Comments on: The Black’s in Africa http://northernhillsmteam.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/the-blacks-in-africa/ Northern Hills Mission Team Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:41:06 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Ken & Susan Black http://northernhillsmteam.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/the-blacks-in-africa/#comment-517 Ken & Susan Black Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:44:57 +0000 http://northernhillsmteam.wordpress.com/?p=208#comment-517 Dear Paul, I appreciate your comments. As we have shared with others who we are, perhaps you can identify yourself to us. Are you an anthropologist or strictly a historian? You say that you have worked among the Samburu, so it begs the question – are you Samburu, if not what is your cultural background? If you have worked and lived here in Samburu, then I am interested to read your published works on these people. By Eurocentric vision, you suggest that we come here with a western perspective, and I readily admit that we have that perspective. We still have much to learn about the Samburu people. However, we are not colonialists or neo-imperialists as you seem to suggest. We are not here to “conquer” anyone. We have a Biblical world view which we struggle to keep culturally neutral. The traditional Samburu world view will clash with the Biblical world view in some areas creating barriers to understanding. Changes from that point are inevitable through the work of the Holy Spirit. Our mission here is to provide basic Bible training to those who desire to receive that training in a non-denominational setting. Furthermore, we hope to provide an oral Bible to the trainees, so they (Samburu lay pastors, church leaders, and evangelists) can present this oral Bible to the Samburu people in their mother tongue. That hardly suggests a neo-imperialist approach, because it will be Samburu men (and hopefully women) reaching out to their own people. Indeed some of the pastors in Samburu have received formal training in seminaries and/or Bible colleges, and a smaller number of them are ordained. We are not here for those men. We are here for the people who cannot afford to go to Nakuru, Nairobi, or elsewhere to receive training. We offer basic Bible training using the BTCP/L curriculum. We can only offer a training certificate at the end of the program. So, those who are faithfully attempting to preach, teach, or evangelize will have an opportunity to receive Bible training within Samburu District. Regarding the Samburu language, our information concerning this language is sourced from Bible Translation and Literacy (BTL), the Kenyan arm of Wycliffe. My wife and I are not taking credit for anything to do with the Bible Translation project or any other work. Only God receives the glory. As a Maa language, Samburu, is significantly different enough from Maasai to warrant its own Bible translation according to BTL. The Maasai version of the Jesus Film has been shown to the Samburu, but it was not received well at all. The Maasai Bible does not work well for the Samburu either. Again, this information comes from BTL as well. We also note that the use of the Kiswahili Bible or Maasai Bible still requires translation during worship. We understand that Maa syntax and the alphabet are documented, but the Samburu Bible Translation project is refining this for the Samburu. Finally, our observations in our newsletter were simply that: our recent observations that we were communicating to our friends and supporters back home in America. Through the use of the word hegemonic, you are suggesting again that we are trying to exercise control or authority as Americans over Kenyans and specifically the Samburu people. That insinuation is absurd, and our observations were not intended to marginalize or demean the Samburu people. When we said: • Cows in Samburu eat garbage about as well as the goats. As pastoral people, the Samburu are very conscious about the health of their livestock. When someone, stakes their cow in the middle of a garbage dump, it is quite surprising. • Samburu women dancing with an umbrella in their hands and large necklaces around their necks are a sight to behold! The lady we observed is a faithful Christian lady who walked with us to her manyatta sharing our umbrella as she sang and danced to a Samburu hymn along the way. She is the matriarch of the manyatta. • A Land Rover pickup carrying 20 Samburu in the bed is a “legal load.” With strict laws concerning vehicle loads in America, we simply shared that the Samburu maximize the transportation that is available to them. Walking long distances is common. • An AK47 can also double as a walking stick. A weapon in anyone’s hands should be treated as a weapon – not a trekking pole. However, with armed raiders and bandits in the area, maybe this rifle is better used as a walking stick. • Chewing sticks are more popular than toothpaste. This was a new one for us learning that these special sticks are purchased in ducas for 10 Kenya shillings to clean the teeth. We are very conscious about what the Samburu people see in us. If you consider some of our prayer letter to be offensive, then for that we apologize. You imply that you live somewhere in Kenya, so I will finish by offering to meet you for a cup of chai one day. Dear Paul,

