Sepik Workshop Report

From SPARK

Contents 1 Unpublished 1.1 Cross-references 1.1.1 Media Types 1.1.2 Applications 1.1.3 Case Histories 1.1.4 Summary 2 Amanab 2.1 General 2.2 The Venue 2.3 The Course 2.4 The Participants. 2.5 Some Lessons 2.6 Additional Comments 2.7 A Concluding Note 3 Hauna 3.1 The Setting 3.2 The Workshop 3.2.1 Hauna team: 3.2.2 Hauna team: 3.2.3 Nain/Sinain team: 3.2.4 Pei team: 3.2.5 Wario team: 3.2.6 Usok team: 3.2.7 Swagap team: 3.2.8 Chenapian team: 3.3 Some Final Comments: 3.3.1 Very Approximate Costs (in US dollars): 3.4 Comments by Neil Coulter (Ethnomusicologist): 3.5 Comments by Dan Bauman (Recording Technician): 3.6 Comments by Bob Conrad 3.7 Peter Brook’s report (He accompanied Bob Conrad.) 3.8 Responses to the follow-up questions and discussions: 3.9 Observations and Recommendations

Unpublished

Made unpublished per Karl Franklin's request of January 7, 2010 to remove it.

Summary

This outlines the results of two storytelling workshops, one at Amanab in the Sandaun Province (October 15-22, 2002) and one at Hauna, in the Sepik Province (December 8-12, 2003) with a follow-up report as well.

Amanab

• Staff: Karl Franklin: Lecturer, Facilitator
• Andy Weaver: Recording Technician
• Joice Franklin: Cook, Facilitator
• Elsa Drews: Linguistic Student, Cook
• Bob Brown: Participant, Local Knowledge Expert

Venue: Baibel Tisa Trening Senta, Amanab

Sponsor: The Seed Co.

General

The Amanab District is a part of the Sundaun Province—on the northern coast and bordering Papua (former Irian Jaya) to the west. According to the 2000 census, there are 185,741 in the Province as a whole, but the Amanab Rural census division indicates that there are 9,579 in the general vicinity.

The linguistic situation in the Sandaun Province consists primarily of language and culture groups that are quite small and diverse. There are exceptions: Amanab (Awai) has 3,500 speakers in several dialects and Abau (to the south at Green River) is a language spoken by 4,500 people. Telefol, still further south and in the mountains has 4,800 speakers and some of the languages at the eastern end of the Province (such as Olo, Au and Mende) have over 5,000 speakers.

The Sandaun Province as a whole has a small per capital gross income and Amanab would be in one of the poorer districts. If I am correct, the figure quoted to me by Bob Litteral is around $50 per year. It is therefore an ideal area in which to hold a workshop because the people appreciate any assistance that they receive. SIL once had a center about two miles south of Amanab, at Tapina. It has been vacated for several years and cannot be found without local assistance. There is no evidence of it except for a small and almost overgrown cross that marks the grave of Dottie Graham, SIL translator, and who died there in 1982.

There are 20 languages listed in the SIL & BTA translation map where translation work was once started or is in progress. The map is undated but it seems to be at least 3 or 4 years old. For example, it does not list all of the multi-translation languages that are being facilitated by the Nystroms. Of the over 100 languages in the Province, 10 New Testaments have been completed by SIL members.

The Venue

The “town” of Amanab consists of a small airstrip, the CMML mission station, a small “hospital,” several additional government departments (public works, a primary school, a vocational school), and four churches (SDA, Catholic, Charismatic, and the Brethren), as well as assorted other buildings.

The Amanab Center, where the course was held, belongs to the CMML (Brethren Mission) and is managed and directed by Steven Aikei. Steven graciously assisted with the practical details associated with living at the Center. Bob Brown, long time translator in the region, arrived at Amanab several days before the workshop began and worked with Steven to arrange for classrooms and so on. The CMML mission station has four classrooms, several “dorms,” a three bedroom house (where we stayed), several other houses and a trade store. There are two small trade stores located near the airstrip. At one time a road ran from Amanab south to Green River, but this is now virtually impassable.

The Course

Prior to leaving for Amanab, I selected 15 parables and miracles (drawn from the tables in the back of my Good News Bible) and had the stories recorded in Tok Pisin in the Media Services department. The men who read the stories were SIL employees, Raphael Totome and Tulia Wanu. There were no handouts because the purpose of the workshop was to focus on the oral approach. I used an acronym to remind the participants how we would be conducting the course: HAR = Harim (listen to the tapes and to others tell stories), Autim (repeat the stories and in some cases dramatize them) and Rekordim (record and edit the stories).

1. What was the story about, i.e., what was it called? (Nem bilong stori, e.g., The Good Samaritan)
2. What did the story teach, i.e., what was its main point? (As bilong stori, e.g., the illustration of a true “neighbor”)

Fifteen men participated in recording stories and several created songs (or already knew songs) that they also used to append to their stories. At the conclusion of the course each of the men were given tapes of their stories and songs and they were sent a complete set of stories from their particular language. (Andy worked long and hard to make that possible.) This was important because we furnished no other handouts or certificates.

The Participants.

