Lögberg-Heimskringla - 13.12.1996, Page 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