Ian – Ciyawo-English Dictionary Final
Ministry in Malawi and Mozambique
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To address the barriers, this project saw two dictionaries produced and published:
The English-Ciyawo Leaner’s Dictionary and
The Ciyawo-English Learner’s Dictionary, along with accompanying Android and Apple smartphone applications (apps).
These offer a first-of-their-kind resource to the Yawo of Malawi. The dictionaries were created to assist Yawo students grow in their capacity in English for primary and secondary education and address the low language comprehension rates.
Your support made that possible! Now this project is embarking on its final chapter…
With 800 dictionaries now in circulation and the numbers purchased far exceeding expectations, the Mangochi Department of Education has invited our former Intercultural Team Member, Ian, and a team of Yawo people to run workshops for Yawo students and schools in Mangochi, Malawi.
These sensitisation workshops are to equip primary and secondary students, and teachers, to best utilise the written and online dictionary publications, maximising long-term education and employment opportunities. Ian and the Yawo people involved are invited to run sensitisation workshops in 16 education zones and 24 community secondary schools, covering both primary and secondary schools in the broader Mangochi area. We want to see the linguistic benefits of dictionaries accessible for all Yawo!
The project will also see voice recording files added to the smartphone apps so that each person using the dictionary apps are able to hear pronunciations and examples of the words used in a relevant context. The goal is to help students hear, understand and communicate speech in the most natural manner possible in both Ciyawo and English.
Total project costs include:
Staffing and running the sensitisation workshops
Equipment and resourcing
Ian’s travel costs
Technology and expertise in creating and finalising the smartphone application sound files
Teacher and student lunch and travel allowances
This project will conclude at the end of 2024.
Through their day-to-day life, Jean-Claude and Joyce are engaging with people wholistically, responding to their spiritual and physical needs.
It is Jan and Jit’s desire to see each person develop as an individual,
learn new skills and move towards their potential for interdependent
and independent living.
Through this work they seek to partner with churches to see the
Christian community develop a sense of responsibility towards those
in need in their communities.
This project covers the costs of running disability group activities
in rural areas, the purchase of specialised equipment to improve
quality of life and provide the needs of the team travelling and
empowering people with disabilities in this Thai/Myanmar border
area.
