My hundredth blog post and a new year… combined these give me reason to stop and reflect on where my journey has gone over the last few years.
When I started writing this blog I was in training to do Bible translation work. I was uncertain about where I’d be going, who I’d be working with and how to work all that out. Now I live in Papua New Guinea and am involved in involved in translation work. Yet still there are uncertainties.
For the last three years I’ve been an ‘itinerant linguist’ helping as needed in languages and projects across the country. I’ve been part of workshops in villages and regional centres. I’ve worked with one language at a time and in group settings. I’ve worked with a range of colleagues in a variety of situations. All that has been good experience. I’ve seen more of PNG than many people who have lived here far longer and participated in a breadth of approaches to translation and literacy work.
This year though, the plan is to finally settle into one region and one programme, to work alongside one language and build lasting relationships. It is an exciting step, one I’ve been working towards for a long time. It is a scary step, as I will be learning a language by immersion with few written resources to aid me. I feel like a student on summer holidays between primary and high school. For so long I’ve been looking forward to graduating to the next thing, but now that it is on the horizon, all the unknowns are intimidating.
In a little over two weeks I head to Gulf Province, to Ubuo village and to the Kope people for a short trip. This will be a time to shake hands with people, make plans, find out where I’ll be living and start the long, slow, tricky process of language learning (Kope is tonal!). It will also be a time to reconnect with other friends in the region at Kapuna and Kikori hospitals and in Baimuru. In a remote region, all outsiders become friends on some level, regardless of the organisation you work with.
High school, here I come!
When I started writing this blog I was in training to do Bible translation work. I was uncertain about where I’d be going, who I’d be working with and how to work all that out. Now I live in Papua New Guinea and am involved in involved in translation work. Yet still there are uncertainties.
For the last three years I’ve been an ‘itinerant linguist’ helping as needed in languages and projects across the country. I’ve been part of workshops in villages and regional centres. I’ve worked with one language at a time and in group settings. I’ve worked with a range of colleagues in a variety of situations. All that has been good experience. I’ve seen more of PNG than many people who have lived here far longer and participated in a breadth of approaches to translation and literacy work.
This year though, the plan is to finally settle into one region and one programme, to work alongside one language and build lasting relationships. It is an exciting step, one I’ve been working towards for a long time. It is a scary step, as I will be learning a language by immersion with few written resources to aid me. I feel like a student on summer holidays between primary and high school. For so long I’ve been looking forward to graduating to the next thing, but now that it is on the horizon, all the unknowns are intimidating.
In a little over two weeks I head to Gulf Province, to Ubuo village and to the Kope people for a short trip. This will be a time to shake hands with people, make plans, find out where I’ll be living and start the long, slow, tricky process of language learning (Kope is tonal!). It will also be a time to reconnect with other friends in the region at Kapuna and Kikori hospitals and in Baimuru. In a remote region, all outsiders become friends on some level, regardless of the organisation you work with.
High school, here I come!
