light.
It was encouraging to see that these four new readers were well into the third (last) primer. Pray that they will each teach someone else to read.
Since I wanted to take photos, the lesson took longer than usual, and the solar light ran out of power. As darkness descended on us, Ayke pointed to a flashlight.
Using the flashlight, they were able to complete that evening's lesson.
Getu's reading group met at 6 a.m., Monday through Friday. As the sun rises, light from the window enables them to see the primer.
The four learners take turns reading. It grieves me that they are sharing one book. They must feel the cost for each one to buy a primer is too high.
Still, I rejoice that they are all reading fluently from the third (last) primer. Pray that each of these also will teach at least one other to read.
By the time the lesson comes to an end, there is plenty of daylight in the room.

Niece Linda

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 00:22:11 -0600

Niece Linda with 3-year-old Judah - July 2007
Linda's husband Jeff - July 2007
Jeremiah (13 - left) with cousins Jonathan and Michael at family picnic - July 2007
Grandnephew Jeremiah (right) celebrates his 10th birthday May 2004. His cousins Michael (top left), Elizabeth (middle) and Joshua (lower left) watch as he blows out the candles on his cake.
Jeremiah's mother Linda cuts the cake while her mother pours coffee and her dad waits patiently for everyone to be served. Jeremiah's Aunt Suzanne walks by in the background. (May 2004)
Niece Linda holding her 2nd son Judah when he is about a week old (June 2004. "Judah" means "Praise", and we do praise God for this special gift.
Mother holds Judah, still her youngest (of 8) great grandchild, at a birthday celebration in Jeff & Linda's home, January, 2005. Judah is now 7 months old.
Judah (3) with his parents - July 2007
Judah showing his muffin - May 2007
The whole family enjoyed blowing bubbles on our back patio.
Jeremiah tried to catch the bubbles on his tongue. Judah was more interested in the ball.
I tried to get a good family picture, but Jeremiah is still "camera shy".

Aari Primer

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 00:22:11 -0600

In March, 2003, 8 fine Aari Christians joined Allen & Joan Lovekin (from Literacy Evangelism International), Gideon Kiongo & Patrick Malasi (from Literacy Evangelism Fellowship, Kenya), and me for a Primer Construction Workshop. We drafted 3 primers to cover all of the 182 characters needed for the Aari language. Starting with Lesson 12, every lesson has something about Jesus. The third primer contains 11 lessons on health and agriculture, and 25 Bible lessons.