From 16 to 19 men attended the course, averaging about 17 regulars. There were two men that I judged to be over 50 (and who could not read or write), but most of the others were 26 to 35 years of age, according to their own estimates. The names of the men and my guess at their respective languages now follow. (I am not sure I have spelled some names correctly.) I also include my assessment of their storytelling abilities after they recorded their “final” stories (for which they had practiced):

1. Atiye Wiyam (about 28 years, Awai). A very good storyteller, expressive and confident.
2. Charles Nuwei (28, Awai). A good storyteller, but relied on notes.
3. Suat Mofom (perhaps 60). A good storyteller, slow and deliberate, but confident. He apparently could not read or write.
4. Jacob Simai (27, Awai). A very good storyteller, Also composed a song to go with his recorded story.
5. John Anuwo (24, Awai). A very good storyteller, although he gave a fairly short recording. He has a desire to reach other people in a more remote dialect area.
6. Lap Plankmun (over 50, Awai). Difficult because of voice quality. Fairly forgetful but sounded better as he went along in his story.
7. Kena Wembo (35, Awai and Tok Pisin). Claimed he was not fluent in Awai but obviously had practiced and did well. Tended to “pull” the story and make it long!
8. Suma Yapara (37, Awai). Loud voice, confident, does well in storytelling. Sang a song as well in Awai and Tok Pisin.
9. Beni Yanamae (40, Awai). Strong voice and expression, could become a good storyteller.
10. Jefrey Maiyan (24, Awai). Was not present on the Saturday of recording because he is an SDA and was heading up his church. But he did come back for recording later and was definitely a good storyteller.
11. Didikus Aiking (26, Glefe). Has the potential to be a good storyteller but relied a lot on notes with the result that he had short and choppy sentences.
12. Joseph Sukwari (34, Glefe). Has good potential and fluent in presentation. Had notes but only glanced at them. Some hesitation, which we edited out later.
13. Simon Membe (34, Dra). Looks after the local Catholic church. Forceful long story, although some hesitation. Compiled a song to go with his story.
14. Andrew Yangmai (35, Dra). Also fluent in Angor I believe. He tended to give short staccato like bursts of speech, but he did not read from notes and could become a good storyteller. Sang a song with Simon about the story.
15. Nawao Kospio (26, Angor). Very good storyteller. Although fairly soft spoken he was reasonably confident and expressive. Worked without notes, including singing a song he had compiled.
16. Lotan Yahi (30, Angor). Good potential because he is confident and has a strong voice. Some long pauses.
17. James Gamina (32, Angor and Tok Pisin). Not confident of his Angor and wanted to practice more. Said he would tell the story in Tok Pisin, then changed his mind. Seems competent to me, but quite hesitant to perform in public. The only one who did not record something.

Four language groups were therefore represented:
1) Awai (Amanab), 2) Angor, 3) Glefe (Kwomtari) and 4) Dra. Both Awai and Angor have New Testaments that were dedicated in 2000, but the translators (Andy and Audrey Minch and Bob and Shirley Litteral) were on furlough. The Awai also have an Adapt It New Testament in another dialect. Glefe is where the Honsbergers work (who were also on furlough). There are no translators working in the Dra language, although the men want to have Bible translation work in their language and have been translating Genesis independently. The churches represented were CMML, Catholic (two men from the Dra language) and SDA (one man).

• Tuesday, Oct 15: Arrive and set up; contact participants (most of whom had arrived)
• Wednesday-Friday, Oct 16-18: Introductory discussion on storytelling topics and techniques, with encouragement for regular interaction by all participants.
• Saturday, Oct 19: Recording sessions for all storytellers
• Sunday, Oct 20: Participation at local CMML church (I was asked to speak)
• Monday, Oct 21: Additional recording and videoing sessions
• Tuesday, Oct 22: Recording of one local oral historian, clean-up and leave

Some Lessons

• Regarding the language of instruction. In many parts of PNG it is necessary to teach in Tok Pisin and certainly that was the case in Amanab. This approach demands concentration—sometimes I misunderstood questions or they misunderstood the story. However, all were accomplished vernacular speakers.
• Regarding devotions. I began the first class by outlining my own life story and each day I told stories of missionaries (David Brainerd, Adoniram Judson, William Carey, the 1965 Congo massacre, all books I had read and taken notes on—but I told the stories from memory!).
• Regarding storytelling as a subject and art. No one had to be convinced about the value of retelling Bible stories, but the differences between simply retelling a story and restructuring it where necessary was a learning process. Most participants were not accomplished storytellers—we had taken whoever came—but all showed a desire to improve their storytelling abilities.
• I was surprised how difficult it was for many to remember the story. Some wanted to use notes or keep their Tok Pisin Bibles open, but I suggested that their audiences—for the most part—simply listen to them, so they should try to listen and learn, not take notes and read.
• Good storytelling abilities could be recognized but not always articulated. When I evaluated each of the 15 storytellers, I told them what I looked for: enthusiasm about the story, good audience contact, the flow of the story (at least how it seemed to me), and so on. Storytelling for enjoyment was recognized as a positive value.
• Regarding the syllabus and its development. I followed the general content of my Handbook, but improvised as I went along. I discussed: Why story? (Bilong wanem yumi wok long stori?); Kinds of Stories (Ol kain kain stori, with illustrations from PNG stories); The Big Idea in a Story (As bilong stori); Story Audiences (Husat bai i harim stori?); Telling Stories (Pasin bilong autim ol stori); Constructing Stories (Pasin bilong mekim o wokim ol stori); Stories as Songs (Strongim stori long song o singsing); Examining Stories (Pasin bilong sekim o glasim ol stori); and Bible Stories (Ol Baibel stori).
• I had to keep reminding the participants that translating the Bible and retelling stories from the Bible were very different activities. Some simply wanted to tell the story back like they remembered it from Tok Pisin.
• Because of the culture, group interaction along critical lines was virtually impossible; perhaps just as well. No one wanted to criticize, many lowering their heads as the story was told.
• The use of miracles and parables was appreciated because there was some background knowledge. However, using Bible stories involves some assumptions that the way the writer put the story together cannot be changed.
• Repeating the story from the perspective of the different writers of the Gospels or conflating the stories (as in the feeding of the 5000) was helpful.
• Repeating the story from the perspectives of the participants of the story was also helpful, e.g., the Good Samaritan was told by participants from the view of the robber, the man who was robbed, the priest, the Levite, the Samaritan, the innkeeper, even the donkey. These perspectives were enjoyed and showed how stories could be varied according to audience, etc.
• Dramatization of the stories was enjoyed but needed constraint so that there was not too much time spent on unimportant details (like the little boy with the 3 loaves and 2 fishes arguing with the disciple about taking his lunch from him).
• Telling stories to children, especially one’s own, is necessary. One scene I will never forget: After one man told a particular story to the class, I asked him to tell it to his son (who was about 6 or 8). He turned to his son, with his back to me and slowly and softly retold the story, to his son’s obvious delight.
• We could have done more partnering in class. There was a lot of interaction with each other that took place outside of class hours.
• Instead of recounting the Big Idea of a story, often the response was to tell what the story was about. For example, “This is a story about three different kinds of ground,” instead of, “This is a story that shows that good ground always produces something good.”
• We did not do much in terms of restructuring stories, illustrating how the story could have been introduced differently. We did go into the setting of the story and how it would help the hearers (for example, about the dangerous nature of the road from Jerusalem to Jericho).
• Animation and body use of one’s hands, etc. came naturally to only a few participants. Many looked out the windows as they told their story, looked at the ceiling, stood sideways, did not talk clearly, etc.
• We could have spent a lot more time examining PNG stories. I gave a few illustrations from Kewa.
• Participants caught on to the fact that they all had mental pictures that they formed as stories were told, or before they were told. We could have spent more time on developing this aspect.
• Joining stories with similar themes was discussed. E.g., the story of the wise man that came to Jesus and asked him what he might do to have eternal life is similar to Nicodemus coming to Jesus at night and asking a similar question.
• Allowing and suggesting creativity in strengthening a story using a song about the story was followed up by a number of participants.
• So-called spontaneity came from knowing and practicing the story.
• When recording the story, the participants appreciated the fact that they could sit at a table with a lapel mike. No one could see them shaking!

