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by Translation Consultant Susan Hossack
In Chad we are working with eight languages, each with a translator and an assistant translator working full time from their respective villages. They are assisted by a local committee of 10 to 20 people who raise funds to pay the translators’ salaries and review the translated Scripture portions.  Susan Hossack and Kimiri Kigata in Chad office
The translator writes a first draft on paper which is entered onto a battery-run keyboard by the assistant. At this point the translator or his assistant travels to the BI office in Sarh. Office workers Kimiri Kigata and Emmanuel Ngarbe transfer the text from the keyboard to the office computers, format the text and print it out. The printout is taken back home, where the translator and his assistant review it and make corrections. The corrected text is sent back to the Sarh office where Kimiri and Emmanuel incorporate the corrections into the computer version and print out a clean copy.
The local committee then meets to read the translation and make further corrections. At this point a translation consultant stationed in Chad (Susan Hossack, Ouya Ganda or Joshua Hedges) or a consultant from the Grand Rapids office conducts a workshop to compare the translated text to the original Hebrew or Greek. These workshop sessions are conducted at the BI office in Sarh, with Dale and Jody Davis (local projects coordinators) and Office Coordinator Mamra Oudalbaye in charge of arranging housing, meals and other details.
Mamra’s additional duties include overseeing Emmanuel and Kimiri’s work, supplying the translators with necessary materials, disbursing salaries, coordinating literature sales, and communicating with translators and local committees. Until the arrival of Dale Davis, he was also the computer and electrical repair person. Dale and Jody Davis’s additional responsibilities include financial accounting, supervision of the Sarh office, and managing construction of the new translation center in Chad. The translation center will provide much-needed facilities for years to come, as there are many people groups in Chad who still need God’s Word.
The central, national committee that coordinates all of the work mentioned above is our Direction Committee, which visits each local committee annually and serves as a link between the Chad field and the BI headquarters in Grand Rapids.
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