Ahu!

"Ahu!" is a common word to hear as people get on or off a canoe. It is a word applied to me, more than to others, as in this context it means "Be strong!" which means to move carefully, not fall on the muddy river bank and to not tip the canoe. Locals are good at avoiding such slips and trips, I am still learning. With a basic meaning of "strong" ahu can also be used to describe ground that is hard/strong and work that is difficult/takes strength. A physically strong person is pupuo, not ahu, as the word has a different range of use to "strong" in English.

While in the village I am told to be ahu about slippery things, at home I am asked what verses and words are difficult to translate, or which things are ahu. The answer is that it is very hard to predict, as was proven to me with Luke 6:46-49; the story of the wise man building on a strong foundation and surviving a flood, while the foolish man built with no foundations and was wiped out by the flood.

I expected these verses to be easy as people here dig deep to make a strong foundation, to survive a flooding river. It seemed to me that the scenario depicted was familiar, so should be easy to translate. In fact, the day we started on it was a king tide, with the water coming all the way through the village to my house at the back. Yet, even with this illustration going on around us, these verses were difficult. The problem was mostly in the phrasing, not in the concepts. Sentences were written and re-written as not being clear enough, or not being natural enough.

Eventually we got a satisfactory draft, but a week later when we were checking all of Luke 6, it underwent another round of revisions. Two months after that, when I was back in the village and we read the end of chapter 6 to help us get started on chapter 7, it underwent another series of revisions!

While these verses proved themselves ahu to translate, I also had to be ahu. Sitting through yet another round of discussions of the same four verses yet again, tests my patience and endurance, and requires inner strength. I need to remind myself that it is good that people are taking the work seriously, and seeking to have the best translation possible. Rather than sitting and getting frustrated, I remind myself to be praying for the work. I cannot contribute the right phrasing for it to be clear and natural Kope, but I can be praying for wisdom for those who do have that ability.

Photos: My Ubuoo house during a king tide (which happens two or three times a year) and in normal conditions.