Also seen on the roads this month...

Just one of the aftermaths-of-accidents we saw on the roads:



We assume the driver fell asleep, that seems to be how a lot of accidents happen.

There was a lot of rain in the South, with flooding on some roads:





This was at the beginning of May, and when we got up to the North, it was still as dry as when we left it:

On the road...

Seen on the road in Benin this month:









And a lorry with some good advice for travelling in Benin:

Where did that word come from?

Philémon and I were talking about language change this morning. At the moment he and Pastor Samuel are going out regularly to test the comprehension of parts of our translation in other Monkolé villages. Philémon was explaining that in one village they didn't know several of the words used in the translation, and the explanation that these villagers gave was, "It's not Monkolé, it must be Hausa."

Philémon was saying that these words might have originally come from Hausa, but such a long time ago that he wasn't sure it could be said that they aren't now Monkolé words. This is the difficulty with a language evolving differently in different localities – and these villages aren't even all that far apart as the crow flies! I told him about how some European languages were taken over to the Americas and have now evolved so that, for example, you can have a German dialect which is very different from the German now spoken in Germany (which has also changed a lot over time). He said that obviously true German is the German spoken in Germany, which made me laugh because as I told him, I sometimes tell Americans or Canadians that I speak "true" English because I am English … but I only say it as a joke!

The question for our translation is how strict we want to be about this. How long does a word have to be in a language before it can be considered to belong to that language? Or should we simply decide that if there is a more truly Monkolé word which means the same, that is the word we should use, and that we should only use borrowed words if there is no equivalent Monkolé word? But then what if the borrowed word is the one everyone uses?

Monkolé cultural festival

Last Saturday, as part of the Monkolé linguistic commission's four-yearly general meeting, there was a Monkolé cultural festival in our village.



I couldn't help but notice a certain irony in instructing people to be proud of their Monkolé language ... in French!





There were official speeches but also a horse performance ...



dances (a video would be better, but I don't have the bandwidth to upload one) ...



and even a couple of Monkolé rap groups. It was fascinating!

Happy Easter!

Last week

Our translation consultant, Pierre, was with us last week, and we were able to finish checking Isaiah and begin Jeremiah. The afternoons were hot - only once was the temperature under 40°C - but a real answer to prayer was that our cool mornings have continued until now! Beginning the day at 20°C is so much more pleasant than the 30°C we have at breakfast time when hot season really gets going.

Once again, I was very grateful for a good team where no one complains about the heat or gets irritable. Here they are (left to right: Philémon, Pastor Samuel, Pierre).



I was also grateful that the kids behaved themselves for Marc. He is used to having them all morning for school, but usually I look after them in the afternoons. So checking weeks are quite different for the family, since I work full-time for the week.

On Saturday evening we decided to have a rare treat, a meal out at a newish hotel the other side of Kandi, our nearest town. Despite their year in France, our kids do react like African village kids sometimes. As we went into the hotel, Benjy said, "Wow, it's so posh! They have tiles on the floor!" and after eating his meal glued to the Disney Channel on the television, Simon said, "It's as if we were in Cotonou!"

Clash of cultures

Each year our church welcomes students who have come to do a year-long
teacher training course in the village. Despite their short stay, some
of these students get quite involved with the church.

At the beginning of the school year, it was announced that the church
was going to start having official welcomers. "What a great idea!" I
thought.

Then the duties of these welcomers were explained. They would tell
people where to sit when they arrive at church, and then wake up anyone
who nods off to sleep during the service. With a stick.

In fact, just to make sure no one nods off, anyone leaning forward with
their elbows on their knees is told to sit up straight.

What I find even odder is that it is the recently-arrived students who
have been given this responsibility, and that no one seems to find it
strange that these newcomers end up telling people how to behave in
their own church!