Say That Again?

I teach a Sunday School class at our local church. I teach it, but I often wonder if many of the children learn anything. Why? Because I teach it in Portuguese, and most of these children speak only Makua.

“Well, that doesn’t make any sense.” You say. You’re right. It doesn’t! So why am I standing up there blathering away about God creating the earth and such, in a language these kids don’t speak very much of? Their parents want me to.

First I ought to explain some things about Mozambique. There are over 60 tribal languages, though the “trade language” is Portuguese. When I go to town, I could walk around for a long time before I found anyone who spoke English, and many of the conversations are going on in Portuguese. It would be easy for a visitor to assume that everyone here speaks fluent Portuguese and would be just as comfortable in Portugal or Brazil as they are here. However, that is not the case at all. Among ALL of the people here (except perhaps a small subset), Portuguese is their second language. There are actually millions of people in Mozambique who speak no or almost no Portuguese at all. These are the folks out in the villages. If I wanted to go out and speak to a group of women in a village just 10 miles outside of town, I’d need a translator. In fact, right here in Nampula I frequently meet women who speak very little Portuguese. I’ve actually had women in the market stare at me panic-stricken when I’ve asked them a question like “Where did you buy that?”. They don’t know what I am saying.

There are quite a few men whose Portuguese is not so hot, either, but the level of the women tends to be lower. Why? Because for many children, Portuguese is first learned in school and not before. Since girls are less likely to go to school or stay in school, they are more likely to speak only their tribal language.

This is the problem in Sunday School. There are a lot of younger children who have not even gone to school yet, so they haven’t learned much Portuguese. At home and with their friends, they speak Makua. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

So, why do the church leaders insist that the children must be taught in Portuguese? Because Portuguese is the language of the church. Missionaries who come in rarely learn the tribal languages (after spending 2 years learning Portuguese, the idea of learning yet another language is daunting – let’s get to work instead!). Pastors who go away to Bible School always learn in Portuguese (too many languages, we’ve got to pick one that everyone speaks). Courses and seminars are always given in Portuguese for those same reasons. Because of this, the “religious words” that people learn are all in Portuguese. There probably isn’t even a word for “redemption” in Makua. One could be invented, surely, but at this point people use Portuguese words. All the Bible helps are in Portuguese, all the good Bibles, all the educated people in the city work in Portuguese. To have a Portuguese-speaking church is a major status symbol.

Therefore, to give the children a good basis in “churchiness” and in religious instruction, they must be taught in Portuguese. Eventually they’ll learn it, and doubtless it will be a help to them in school and such. But meanwhile, these kids just stare at me blankly when I ask a question. Part of the problem here may be that Makua children are not taught to speak to adults. They learn by observation, not by discussion. So, when I ask a question, even a child who understands will be reluctant to volunteer an answer. But mostly, they just don’t know what I am talking about. Last week, I asked the children who created the world. Blank stares from 15 children. We had had literally 10 lessons on who created the world. But very few of them had understood anything. I wanted to sink down on the ground and bury my face in my hands. Finally, I dragged the answer out of one of the four children that I knew understood. “God”, he whispered.

I’m meeting with the wife of the leader of the church this week and tendering my resignation. Not out of spite, not out of frustration, but out of a simple belief that I am not the best teacher for these kids. They need someone who speaks Makua, someone who can give a quick translation from the Portuguese when needed. And the church won’t look for more teachers unless they are forced to. So, I’m forcing them by withdrawing to the sidelines and offering to train teachers, but refusing to teach.

If I had my way, all of the teaching would be in Makua. Unfortunately, it is not likely that this will happen. It is also hard to find teachers in my little church . . . the ladies who could help with the teaching don’t read or write, and therefore can’t read the Sunday school materials that are written in Portuguese (which they also don’t speak very well). The men are all busy with teaching the adults, except for one man who is involved in teaching the kids. But he’ll need help. Keep them in your prayers and let’s see what God does! And by the way, we do plan to learn Makua, starting after we return from our home assignment next year. It is an extremely difficult language, so it will take some time to reach proficiency. - C