SOUTH SUDAN: Biblical literacy

A charity’s record-breaking Bible for young people is at the centre of a project to teach children to read in their native language.

Aid to the Church in Need’s Child’s Bible – which has been translated into 196 different languages – is about to be printed in Pazande, the language spoken by the Azande people in parts of South Sudan, Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The project is being spearheaded by missionary priest Fr Stefaan Lecleir who has been ministering in South Sudan for three years.

With almost all Fr Lecleir’s parishioners belonging to the Azande people and speaking Pazande as their mother tongue, the Belgian missionary has been celebrating Mass in the language.

Fr Lecleir said that “about 95 percent of the people in my parish are illiterate,” so teaching children to read in Pazande will be the first step in improving standards of education.

He said: “Starting with their native language allows them to learn how to read better and they can easily move on to learning how to read in other languages like English, as they have a firmer foundation in literacy.

“It also helps them to appreciate their culture by being able to read in their own language.”

He added: “Those who can read are normally only able to read in English.

“There are not many books in Pazande so the children learn how to read in English, but the letters of the alphabet are pronounced very differently in Pazande compared to English.”

But he stressed the importance of learning English too.

The missionary priest said: “English is an important language to learn in order to advance in life, and it is good for the children to be able to speak it.” 

Fr Lecleir asked three priests who were native Pazande speakers to translate the text.

“After they had translated the text, I gave it to some young teachers, who are also native speakers, and had them read it out loud.

“That way we were able to edit the text so it sounded better when read out loud.”

After the final text in Pazande was approved by the bishop, Fr Lecleir sent it to ACN, and the Pazande edition of the Child’s Bible is now being prepared for printing.

Speaking about the need to help the young people read Pazande, the Belgium missionary added: “This is the approach taken by most educational and children’s organisations.

“To learn to read and pray in your own language is very powerful and something that the children respond to very positively.”

Fr Lecleir, who is originally from the Diocese of Antwerp, is the parish priest in Sakure, Tombura-Yambio Diocese, south-west South Sudan, near the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

He told ACN: “There are around 70,000 people in my parish area. There are four villages and 11 other smaller settlements within the parish’s boundaries.”

Since the project was launched in 1979, more than 51 million copies of ACN’s Child’s Bible have been printed. In some cultures, it is the only children’s book in the native language.