Additional Comments

Stories can be checked by the translators, particularly in the cases of Amanab, Angor and Kwomtari. In the case of Dra, in the past there was not interest in translation work (although this has since changed), so any materials they got in the way of storytelling was the first Bible materials in the language.

We need a better correlation of the Language Recording pictures and Scriptures, with cross-references to stories with the same themes. We did demonstrate and give sample LRI materials. Checking an oral story by a back translation only gives what the hearer remembers was said in Tok Pisin. Otherwise, a sentence by sentence interpretation is necessary. A well-told story is one that the audience accepts as clear and well-told, with no static or noise (as defined by information theory). Too much clarification or exploration of detail while a story is being told detracts from the flow and meaning of the whole story. For example, the issues of Jewish inheritance practices in the “Prodigal Son,” can be left to the encyclopedic commentary because it is not a part of the essence of the story.

As a linguist, tagmemic insights were helpful: I could note the contrasts between stories and their variation, and discuss the distribution of the stories. I also kept in mind the etic content and the emic (i.e. what the story really means). For example the story given in Luke 10:25-37 of the Good Samaritan is a story within a story. There is a meta-story (Luke’s writing of the story) and a story (The Good Samaritan) within a story (Jesus and the saveman). We can contrast the actions of the three men who come in contact with the incapacitated man, note the variations of their backgrounds, note the distribution of the story (the road, the roadside, the inn), and conclude with the climax or purpose of the story.

We all ate lunch together—fish, greens and rice everyday, with sago two days as well. It was an important time of fellowship and swapping stories. We employed two women to cook the midday meal for us. Often men simply showed up at the house to talk. On the final evening, six of them came to spend some time reflecting on the course and discussing their concerns for smaller languages and dialects around them. During the recording sessions, many young boys came to listen and stayed for several hours, obviously enjoying what they heard. Fifteen of the participants handed in a written assessment (in Tok Pisin) of the course, answering these questions:

• What parts of the course were most helpful?
• What more would you have liked to do in the course?
• How do you expect to use what you have learned?
• What can be done in the future to help you?

Here are my summaries of some of the answers:

• Stories are good because they are for everyone, not just the people who can read and write. We need to learn and use Bible stories.
• Stories have a main point that should always be made clear. We need to learn how to do this better.
• Bible stories, when told orally, have to be remembered. This is hard to do at first.
• Stories are good because they can be passed on from one generation to the next.
• Stories are good because “we don’t sit around reading our Bibles together, we talk,” and Bible storytelling fits into the cultural patterns.
• Stories should be told well and this requires practice.
• We would like to record many more stories.
• We would need tape recorders in some places that don’t have them.

It was clear that the men want and need a lot more practice and they thought that the course was much too short. On the other hand, what is needed now is for the men to demonstrate that they can put the principles into practice. Some follow-up is needed to encourage all of the would-be storytellers—someone to go and record stories that they have been telling. Nevertheless, I believe they will continue with what they have learned. What we did was not high-tech because anyone can learn to tell Bible stories well. But I have several thoughts and recommendations about storytelling:

• Storytelling is a natural introduction to Bible translation. People become familiar with the stories before translation begins and can therefore identify with the translated materials more quickly.
• Storytelling should accompany Bible translation. Stories are natural renditions of the translated text, but are not subject to the same constraints because they do not claim to be translations.
• Storytelling should follow a completed New Testament translation. It gives purpose to the whole project because everyone (not simply the church pastors or leaders) can be involved in telling the Gospel story.
• Storytelling should be a part of the translation strategy. I had thought that it should be foremost in small language groups that do not have any materials, but I now see that it can be effective in areas where a translation has been started or completed.
• Storytelling accommodates the oral approach and allows the 70% of the population who cannot read (and who probably never will) to understand clearly the stories from the Bible because they, too, can retell them.
• Facilitators must themselves demonstrate the oral approach by memorizing and telling Bible stories (and traditional stories), rather than always reading their materials.
• Storytelling is not “high-tech”. Although we taped stories and used some videoing to show storytellers how they looked to an audience, storytelling does not rely on either technique to be useful. Of course, tape recording the stories does provide some constraints that prevent wild divergence from a base story.

A Concluding Note

One sad item: just as we were about to leave Amanab, three men from the Baibai language arrived. They had walked for 2 days but had the dates wrong because the flight schedule had been changed and they didn’t know about it. They are from a small group of 250 people; an alphabet workshop had been held there in October 1998 and three shell books and a duplicated alphabet book were their sole literacy possessions. They wanted to participate but could not. Other participants told me of other groups, some across the border, that could benefit from the storytelling approach. We did a small amount of linguistic work, collecting and recording word lists in all four languages and Baibai as well. Recording an oral historian on the last day was also an important contribution that could be done in the future.

