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Tanya's Newsletter
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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
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.