Lögberg-Heimskringla - 13.12.1996, Blaðsíða 20

Lögberg-Heimskringla - 13.12.1996, Blaðsíða 20
20 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 13, desember 1996 have the Lord’s Prayer in their language. I got a young Borana man to help me translate the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostles’ Creed and the 10 Commandments. This was a fair amount of work as we had to define many ideas. After putting all this work into it, we decided to translate Luther’s Small Chathecism also. The manuscript lay around for many years. The authorities were unable to decide on the spelling. “I continued to leam the language and keep in touch with Steven Holton, who lived and worked among the Borana people in Kenya. After gaining a better grip on the language I tried to get him to co-operate in translating and publishing the New Testament into Borana. The idea was to have him do the translation while I would make necessary changes for use in Ethiopia. I took a Bible translators’ course in 1965 with the Bible Society where I was able to discuss this project with knowledgeable people — among them representatives from Eugene Nida in the USA, who are an authority in this area, and I asked for their support. They urged me to begin the work. I also discussed this with the Mission Society which supported.our work, but they refused on the grounds that translating the Bible into tribal languages was not within their field of work. I was disappointed but continued the work when possible, taking breaks for other work and for sickness.” “Soon after the communist uprising in 1974 the government allowed publication of books in tribal languages. Luther’s Small Cathechism was published the following year. It was the first book published in the Oromo language. “In 1975 I was asked to oversee publication of the New Testament in the Oromo language, translated by Mr. Holton and his team. The lettering had to be changed and some ideas defined for use in Ethiopia. I completed this job and retumed the manuscript in 1980, using spelling authorized by the church. Earlier I had analyzed the language’s sound system and made spelling which I thought suitable. But Rome was not built in a day, there were yet many hurdles to overcome. For example a whole printing was lost in Djibouti, 9,000 copies. For a few years I worked on other projects. But in 1993 I resumed my work on the New Testament. Many changes were necessary and now this book is expected on the market this year or early next year. “Later I was asked to change the lettering to the Latin letters. That was a big job which I am now completing and I went to Ethiopia in mid summer to proof read. “Steven Holton has died, but he and his team had completed the translation itself and proof read part of it. A co- worker completed that work and prepared it for print. “The Oromo language spelling which the Ethiopian Govemment has adopted follows in all main aspects the one I made in the 70s. This is a great recognition for me. Continued on page 19 The lceiavibic 'bonma TWan 7 ^en ^am §r'ppec* \/\/ homesickness, the ▼ ▼ Icelandic wilderness comes to my mind. I have a picture groped in my mind from Kjölur and Hveravellir. Shortly before I left Iceland, while working for the sheep protection project, I was looking for sheep in by Hofs-Glacier when I spotted a buttercup growing all by itself in the wilderness. This image was driven into my memory and has somehow become a part of me. There, in the harsh, cold, wildemess, this plant was able to thrive.” Haraldur Ólafsson, a missionary visited Iceland for a few weeks recently. He was celebrating the 40th anniversary of his graduation from the Teachers’ College. He had lived abroad for 39 years. His wife, Björg, is of Norwegian back- ground and their two children are Ólafur, trained in nursing and Ragnhildur, an anthropologist. Haraldur has gained recognition for his valuable work on behalf of the Borana people in Southem Ethiopia. Haraldur was born in China. His parents were Ólafur Ólafsson, missionary, and his wife Herborg. “I was three years old when my family retumed to Iceland and there I received my schooling and upbringing. I was lucky to get to work on farms in summers and on various jobs during school holidays. All this ex- perience has been most useful to me in my work in Ethiopia.” But why did you choose Ethiopia, rather than China? “China played a great part in my youth. From an early age I dreamt about becoming a missionary in China. But China was closed. The Icelandic Mission Society was not in a position to send us and we sought support from foreign agents. The Norwegian Lutheran Mission Society sent us to Ethiopia in 1963. That decision was perhaps influenced by the Icelandic Mission in Konso, Ethiopia. I was perfectly content with this location and am pleased now that we went there. “In Ethiopia we began by studying the Amhari language. We were then sent to the Negelli-district, which borders on areas occupied by four different national groups. We were sent to work among the Borana people, who are nomads.” “My wife and I were fortunate to be offered to attend a course in the Borana language shortly after arriving in Negelli. The course was taught by Steven Holton, a son of a missionary from China. Although I was able to speak the Amhari language fairly well, I could not make myself understood to the people in Negelli. Steven Holton made a great im- pression on me and inspired me to leam the Borana language which is a dialect of the Oromo language, spoken by the largest tribe in Ethiopia. While studying the language I discovered they did not This interview was taken in lceland by Kjartan Jónsson Top: Thc Bomtia people of Ethiopia Above: Haraldur Ólafsson, Icelandic missionary Right: A Borana elder

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