Finally, all of us (the participants as well because we told them who was paying for the course) would like to thank The Seed Company for financing the project and having the faith to believe that something good would come out of it. Although I had in mind something different—small language groups with no materials, and linguistic salvage as well—God had something much better in mind We did not do Scripture Use in the traditional sense of teaching people to read the Scriptures, but we did do it in the sense of retelling God’s word in the vernacular in a practical and compelling manner.

Although I was given ample opportunity in the branch PNG (TSD, POC, a Pastors Conference, BTA, etc.) to introduce or discuss the storytelling approach, there was no opportunity to follow-up other than in the Sandaun Province. Being guests in the branch, we were at the mercy of others to arrange for workshops and solicit our help. Nevertheless, without the interest of the Sepik Regional Director (Michael Harrar) and one of the local translators (Bob Brown), there would not have been any workshops during my time in PNG. Bob Conrad also expressed an interest in developing the approach with three small languages in the upper Sepik area, but I was not able to follow through on this. This was a pilot project and only a small step in what we trust will lead to more use of the storytelling strategy. Although we do not know what will happen in the future, we trust that we can in some way be involved and we are thankful that we had at this particular opportunity.

Hauna

• Staff:
  • Karl Franklin (linguist and director)
  • Neil Coulter (ethnomusicologist)
  • Dan Bauman (recording technologist)
  • Bob Brown (linguist and translator)

• Venue: Sepik Christian Ministries, Hauna, E. Sepik Province

• Participants
  • AOG=Assemblies of God
  • PIM=Pacific Islands Ministries
  • SCM=Sepik Christian Ministries

Name	Language	Population	Distance From Hauna	Schools/Churches
Moses Nanduao	Swagap	360	1 day downriver	Prep to G 2/AOG
Kris Nanies	Swagap
Eric Senie	Kubkain	300	2 hr downriver	Prep to G 6/AOG, PIM
Martin Yamkanu	Kubkain
Tom Manu	Kubkain
Lawrence Gwonu	Chenapian (Senapian)	300+	1 hr downriver	Prep to G 2/AOG
Jeffrey Wanio	Chenapian
Benedicta Wairo	Sepik Iwam	2,500	Hauna	Prep to G 7/SCM
Alphonse Ugian	Sepik Iwam
Nick Michael	Sepik Iwam
Clemen Guavey	Wario	1 day upriver	Prep only/None
Yosua Tote	Wario	110	1 day upriver	None/PIM, SCM
Abram Gama	Pei	150	1 day+2 hr upriver	None/None
Mark Patua	Pei
James Wangi	Nein/Sinein	137	1 day+3 hr upriver	Prep only/None
William Wasi	Nein/Sinein
Gidean Aonaiya	Usok	100	1 day+5 hr upriver	None/None
Ken Asua	Usok

The Setting

On December 5 Neil, Dan and I left Aiyura and flew directly to Hauna, a 2-hour flight in a Cessna 206. Minutes before arriving at Hauna, Bob Brown had arrived from Wewak by MAF. We boarded a motor canoe and were taken to the village of Hauna, a half hour trip. We were met by Shirley Killosky, who works with a team of Hauna people to manage the Sepik Christian Ministries (SCM), a large educational and medical work in the middle-Sepik. A man and wife team from the US (Bob and Bech Seng) were also at Hauna helping in the Bible school for several weeks. They were well acquainted with some of us from Tucson and have helped many others in various ways as well. The Sepik Iwam NT is being revised (re-done) by a team of men and SIL has agreed to do the checking. Bob Conrad had already checked many of the Epistles and while we were at Hauna, Bob Brown checked Titus and 1 John.

We took a satellite phone along as there is no contact with Aiyura possible from Hauna. We first raised Joice, my wife, about noon on Saturday (after numerous futile attempts) and I learned that I was a new grandfather (our daughter and husband in Waco, Texas had a son, Cameron Karl Hardin, on Friday night), so that was special information for me. We spent the rest of the time on Friday and the weekend getting acquainted with the Hauna station and village and preparing further for the workshop. Four clans of about 700 live at Hauna: the Waun, Soman, Auna and Mayo—who are the owners of the land. On Sunday we attended a large Sunday School program for part of the morning. There were perhaps 200 kids from numerous classes that participated. Later in the day we enjoyed a large feast at the church, with pots of rice, greens, fish (mostly piranha), crocodile, kaukau, sago, pumpkin, and so on.

The Hauna Christian Mission station consists of 1) a large 2 story office-dining hall-gathering room complex, with classrooms as well; 2) several other buildings with classrooms and dormitories; 3) radio and office rooms; 4) a large church; 5) a large medical center across the river (using a 150 foot suspension bridge), a 10 minute walk; 6) other facilities, such as a 17.5 KVA generator that is on most of the day, a sawmill and workshop, etc.; 7) the airstrip, which as I mentioned, one half hour downstream by motor canoe.

A group called “Kids Alive” from the US is the main benefactor of the Mission, but medical teams come yearly from the US as well. We were amply provided for in all respects: sleeping quarters, someone to wash our clothes, meals were provided (fortunately we had brought quite a bit of food, including fresh vegetables, which are not attainable at Hauna). We also had excellent classroom facilities and power for recording stories and for video use.

For some time extensive oil searches have been carried out in the area. A gold mine also operated on the Frieda River for some years. At present eaglewood (sandalwood) is sought in some areas of the Sepik by Malaysian traders and handsome prices are paid for it. Vanilla is also under cultivation and seems a likely cash crop for export.

The Workshop

Day One: The workshop was conducted entirely in Tok Pisin. I began the first day with the story of Nathan and David from 2 Samuel, both for devotions and as an illustration of how a story can have a powerful effect on the hearer, then as a teaching device on how to tell a story.