I appreciate your comments. As we have shared with others who we are, perhaps you can identify yourself to us. Are you an anthropologist or strictly a historian? You say that you have worked among the Samburu, so it begs the question – are you Samburu, if not what is your cultural background? If you have worked and lived here in Samburu, then I am interested to read your published works on these people. By Eurocentric vision, you suggest that we come here with a western perspective, and I readily admit that we have that perspective. We still have much to learn about the Samburu people. However, we are not colonialists or neo-imperialists as you seem to suggest. We are not here to “conquer” anyone.

We have a Biblical world view which we struggle to keep culturally neutral. The traditional Samburu world view will clash with the Biblical world view in some areas creating barriers to understanding. Changes from that point are inevitable through the work of the Holy Spirit. Our mission here is to provide basic Bible training to those who desire to receive that training in a non-denominational setting. Furthermore, we hope to provide an oral Bible to the trainees, so they (Samburu lay pastors, church leaders, and evangelists) can present this oral Bible to the Samburu people in their mother tongue. That hardly suggests a neo-imperialist approach, because it will be Samburu men (and hopefully women) reaching out to their own people.

Indeed some of the pastors in Samburu have received formal training in seminaries and/or Bible colleges, and a smaller number of them are ordained. We are not here for those men. We are here for the people who cannot afford to go to Nakuru, Nairobi, or elsewhere to receive training. We offer basic Bible training using the BTCP/L curriculum. We can only offer a training certificate at the end of the program. So, those who are faithfully attempting to preach, teach, or evangelize will have an opportunity to receive Bible training within Samburu District.

Regarding the Samburu language, our information concerning this language is sourced from Bible Translation and Literacy (BTL), the Kenyan arm of Wycliffe. My wife and I are not taking credit for anything to do with the Bible Translation project or any other work. Only God receives the glory. As a Maa language, Samburu, is significantly different enough from Maasai to warrant its own Bible translation according to BTL. The Maasai version of the Jesus Film has been shown to the Samburu, but it was not received well at all. The Maasai Bible does not work well for the Samburu either. Again, this information comes from BTL as well. We also note that the use of the Kiswahili Bible or Maasai Bible still requires translation during worship. We understand that Maa syntax and the alphabet are documented, but the Samburu Bible Translation project is refining this for the Samburu.

Finally, our observations in our newsletter were simply that: our recent observations that we were communicating to our friends and supporters back home in America. Through the use of the word hegemonic, you are suggesting again that we are trying to exercise control or authority as Americans over Kenyans and specifically the Samburu people. That insinuation is absurd, and our observations were not intended to marginalize or demean the Samburu people. When we said:
• Cows in Samburu eat garbage about as well as the goats. As pastoral people, the Samburu are very conscious about the health of their livestock. When someone, stakes their cow in the middle of a garbage dump, it is quite surprising.
• Samburu women dancing with an umbrella in their hands and large necklaces around their necks are a sight to behold! The lady we observed is a faithful Christian lady who walked with us to her manyatta sharing our umbrella as she sang and danced to a Samburu hymn along the way. She is the matriarch of the manyatta.
• A Land Rover pickup carrying 20 Samburu in the bed is a “legal load.” With strict laws concerning vehicle loads in America, we simply shared that the Samburu maximize the transportation that is available to them. Walking long distances is common.
• An AK47 can also double as a walking stick. A weapon in anyone’s hands should be treated as a weapon – not a trekking pole. However, with armed raiders and bandits in the area, maybe this rifle is better used as a walking stick.
• Chewing sticks are more popular than toothpaste. This was a new one for us learning that these special sticks are purchased in ducas for 10 Kenya shillings to clean the teeth.

