Imparting Understanding in Namibia
IN HOW many languages have you heard the expression “I do not understand”? “Hi nokuzuva,” said the Herero lady, in her traditional long dress and a horn-shaped head covering. “Nghi udite ko,” responded the Kwanyama girl, with a smile. “Kandi uvite ko,” answered the Ndonga villager, with a shrug of his shoulders. “Kapi na kuzuvha,” remarked a Kwangali goatherd.
All of these individuals were saying, “I do not understand.” How well this illustrates that Jehovah’s Witnesses in Namibia faced formidable language problems when they tried to reach the 1,370,000 inhabitants in this vast territory of about 318,000 square miles [824,000 sq km]!
And no wonder! Not only the Herero and Nama people but also the Ovambo, Kavango, Tswana, Caprivian, Himba, Bushman, and Damara people of Namibia have their own languages. In contrast, the Witnesses were equipped with Bible literature in English and Afrikaans only. Clearly, for the truth to become understandable to more people, translation work was vital. This started in a very small way many years ago in Windhoek, the capital city of what was then South-West Africa.
“In Windhoek, there was stiff opposition to our witness work from the church and the police,” recalls Dick Waldron. Along with his wife, Coralie, he came to this country in 1953 as a graduate of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead. “We were not allowed into areas where black folk lived, and we were sometimes harassed when seen speaking to black people. Eventually we found a place where we were left undisturbed—the dry bed of the Gammans River! This was just outside of town. Hidden from view under acacia bushes, we conducted Bible studies there.”
It was there too that Watch Tower publications were first translated into the local languages. They included some tracts in Kwanyama and the booklet “This Good News of the Kingdom” in Nama. Brother Waldron recalls an amusing experience in connection with this booklet, which an interested person was helping to translate. The Nama equivalent could not be found for the sentence, “Adam was a perfect man.” So the interested man said: “Just write that Adam was like a ripe peach. The Nama people will understand that he was perfect.” This, then, was how a start was made in imparting understanding of the Scriptures to many among the indigenous people of Namibia.—Compare Daniel 11:33.
Reaching a Milestone
A milestone was reached in the early 1970’s when the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life was translated into Ndonga and Kwanyama. These are the two principal languages spoken by the large concentration of Namibians in Ovamboland, about 450 miles [700 km] north of Windhoek. A pioneer home was then established in Ondangwa, a settlement of Ovamboland. To help the interested people in this area to benefit from the weekly Bible discussion based on The Watchtower, the special pioneers serving in Ovamboland were assigned to translate a summary of the English study articles into Ndonga and Kwanyama.
The translation “office” was a partitioned-off corner of a garage where copies of translated Watchtower material were run off on an old duplicating machine. It was not easy to concentrate on this demanding work, as conditions were rather primitive and summer temperatures averaged between 100 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit [38°-44° C.]. Nevertheless, it was here that new brochures and the book You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth were translated.
As congregations were formed in Ovamboland and elsewhere in Namibia, the response was such that larger and better premises were needed. Additionally, a more centralized location was desirable so that attention could be given to the needs in other parts of the country. Meanwhile, prejudice against the Kingdom-preaching work had lessened. So permission was obtained to begin building on a large tract of land donated by one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Windhoek. Soon, more than 40 volunteer workers were accommodated on the building site, and in December 1990 the translation offices were completed.
Now, in comfortable offices and rooms in this modern building, the work of bringing understanding to many is going on apace. New literature is continually being translated into Herero and Kwangali. As for Ndonga and Kwanyama, a dual-language monthly edition of The Watchtower now appears in color. It contains all the study articles as well as other material. This is, indeed, a far cry from the small start in the dry riverbed so many years ago.
“I do not understand” is now seldom heard. Instead, over 600 Witnesses of Jehovah in Namibia are deeply grateful to their heavenly Father, and they can now say: “The very disclosure of your words gives light, making the inexperienced ones understand.”—Psalm 119:130.
[Pictures on page 25]
Proclaiming the good news among the Herero people
Translating Christian publications to benefit the people of Namibia
Translation offices in Namibia