I outlined the essential aspects of what we would use in every story, consisting of the:

• As bilong story (the purpose of the story),
• Bun bilong story (how the story was constructed) and
• Bilas bilong story (things added to the story for effect and interest).

Throughout the course I also tried to show that a story had to start somewhere and it had to end somewhere. In this way it is like a road (or river travel): You have to know where you are going and how to get there; you cannot be sidetracked; and you have to know what is part of the road and what is scenery.

All of the stories had been pre-recorded in Tok Pisin at the SIL media studio. However, at first I could not get anyone to try and retell the Nathan and David story. The small groups seemed to be intimidated by the larger and well-educated Hauna participants, and many of the participants were uneducated (several could not read or speak Pidgin well). Finally, by having each language group retell the stories on a 2×2 basis (with two from each language group), they began to try to retell the story. They seemed to appreciate the story and knew that it was powerful but were afraid to try to retell it alone. We worked on this story and aspects of storytelling all day. (A five day syllabus had been prepared earlier and I tried to follow it, although not in that outline).

We then tried to work on the Nathan-David story by means of a drama. They again tried but it was not well done and in general there was not a lot of participation—not a good start for day one. In the late afternoon Neil and I recorded on mini-disk the “Laycock test list and sentence examples” (7 pages of data) in the Chenapian language, and Bob and Dan recorded Wario. It took us about an hour to do each. The next day speakers of Chenapian brought me some samples of their writing and orthography. I did not note any major problems, although Sepik Iwam has a barred /i/vowel and other language speakers seem to think they should have one too!

Day Two: The second day I started with a devotional on Uncle Cam and then had Dan Bauman give his background story (he grew up in India). During the class sessions we finally got two groups to do a drama of Nathan-David, but no one had practiced (as I had requested). I had thought this was quite a simple story but have since become convinced that something even simpler is needed for a starter.

We spent considerable time on how to build a story and then went to the story of the Good Samaritan. I outlined the main characters of the story and Nick (from Hauna) gave a Tok Pisin and then a Sepik Iwam retelling of the story. A few others then retold the story.

In the afternoon I had Neil talk to them about songs in general and about making the Good Samaritan story into a song. They got quite excited and composed two verses and a chorus. (It became the most popular song during the course.) Although it was done in Tok Pisin, Yosua from the Waria language composed it in his tokples as well, and he played the guitar and sang his version for the class. It seemed to go over well.

In the afternoon Neil and I recorded Swagap language and Dan and Bob recorded Usok.

On Wednesday there was a beautiful sunrise. As I sat in the upstairs room of the main building I could see a steady stream of canoes with people leaving their houses to go to gardens, work sago, cut firewood, and so on. Some women had little fires in the back of their canoes, others had babies, dogs, sago in banana leaves, pots and kettles, fish nets. Still other canoes were seen towing smaller ones. Very large kwila canoes (several are under construction in the village) have outboard motors. Other people cross the suspension bridge that leads from the main mission house to the other side where the hospital is located some ten minutes away. In the morning they carry water, petrol, babies, etc.

Day Three: The third day I began with devotions—the story of Ken Pike. Neil then gave some of his life story and calling to ethnomusicology. We then worked on the story of Jairus, the woman with the 12-year issue of blood. The story went over pretty well as a teaching story because there are a limited number of characters and the event line is fairly simple. We looked at it from two Gospel accounts, combining them into one. Almost everyone, except the men from Sinein and Nain, seemed to participate. We had the story retold from various points of view: Jesus, Jairus, the sick woman, the disciples, the crowd, and the sick child. We then worked on songs again, with Lawrence and others composing one about Nathan and David. We tried to get them to be sure to put the meaning of the story in the song. Here is one from Luke 10: 25-37:

1. Jisas i tok long bihanim lo (Jesus talked about obeying the law)
   Noken kamap olsem pasin bilong pris (Don’t do it like the priest)
   Noken kamap olsem pasin bilong Livai (Don’t do it like the Livai)
   [Chorus]
   Bihainim lo (x3) (Follow the law) (x3)
   Pasin we God i laikim (In the way that God desires)
2. Lo bilong God, i tok wanem? (What does the law of God say?)
   Laikim God long bel bilong yu (Love God with your emotions)
   Laikim God long tingting bilong yu (Love God with your mind)
   Pasin we God i laikim em (In the way that God desires)

Neil and Dan recorded all of the songs that were composed. Neil and I recorded the test list in Wario and Dan and Bob did the same in Kubkain.

We then continued to work on the story of Jairus and the sick woman who touched the garment of Jesus. Each of the language groups retold the story:

Lawrence – Chenapian – Good effort in his language

Clemen – Wario – Average effort in his language

William – Sinein – Good effort in language

Nick – Sepik Iwam – Good effort in language

Moses – Swagap – Powerful speaker and good effect in language

Ken – Usok – Good effort for first attempt to tell a story

Martin – Kubkain – Good effort, some hesitation in language

Abraham – Pei – Average effort for first time

Note: Ken and Abraham cannot read or write well and are older than the others.

In the evening a Chenapian string band performed, led by Lawrence (with Jeffrey participating). There were 3 guitars, a bamboo flute, mandolin, a drum, a tea chest bass drum and a man with a stick who thumped the floor. All the men were decorated with headbands of flower pods, paint, grass skirts, white feathers and all sang, mainly in Tok Pisin.

Day Four: On Thursday I gave devotions on Judson, Carey and Brainerd; then Bob Brown gave his life story. We worked on the Jairus and Good Samaritan stories all morning, with some songs composed in the afternoon.

While Dan and Neil were recording songs I worked through several pictures from the Tok Pisin NT, asking for cultural analogies and parallels.

We also worked on the story of the Prodigal son, with Tom, Martin, William Benidicta, Lawrence and Clemens all retelling the story. Five songs were written on the board and the class participated in singing them: 3 in Tok Pisin, one in Wario and one in Hauna.

Later in the afternoon Neil and I recorded Nain/Sinein and Bob and Dan recorded Chenapian.

