Cold in Africa?

Well, I didn't think it was possible, but I have been cold here in Africa! Well, this out-trip has taken me to a city that sits at a high elevation, so the temperature is between 18 and 20 degrees or so during the day. That's fine and dandy in Canada, but of course there is no indoor heating here! Nevertheless, I got my hands on some extra wool blankets, and all is well! :)

It is so interesting to see how different this city (Lichinga) is from Nampula. Nampula is hot, overcrowded, busy, fast-paced, loud, and dirty. Lichinga is cold, with no one around, slow-paced, quiet, and well-kept! There are even medians between some of the roads, and they are landscaped with trees and shrubs and grass!! A and I were joking that it seems like we are in Europe or something compared to Nampula! We are both really enjoying this week here.

Work has been really great. We’re running a revision workshop this week, facilitating a few native speakers of the languages Ciyaawo and Makhuwa-Xirima to edit and revise the work they’ve done so far on their dictionaries. Once they’re done, the dictionaries will be distributed to schools, churches, missionaries, and anyone who wants one. The lexicography (dictionary-making) is one of the things that Wycliffe does to satisfy the government – it shows them that we’re into language development, while we’re also there to translate the Bible into these languages. It’s pretty neat, too, because we met a missionary family who has been trying to learn one of these languages for a long time, but hasn’t been successful because there is no written manual for learners of the language. So, everytime they have a question, they have to go and ask a native speaker. They were very excited to hear about this dictionary project, and have asked us to contact them as soon as we go to print! It’s a great feeling to know that your work is actually going to have an effect on people!

On Saturday, it's back to Nampula, so I'm trying to enjoy the cold while I can!