We are very conscious about what the Samburu people see in us. If you consider some of our prayer letter to be offensive, then for that we apologize. You imply that you live somewhere in Kenya, so I will finish by offering to meet you for a cup of chai one day.

]]> By: PAUL http://northernhillsmteam.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/the-blacks-in-africa/#comment-513 PAUL Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:48:17 +0000 http://northernhillsmteam.wordpress.com/?p=208#comment-513 All my admiration for your perseverance and enthusiasm! I hope it will soon materialize in the forms that you envision. Yet that which you envision, with regard to Samburu people at least, is based but on a vision, and that is a Eurocentric vision, to say the least. The language of this peace is hardly different from that of the reports of the early evangelical missions of the 19th century, who blindly believed to be “penetrating” a “virgin” Africa. – As a historian working among the Samburu, I would like to remind you that, in the contemporary world, a globalized one at that, such visions become ironical indeed. First of all, a simple search through the literature in social linguistics would reveal that a Samburu syntax and alphabet has long been validated, and that what is actually the Samburu dialect of the Maa language is far from being an “unwritten language” as you state. Secondly, although I agree with you that the translation of the New and Old Testament is indeed a “very tedious” “long-term project”, this project has long been accomplished. The Bible was translated in Maa more than a decade ago. A short library research would have revealed all that much earlier, so you would not take credit for that which has been done by others. To end with the same issue of cultural misunderstanding and, I would say, neo-imperialism which is so well dissipated in your language, I would point to several few issues. Preachers here are far from under-qualified, many having attended theological schools in Nakuru and Nairobi. That “cows in Samburu eat garbage”, that “AK47 can also double as a walking stick”, or that “chewing sticks are more popular than toothpaste” are statements that lead no further than a touristic hegemonic gaze that – meant to exoticize its terrain of observation – has in fact no real understanding about local politics and social life. Good luck with your vision! And good luck to the Samburus with the vision they will have of you. All my admiration for your perseverance and enthusiasm! I hope it will soon materialize in the forms that you envision. Yet that which you envision, with regard to Samburu people at least, is based but on a vision, and that is a Eurocentric vision, to say the least. The language of this peace is hardly different from that of the reports of the early evangelical missions of the 19th century, who blindly believed to be “penetrating” a “virgin” Africa. – As a historian working among the Samburu, I would like to remind you that, in the contemporary world, a globalized one at that, such visions become ironical indeed.
First of all, a simple search through the literature in social linguistics would reveal that a Samburu syntax and alphabet has long been validated, and that what is actually the Samburu dialect of the Maa language is far from being an “unwritten language” as you state. Secondly, although I agree with you that the translation of the New and Old Testament is indeed a “very tedious” “long-term project”, this project has long been accomplished. The Bible was translated in Maa more than a decade ago. A short library research would have revealed all that much earlier, so you would not take credit for that which has been done by others.
To end with the same issue of cultural misunderstanding and, I would say, neo-imperialism which is so well dissipated in your language, I would point to several few issues. Preachers here are far from under-qualified, many having attended theological schools in Nakuru and Nairobi. That “cows in Samburu eat garbage”, that “AK47 can also double as a walking stick”, or that “chewing sticks are more popular than toothpaste” are statements that lead no further than a touristic hegemonic gaze that – meant to exoticize its terrain of observation – has in fact no real understanding about local politics and social life. Good luck with your vision! And good luck to the Samburus with the vision they will have of you.

]]> By: lailasamburu http://northernhillsmteam.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/the-blacks-in-africa/#comment-512 lailasamburu Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:08:57 +0000 http://northernhillsmteam.wordpress.com/?p=208#comment-512 I would like to inform you that Internet Services with high speed connection are available in Maralal. Welcome to lailasamburu. I would like to inform you that Internet Services with high speed connection are available in Maralal.
Welcome to lailasamburu.

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