Day Five: The last day of the course consisted of a drama on Jairus, etc. We did this in the church and Neil recorded it on video. We did it three times before I was satisfied. We then worked on combining the 4 Gospel accounts of the feeding of the 5,000.

In the afternoon we had a review, got comments from the class and then group pictures. Some comments (translated freely from Tok Pisin) are as follows:

Hauna team:

• This has helped us in Sunday school production ideas.
• It has helped us to know how to outline Bible stories.

Hauna team:

• This has helped us to compose songs from Bible texts.
• It showed us how to set out a story.
• We needed transportation to pick us up as well as books and pencils.

Nain/Sinain team:

• It helped us see how to do a drama and stories.
• It helped us to stand up in front of people like a teacher.
• It was hard to read things on the blackboard.

Pei team:

• It helped us to know more about the Bible.
• We want to tell the stories to our people.

Wario team:

• We learned out to do a drama.
• We were able to stand up front like teachers.
• It was good to use both Tok Pisin and tokples.

Usok team:

• They were good songs.
• We liked the video.
• We can’t read.

Swagap team:

• We learned how to do good stories.
• We learned how to tell a story with someone telling us.
• We learned how to write some of our language words.

Chenapian team:

• We liked the stories, songs and drama.
• You must bring tapes to us when you come so that we can listen to them.
• You must bring pencils, paper and notebooks for us.

In the evening we recorded Mark from the Pei language—the last one. It is interesting to note that the ancestors of Pei were from Wainame in the mountain area. Mark has gardens in the mountain area even now. He gave us a remnant of the old body part counting system: fingers, wrist, forearm, elbow, upper arm, shoulder, ear, eye, with a cross over point at the nose. It turns out that Usok and Wario also have the system—a very old “Papuan” system.

Some Final Comments:

• It is easy to be discouraged with a workshop like this because it seems that the storytelling crumbs that we are providing is all that many of these tiny languages will ever get.
• I can’t imagine SIL members ever working with them—perhaps New Tribes Mission will! Many of these small language groups seem utterly destitute: isolated and without much promise of development.
• It is not that the language groups do not need translation work in their own languages, but help in training seems unlikely.
• In addition, the language groups, although mainly oral, want something written in their own language and they want to know how to read and write.
• If there is economic development (logging, sandalwood, vanilla, gold, oil), it probably will serve as the end of the traditional languages and cultures, even as they are known today.
• Next April Bob Conrad plans to follow up the course by visiting all of the villages. Bob Brown may accompany him or he may go to Hauna for more Scripture checking.
• The rental of the satellite phone was imperative and greatly appreciated.
• Without the financial support of the Seed Co., this workshop would not have been possible.
• I spoke at the Sunday service on the 14th; also the others shared their testimonies. I spoke about the Great Banquet scene in Matthew 22 and Luke 14, confessing my own lack of faith at seeing the Banquet Hall filled with speakers of the small languages. Then I looked into the future, showing that John in Revelation saw every group present around the throne.
• SIL is invited back to hold other workshops at any time.
• There is a language beyond the upper Wario (beyond Usok) called Natie. It is apparently in the mountain area.
• We could have done more linguistic salvage, particularly by recording local stories and getting simultaneous Tok Pisin translation. We deposited what we had done with the survey office at Ukarumpa along with a copy of the test list.
• I think this will be my last time to run a storytelling workshop in PNG. I experienced much frustration trying to book flights and be assured of money for the course.

Very Approximate Costs (in US dollars):

Aiyura to Hauna and return (3 people)	$1,000
Wewak to Hauna return (one person)	$250
Room and Board for students (15)	$450
Food brought from Ukarumpa	$250
Help with river transportation	$200
Rent of satellite phone	$100
Miscellaneous	$150

End of report by Karl Franklin

Comments by Neil Coulter (Ethnomusicologist):

• The Big Picture: I’m not sure the participants understood the main point of the workshop early on (Mon/Tues). Possibly more time could be spent on the introductory section before listening to the first story. The purpose/goal of the week should be emphasized again and again (and possibly again).
• Reading vs. Oral: The course is designed to be oral only, but it still involves a fair amount of reading. This made it difficult for those who didn’t read well and probably also tied everything to Tok Pisin and looking at the backboard more. Probably no way around this really.
• Nervousness (Sem): Maybe singing could be introduced earlier. Singing Tok Pisin choruses might be a way of loosening people up before they are asked to speak alone in front of the class. My hunch, though, is that any group like this will take at least one day before they open up and start working together.
• Overall: A multi-language workshop in an area where there isn’t someone (linguist, missionary, or other) who lives there and is actively involved in the planning and teaching is very difficult. There is little control in who attends the workshop (i.e. no guarantee any attendees are actually good at or interested in storytelling.) Also follow up work is harder to accomplish.

This also makes the music work more difficult because there is no pre-workshop communication about what kind of music exists in the area, what interests the participants have, instruments they might bring with them, etc. However, I think the music and drum were important to the course for helping the participants learn/memorize the stories better.

Most of the people seemed very interested in writing their language. Would it be useful to do more of that during the week—combine parts of orthography sessions with the story course (extending the course time to two weeks or more)?

• Recording: Worked very well; very efficient equipment used:
• Sony TRV-18 MiniDV camcorder
• Sharp MD-SR60 minidisc recorder
• Audio Tehnica AT-822 stereo mike (music)
• Lapel mike (language data)

Comments by Dan Bauman (Recording Technician):

Probably best to start out with very short stories that can be learned more quickly.

• Equipment (we expected to have power):
• Minidisk (MD) Having a SPLIT function is nice
  Have all stories on an MD for quick retrieval
• Small speaker with internal amplifier
• Tape recorder (internal speaker is nice for checking) Needs a mike or line-in jack for transferring from the MD to tapes for distribution
• Cables for connecting to each piece of equipment
• Waterproof box for transport of equipment
• Bring cassette tape cases
• Clip-on lapel mike is good

Comments by Bob Conrad

(On April 27-29, 2004 Bob Conrad and Peter Brook visited several of the villages where participants in the Hauna workshop lived. Bob comments as follows:)

Peter Brook and I left Wewak and went to Hauna April 27, 2004, via MAF. The Hauna airstrip was in good condition. The purpose of our trip was to investigate the impact of the story workshop which was held at Hauna in December 2003 by Karl Franklin and his team. We also wanted to find out if there was an interest in another course in the future.

