Language is fundamental to one’s identity and to a sense of community and personal value.

SIL Worldwide Update
Local language development initiatives from around the world

Asia
Koch community leaders want to save their mother tongue and help children learn. Mother tongue preschool is making this dream a reality. Forty-six children participated in the first year of the Koch pre-primary MLE program.

Nepali and SIL linguists have documented 71 minority languages since 2008 in the Linguistic Survey of Nepal. Survey sets the stage for language development and preservation as linguists encourage communities to discuss their language needs. http://www.sil.org/about/news/lhomi-community-nepal-prepares-multilingual-preschool

Africa
Adult literacy classes not only help people learn to read and write, but they can also teach other useful skills. In addition to teaching literacy skills, a literacy program in Chad also provides opportunities for students to learn about projects that have health and economic benefits.
http://www.sil.org/about/news/making-school-work-multilingual-world

Europe
A camp provides a safe environment for children to learn in their mother tongue.
In some areas in Eastern Europe where war has destroyed houses and roads, it has also ruined opportunities for children’s education.

North America
After attending a writers’ workshop in Mexico, a young woman creates literacy materials in her mother tongue. Writers’ workshops provide training for individuals interested in producing much-needed literacy materials for their own language communities.
http://www.sil.org/story/professional-development-mayan-ixil-mother-tongue-educators-0

South America
The Quechua of South America have long been known for their ability to make up riddles.
Recognizing the importance of this cultural tradition, literacy workers encouraged children of the Huallaga Quechua of Peru to collect riddles.

Pacific
Literacy is an invaluable gift that can be shared with others. In the Solomon Islands, literacy opportunities are expanding thanks to the hard work of Priscilla Maeniuta and the Literacy Association of Solomon Islands.

Sign Languages
Sign languages are unique among the world’s languages—they are languages of the eye rather than the ear. Access to education in your native language is usually taken for granted in western countries. In many parts of the world that access is either very limited or not available at all. That is especially true for the Deaf.

Thanks for praying for this global work,
Jim & Judy McCabe
jim_mccabe@sil.org

Author: jimjudywycliffejourney

Jim and Judy have been with Wycliffe since 1984. They have served in aviation maintenance/management, motorcycle, and 4X4 training, recruitment, and facilities maintenance in multiple locations in the US and Africa. They currently work with America's Area, North Region, Scripture Access services team. They are a mobile USA team using the internet and face to face encounters with churches, ministries, Native American communities, Diaspora communities, refugee aid organizations, and individuals, introducing them to www.scriptureearth.org. Through this website, those who did not grow up speaking English can access the Bible and other Scripture resources in the language they understand best. Would you consider becoming a part of their Wycliffe ministry partnership team? You can join their prayer or financial team by clicking on https://www.wycliffe.org/partner/JimandJudyMcCabe View all posts by jimjudywycliffejourney