The Aari participants developed a special friendship with Patrick & Gideon (left), who fit much more naturally into their culture than we from the West.
Aari Translators Duba and Fikadu had worked hard to translate the Bible lessons and those on health and agriculture into Aari in preparation for the workshop. These would later be revised for inclusion in the primers.
Two of the new words in each lesson had to be �picture words� - nouns that could be illustrated in a picture. Here participants discuss together possible picture words for a lesson.
Duba points to the list of available new characters on the blackboard and suggests a picture word. The Aari participants wrote the lessons themselves. They were challenged by the "word control" - only 4 words and 7 characters allowed in Lesson 1. After that not more than 2 new characters and 4 new words per lesson.
In later lessons they could have 6 new words, and toward the end up to 21 new words. The first lessons were VERY hard to write. Here Agonafar and Fikadu count the new words in their lesson to be sure they don�t have too many.
After the participants gained experience in writing lessons, they divided into 3 groups to speed up the process. Each team would write a different lesson, then read it to the rest of the group, who checked to be sure the wording was natural and no untaught words or characters had gotten in by mistake.
Duba reads the lesson he and his team have written. His father-in-law (lower left) was the only non-reading participant. He patiently endured through the entire two-week workshop and offered valuable insight when questions came up regarding the naturalness of a phrase or sentence.
The local and district church leaders made sure we were well-fed during the workshop - three meals each day plus coffee or tea and snacks at break time. Here the participants munch sugar cane at breaktime.
And here Fikadu receive a ladleful of split pea wat (stew) to eat with his injera (the national staple - a sourdough bread made from tef, a fine millet-like grain native to Ethiopia). Click here to see how injera is made.
After the workshop, the Lovekins, Gideon, Patrick and I returned to Addis Ababa. We had planned to check all 90 primer lessons again to be sure that none had too many new words or any characters that hadn�t been taught. Here Allen and Joan are looking at the draft pages. Due to illness, we were not able to complete the checking then.
After returning to the USA, we found that some of the later lessons did have too many new words and revision would be necessary. So when I made my next visit to Ethiopia, I arranged to spend a week at the church office in order to work with Duba, Fikadu and the church leaders on primer revision. Here Duba, Fikadu and Degu discuss a change in one of the lessons.
Then Duba and Fikadu worked with me in Addis Ababa for 2 weeks as I tried to be sure I had all the revisions and pictures necessary for the primers.
Ed Owen, a member of Wycliffe�s Seed Company, developed software to give us a better print-out in Ethiopic script, and I began pasting the primer lessons into the computer program "Publisher". The next two pictures are sample pages from a primer.
The two picture words for this lesson are 'wali' (a kind of sickle) and 'zhabna' (clay coffee pot). The Scripture reference is John 1:9-13. For the last five minutes of each lesson, the tutor reads the Scripture reference and gives a brief testimony or engages the student in discussion of spiritual things.
Primer 3: The third primer has 25 Bible lessons, covering the main events from Creation to the return of Christ. These 2 pages have the account of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. You can read about it in Acts 8:26-40.
Twenty-five Aari church leaders attended the Tutor Training Workshop August 1-6, 2004. The first couple of days they seemed only mildly interested, but then they began to catch the vision for using the Aari primers as tools for evangelism.
Gideon Kiongo and Patrick Malasi came from Nairobi, Kenya, to lead the tutor trainings. It looks like Gideon is really concentrating on their conversation over the midday meal of injera and wat. (Patrick got a special dispensation of white bread, since the injera didn't always agree with him.)
The participants broke into small groups to practice teaching the primer lessons. We copied a lesson onto a large piece of newsprint and hung it up so that everyone could see the demonstration of how to teach.
One of the participants teaches a lesson as Patrick looks on.
At break time Patrick enjoyed playing ball with some of the local boys.
We teach writing as well as reading. Here Terrefe (left) from the Word of Life (SIM-related) Church looks on as one of his �students� practices writing a new word. This helps reinforce the reading, too.
The Mekane Yesus (Lutheran) Church hosted the Aari Tutor training and provided good meals for all of us in the workshop.
Only five of the trainees were from the Word of Life Church, and only 3 of them finished the course � translators Duba and Fikadu, and Degu (left) who discusses church matters with Terrefe over lunch.

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Injera

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 00:20:47 -0600

The batter is poured onto a griddle (made of pottery and often greased with crushed castor oil beans) from the outside in. I've tried it a few times, but I always leave gaps between the rounds and make all the ladies laugh.
Then the griddle is covered with a lid, and one blows on the fire to make it very hot. (The griddle is sitting on 3 stones, and eucalyptus branches are shoved underneath to stoke the fire.)
When the injera is almost done, it must be loosened from the griddle around the edges.
Then it is carefully lifted off the griddle and placed on a tray or leaves from the inset ("false banana") plant.
Here you see injera baking (lower right), a stack of injera on a tray (center), the lid for the griddle (lower left), and some inset leaves covering another stack of injera (upper right). The girl is about to take the injera off the griddle and add it to the stack on the tray. It looks like the smoke is getting in her eyes. The red pitcher at the base of the tree has some batter in it to be used for the next injera.
Several injera can be stacked on one tray for several people to eat together. Stew or roasted meat is placed on top. One breaks off a piece of injera, wraps it around a bit of the stew or meat, and pops it into his/her mouth. For many of us in SIM Ethiopia, it is on the "top ten" list of favorite foods.
Injera b'wat ("b'wat" means "with stew") can also be served on individual plates. One has to fold the injera quite a bit to make it fit, and you can even "hide" the stew underneath some of the fold! Here Getu and David dig into their individual servings.