Our Stories
Two Birds – Thank You For the Reading Glasses
Early this year we forwarded $250 to Loralie, the SIL Optometrist working with Wycliffe for the purchasing and distribution of reading glasses. Loralie sends her thanks to HBBC whilst reflecting on some of the ways this supports those she works with to support the work of Bible Translation in PNG.
This morning I saw Inele, a national translator from the Pamosu language group. His village, Avevete, is a helicopter allocation - meaning the translation advisers (the Carwile family) get in and out most of the time by helicopter (unless they are in the mood for several days of hiking). Inele had come to Ukarumpa for a training workshop, (Vernacular Creative Phonics), with the rest of his team, and he was struggling with reading. Seeing him in the SIL Clinic meant I could accurately prescribe the right strength of reading glasses - and thanks to donations from churches like you, supply them free of charge for his work in Bible translation. It is great to see someone's face break into a smile when they try the reading glasses on for the first time and realise the tiny print is, once again, visible for them!
Bible translation requires a lot of reading, paperwork, and even screen time for translators. Being able to see clearly for reading is important for this job. Supplying translators with reading glasses that help them continue in their work and improve their efficiency with their tasks is the favourite part of my work in the SIL clinic. Like Inele, many of these national translators come from very remote villages, where they simply cannot get reading glasses - sometimes they have a hard enough time finding staples like salt, let alone a 'luxury' like a pair of glasses. So thanks so much for partnering with us in this way!
The other thing you may not realise is that in order for Bible translation to be possible in a country like Papua New Guinea, we need a huge team of support workers in Ukarumpa providing infrastructure. Being able to help this larger team with the right glasses for their eyes is also important! The closest optometrist store to Ukarumpa is in Goroka, which is a 2.5 hour bumpy ride away. Although you may be able to get glasses in the closest town, these are not always available in the right strength (and recently the road to Kainantu has not been the safest!). After Inele came in this morning, I was also able to provide some updated reading glasses for one of the high school administrators, a Papua New Guinean woman who has been working with SIL for 20 years. This saves her having to take a whole day off work to travel into Goroka for them.
Having a good supply of reading glasses of various strengths is helpful, and generosity from our partners enables us to do this. Being able to supply a glasses case and a cleaning cloth also means that these glasses can last a bit longer.
So once again, thank you so much for helping financially partner with Bible translation in Papua New Guinea!
Loralie
This morning I saw Inele, a national translator from the Pamosu language group. His village, Avevete, is a helicopter allocation - meaning the translation advisers (the Carwile family) get in and out most of the time by helicopter (unless they are in the mood for several days of hiking). Inele had come to Ukarumpa for a training workshop, (Vernacular Creative Phonics), with the rest of his team, and he was struggling with reading. Seeing him in the SIL Clinic meant I could accurately prescribe the right strength of reading glasses - and thanks to donations from churches like you, supply them free of charge for his work in Bible translation. It is great to see someone's face break into a smile when they try the reading glasses on for the first time and realise the tiny print is, once again, visible for them!
Bible translation requires a lot of reading, paperwork, and even screen time for translators. Being able to see clearly for reading is important for this job. Supplying translators with reading glasses that help them continue in their work and improve their efficiency with their tasks is the favourite part of my work in the SIL clinic. Like Inele, many of these national translators come from very remote villages, where they simply cannot get reading glasses - sometimes they have a hard enough time finding staples like salt, let alone a 'luxury' like a pair of glasses. So thanks so much for partnering with us in this way!
The other thing you may not realise is that in order for Bible translation to be possible in a country like Papua New Guinea, we need a huge team of support workers in Ukarumpa providing infrastructure. Being able to help this larger team with the right glasses for their eyes is also important! The closest optometrist store to Ukarumpa is in Goroka, which is a 2.5 hour bumpy ride away. Although you may be able to get glasses in the closest town, these are not always available in the right strength (and recently the road to Kainantu has not been the safest!). After Inele came in this morning, I was also able to provide some updated reading glasses for one of the high school administrators, a Papua New Guinean woman who has been working with SIL for 20 years. This saves her having to take a whole day off work to travel into Goroka for them.
Having a good supply of reading glasses of various strengths is helpful, and generosity from our partners enables us to do this. Being able to supply a glasses case and a cleaning cloth also means that these glasses can last a bit longer.
So once again, thank you so much for helping financially partner with Bible translation in Papua New Guinea!
Loralie