Since I have had an interest in and a concern for the people in the small language groups around Hauna for many years, I admit that this may not be an objective report.

The groups we visited were Hauna (Sepik Iwam), Chenapian (Senapian), Wogamus (Kubkain village), Walio (real name Wasiak), Pei, Nain, Sinen, and Usok.

The uniform reaction in every place was that they want another course, want longer (at least 2 weeks) and want orthography design and writing stories. There was also a strong desire for cassette tape players to play the stories they had written and had been recorded on audio cassettes. Only Hauna has the equipment to play these stories.

The re-telling of the stories which they produced in the Dec 03 workshop turned out to be different from what I had expected. Many of the participants did not tell their stories to anyone. It may be that they were too embatrrassed or that they felt the time was not ready. The man from Sinen told them just to his family. The man from ? ( Wasiak or Nain or Usok) told it to a lot of people, several times. (Check this one.) Many people implied that if they had tape players they would play them a lot for others to hear.

The spiritual need is still so very great, maybe more so than before. The three partially trained pastors who used to preach at Wasiak, Senapian and Kubkain have all stopped or been disqualified for some reason. Those at Usok represent one of the greatest challenges to share the Gospel that I have ever since since 1962. (Why?? – ML)

Peter and I told the people that we could not promise that there will be another course, but took their ideas and comments in a way that most of them expect another course. The only barriers to having another course that I can see are lack of literacy, lack of personnel, and lack of money. I fully believe that God will meet all of these needs.

Present strategy: With the kindness of the Sepik Christian Ministries (Hauna) Bible School headmaster (Lukas), there will be two men from Usok and one or two from Sinen/Nain who will attend this Bible school at Hauna during the two months they have it: June and November 04. Lukas will pick these men up by motor canoe when he picks up the other Bible School students. In the mornings they will have Bible teaching and in the afternoons, Tok Pisin literacy. Probably 3 sessions at this Bible school will be necessary to prepare these men from Nain/Sinen and Usok to be able to read and write a reasonable amount of Tok Pisin. The third session would be June 05. I have already paid for these men to attend these first three sessions. This would open the way for an alphabet design workshop sometime after July 05. I will sing “Faith Mighty Faith” as I remember Dr. Pike used to sing it. I intend to be active in helping to secure tape players, Seed Company Funding, and funding from the Sepik RAD and from other sources in order that this project might continue.

Peter Brook’s report (He accompanied Bob Conrad.)

From 27-29 April Bob Conrad and I conducted “follow-up” visits to the groups who were involved in a Storytelling Workshop held at the Sepik Christian Ministries (SCM) centre at Hauna in December 2003. The chief purpose of the “follow-up” visits to the various communities was to evaluate the effectiveness of the course, and whether the people wanted further courses at some point in the future. The meetings were also to give me a better idea of the situation in terms of literacy and spiritual needs in that area. We visited the villages of Kubkain, Chenapian, Wario, Pei, Usok, Sinen, Nain and Hauna, but were unable to visit Swagap due to time constraints.

On 27 April, Bob and I left Wewak and flew with MAF via Ambunti to Hauna airstrip. From there we traveled the thirty minutes by motor canoe to the SCM centre at Hauna where we were greeted by Shirley Killosky, who oversees the running of the centre. After lunch, at about 12:30pm, Bob and I boarded a motor canoe and traveled to Kubkain where we met with the Storytelling Workshop participants, some elders and other community members. Following a good meeting there we traveled to Chenapian for another meeting with participants and community members. We arrived back at Hauna around 5:30pm. The next day we traveled by dinghy up the Leonard Shultze River, with meetings at Wario (Wasiak) and Pei. When we arrived at Nain we found that most people had gone to their gardens, so we told a couple of men to let the community know we would be back in a few hours for a meeting. The same happened at Sinen. When we arrived at Usok, the council greeted us, as well as the workshop participants and a fair number of community members, so we held the follow-up meeting. Both Bob and I sensed that we ought to share the Gospel with the people at this meeting and I shared my testimony. The council translated it into tokples with much difficulty and most people seemed to have little understanding of Tok Pisin so it was difficult to know how much was understood or translated accurately. The meetings at Sinen and Nain were similar; we both sensed the we should share the Gospel and my testimony as well as follow-up on the workshop. We arrived back at Hauna at around 7:30pm, having had delays during the day with fuel line problems to the outboard motor and picking up some remaining fuel from the workshop at Wasiak.

Responses to the follow-up questions and discussions:

• The people felt that the course was a good start; however, the participants of the workshop felt that it was still too difficult for them to tell the stories back in the village in a public setting.
• Eric made the observation, “In church they are trying to use less Tok Pisin and English”, though it is very hard for him because he grew up with Tok Pisin.
• This was the first time they had translated anything into tokples, though it was mixed with a little Tok Pisin.
• They have not used the drama from the workshop in church here.
• The storytelling workshop was not enough—the participants felt that it did not help a great deal. They voiced the feeling of those present at the meeting that they would like another course – a “second or third step”. They would like to attend some more short courses 1-3 weeks in duration. The participants felt that the storytelling workshop was not long enough, and for the first three days they were confused as to what they were doing and what the workshop was all about.
• The participants found it hard once they finished the workshop – they voiced the desire for a “supervisor” who could check on their progress every now and then at Hauna.
• They would really like an Alphabet Development Workshop (ADW) to straighten out what they have already worked on with their alphabet.
• Possibilities here: ADW; One Book Workshop; Translation Awareness; Writers’ Workshop; Translation Training Course in Wewak.
• The older people do not understand Tok Pisin; it is not clear or deep.
• The younger people don’t understand pure tokples, they understand about half of what is said. The tokples appears to be changing and becoming a mix of vernacular and Tok Pisin. The people are concerned that the tokples may die unless the adults teach the younger people. The people present at the meeting felt that if Tok Pisin only was continued to be taught in school then they would lose their tokples.
• According to those present this tokples (Gublu) covers the villages of: Kubkain, Biaga, Yamanumbu and Waskuk, however each village is a slightly different dialect.
• There is no adult literacy, and the school for Prep – Gr. 6 is in Tok Pisin
• Most people seem to think they know how to read, but not the older men and women. Most of those who have gone to school, at Hauna, have not completed through to Grade 6. Very few women have had any schooling.
• The people can be notified of an upcoming workshop via radio at Hauna, with the radio toksave (information) going out with people who come into Hauna.
• The people are willing at this stage to provide at least some food for their own people at upcoming workshops

Chenapian/Senapien (27 April 04)

• The people would like more tokples (vernacular) materials.
• Lawrence stated that the workshop was helpful as a start for tokples (vernacular) learning.
• The participants have made 12 small booklets in tokples (vernacular) with material from Kristina at SCM Hauna. In my estimation (Peter) they are ready to attempt an orthography workshop.
• Jeffrey stated that the workshop was a help to the church, especially for the older people who do not know Tok Pisin to understand Bible stories.
• The participants felt that the workshop was too short as they did not finish some of the projects.
• Lawrence did not do the practical side back in the village as his child died at the time. He later made 3 small books including a counting book and the beginning of an alphabet primer that demonstrated quite a good understanding of literacy methods/activities.
• Both participants stated that the people “need to gain a better understanding of numeracy so older adults are not tricked with the younger people not giving correct change in return during transactions. The people want adult literacy particularly for this concern.
• They would like more short courses of 3-4 weeks in duration.
• The participants have started work on an alphabet and dictionary.
• The people can be notified of an upcoming workshop via radio at Hauna, with the toksave going out with people who come into Hauna.
• The people are willing at this stage to provide at least some food for their own people at upcoming workshops.

Wasiak (28 April 04)

• The general consensus was that the people want another course – some sort of literacy course for 2-3 weeks duration.
• The Prep-school is in its second year of operation with 22 students.
• Very few of the older adults can read I, the younger ones can read it though.
• This group needs an orthography workshop (called ADW in the PNG SIL Branch) as they are unclear about the orthography they are using.
• The people say they want literacy so they can understand God’s Word much better.

Pei (28 April 04 – 45 minutes motor boat ride from Wasiak)

• According to Mark everyone in the community wants more tokples courses, particularly literacy, of 2-3 weeks in duration. Mark can read and write a little bit.
• The youth – 18+ are able to read and write fairly well according to those present at the meeting, though this is doubtful.
• There are no schools for this language group.
• There is no way that the people here can listen to the tape produced at the workshop, which bothers them somewhat
• They seem to want to send a young guy, who can read and write in Tok Pisin, and an elder, who knows the tokples well, for literacy workshops.

Usok (28 April 04)

• Tom felt that the workshop was “okay”.
• Some materials from the workshop are still in Usok, and several stories have been written since the workshop.
• Both workshop participants would like some more courses.
• There is almost 100% illiteracy in Usok. The council can read a little Tok Pisin, though not the Bible. He has completed as far as book three of “Kisim Save”.
• There is no school or church in Usok.
• As present no one is ready to attend an ADW or other literacy course, let alone a translation course. Lukas, co-translator and Principal of the Bible School at Hauna, has invited men to one month basic literacy classes at Hauna for June and November 2004, and again June 2005. At the meeting it appeared that the council was in agreement with these proposals.
• Bob Conrad has paid for 2 men from Usok and one from Sinen/Nain.

Sinen (28 April 04)

• William stated that the course was good, but the food was very different from what he was used to. He commented that the Wario people came in canoe to pick him up for the workshop, and people from Hauna brought him back. Transportation to and from the workshop was a big problem for him.
• There a few men who can read and write, Kaspar and David. Kaspar understands tokples well.
• There are many children who go to school in Hauna.
• William feels that the next course should be 2 weeks in duration.
• They still have the cassette tape of tokples Bible stories produced at the workshop, which they share with Nain. There is, however, no way of playing it.

Nain (28 April 04)

• James stated that he would like to have another course. His comment was that a one week course was not enough, that two weeks would be better.
• In order to attend a literacy workshop they would have to send a child or youth who can read and write Tok Pisin, and an elder who understands the tokples well.

Observations and Recommendations

The visited groups are at various stages of “readiness” for beginning literacy workshops such as an Alphabet Development Workshop (ADW). For Usok, Sinen and Nain this could be some time away, following basic literacy classes at Hauna. For Kubkain and Chenapian they are pretty much ready now to try orthography design. Perhaps another storytelling workshop, combined with recording stories onto cassette tape and providing each group with a crank handle player would be the next step. Book production of what they record onto tape could also be integrated as part of the course as a beginning of materials production, reading readiness and motivation for the people.

Running literacy and translation courses with people from these language groups will take much time, patience and perseverance. It appears from the discussions that the communities want literacy, so it is a matter of designing courses that are appropriate to their basic literacy needs. In consultation with Shirley, another visit of the area may need to be made by myself and or another literacy specialist or Scripture Use specialist in mid 2005 to follow up on the proposed literacy classes for the people of Usok, Sinen and Nain. During the visit it would be good to do some more formal literacy surveys to gain a fuller picture of the literacy situation in each of the language groups. During and following the visit, arrangements should be made for future courses that would be appropriate to the situation at that point.

While expensive, transportation to the various remote groups is not impossible. The main cost for future courses will be MAF tickets for staff from Wewak, and fuel for transportation on the Sepik River and the Leonard Shultze River. I tend to agree with Karl Franklin in his report on the Storytelling Workshop that some of these groups, particularly further up the Leonard Shultze River, are “isolated and without much promise of development (economic)”. I feel that our presence with the different groups was an encouragement to them, as well as a great opportunity to share.