Gone to press

Today, thanks to the donors who gave us enough for a small deposit, the book has gone to the printers. I have taken all the files for Miguel Nia Jardin to Hollands Print Solutions, who will print 5000 copies in glorious full colour for me! I am very excited, needless to say, and also have a lot of confidence that the printers will do a good job. They are the old fashioned family type of business - remember them? The kind that would always treat their customers like visiting dignitaries?

Hollands Print Solutions,  Palmerston, NT

When the book is printed, we plan to ship 4000 copies to Timor, and sell the remaining 1000 copies to raise money for printing and shipping costs.

Books AND rice!

According to the World Bank in 2009, the GDP (PPP), or  gross domestic product at purchasing power parity per capita, of Timor-Leste stood at 805, compared to Australia at 39,231. Although statistics over the past decade have improved a great deal, Timor-Leste is one of the poorest countries in Asia. Although education was, for the vast majority, voted a national priority, the fact stands that for the average Timorese family, buying rice comes far ahead of buying books.

I want my books to be freely available to the people I write them for, but this is only possible through the generosity of those who can afford to help. I plan to print 5000 copies of Miguel Nia Jardin, ship 4000 copies to Timor and sell 1000 copies in Australia (and overseas). I plan to sell the books here at $10 each (includes postage for orders within Australia) - all the proceeds will go directly to printing and shipping costs and the distribution costs within Timor.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy, or feel you may be able to sell multiple copies for us, please email us at grasa DOT mesak AT gmail DOT com (replacing 'AT' with '@' and 'DOT' with '.').

Book #3 - Miguel Nia Jardin

My son Michael is 8 years old. He collects seeds and loves growing plants. Michael lives in the tropics where tropical plants thrive - but the geranium seeds sprouted, flourished a promise of green but then promptly withered and died. Michael was disappointed....but the seed of a story had been planted!

Miguel Nia Jardin is the story of a little boy who plants some corn seeds but a heavy monsoon rain washes his little crop away. Naturally he is disappointed, but his mother tells him a story. A wonderful story about a beautiful garden and a man called Adam and a woman called Eve. Miguel Nia Jardin tells the story of paradise lost, but the promise of paradise regained through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The gospel story is a story of comfort, a story for all people. No parent likes to see their child suffering loss, sorrow or pain  - but the Bible promises us in the Book of Revelation, that one day there will be no more tears. Miguel Nia Jardin concludes with that beautiful passage of hope.

Perhaps the most important aspect of this publication is the translations. Not only is it translated into Tetun, but Miguel Nia Jardin also includes Mambai text. After Tetun, which is the national language, Mambai is the most common language in Timor Leste. To gain a clearer understanding of the extend to which Mambai is spoken in Timor Leste, have a look here.  There is very little, if any, literature available in Mambai, but I pray that one day there will be a complete Bible translation available in that language.

The Tetun text of the book was translated by Rev Arlindo Marcal, who is the moderator of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Timor Leste. The Mambai text was translated by Rev Carlos Marcal, of whom I have mentioned previously here.

The illustrations to the book are a combination of black and white line drawings and photographic collages. This was an exciting, rather novel approach for me and I want to thank the many people who made it possible, with modelling for photos or graciously sharing their own photos. As for my son Michael, not only did he inspire the story, but he was an excellent and expressive model for all my drawings.

Mother Tongues in Timor

This press release on Friday came from the Komisaun Nasional Edukasaun:

PRESS RELEASE
18 February, 2011

International Mother Language Day will be observed in Timor-Leste this year with the launch of a national debate on the “Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education Policy for Timor-Leste”.

The policy was drafted by the Language in Education Working Group of the National Education Commission of Timor-Leste, with technical assistance provided by international Language-in-Education experts, Dr Carol Benson (Stockholm University) and Professor Joe Lo Bianco (Melbourne University) and a team of education specialists from Australia and the Ministry of Education of Portugal. It aims to:
Help children from all ethno-linguistic backgrounds to have access to the benefits of literacy and education;
 Assist the Government of Timor-Leste to meet the educational objectives defined in the National Education Strategic Plan and the Millennium Development Goals;
Preserve cultural and linguistic diversity as a means to achieving national unity, Peace and equitable development, as stipulated in the Constitution of the RDTL.
“50 years of research by UNESCO and other international organizations has demonstrated clearly that children acquire basic literacy skills best when the language of instruction in schools is the students’ home language or mother tongue”, says National Education Commission Chair, Ms Kirsty Sword Gusmão. “A strong early foundation in a child’s first language also facilitates learning of the official languages, in Timor-Leste’s case Tetum and Portuguese”, she adds.

Much progress has been made in Timor-Leste over the last 10 years since independence to deliver educational services to the nation’s children, with hundreds of new schools having been built, others rehabilitated and nation-wide teacher training being provided to the country’s educators. Nevertheless, much remains to be done to address high student drop-out rates and to ensure that school curriculum and learning materials are relevant to the lives and ethno-linguistic circumstances of students, many of whom speak one of some 20 indigenous languages at home and have minimal fluency in either of the official languages.

“The Ministry of Education is to be warmly congratulated for having supported this important policy initiative”, says UNICEF’s Representative in Timor-Leste, Mr Jun Kukita. “Language is at the heart of education. Mother tongue-based multilingual education is recognised internationally as an effective way of helping children to learn, whilst at the same time contributing to linguistic preservation, a strong sense of national identity, and enhanced community participation in the educational experiences of students”.

The launch of the national debate will take place at the Hotel Timor, Dili, at 11 am on Monday 21 February. For further information, please contact Mr Agustinho Caet (Language in Education Advisor, Ministry of Education) on +670-753 6739.

It will put you in the picture a little when, over the next few days, I share with you details of book #3.

Tetun for beginners #3

A note to explain the title of the second book:

Mundu is world. You can see the Portugese influence here, can't you?

Ne'ebé is which. The pronoun ne'e is that, this or it.

Maromak is the Tetun word for God.

Halo is the verb to make. Tetun is easy, my teacher told me. Verbs never change form. After struggling with the French language for years as a teenager, I must agree that verbs that stay right where they are certainly is a blessing!

Book #2 - Mundu ne'ebé Maromak halo

God made the world. The children look around them and everything that they can see has been made by God. Grandmother tells them the story of creation....

This is my second book - Mundu ne'ebé Maromak halo – or The World that God made. It represents a dramatically steep learning curve for me, because I decided to publish this book 'properly'. I had to learn what it means to become a publisher. I had to learn all about ISBNs and how to use them. I needed to know the legal requirements for published matter and I had to learn to talk to printers. By the grace of God, the cheapest quote I had was from a local man who had a vast deal of experience in printing for Timor Leste and could advise me on many aspects of the job, including choosing suitable paper.

I decided to print under the imprint Grasa Mesak, which I have already translated for you here. The print run was very small, just 500 copies, but was funded exclusively by a very special group of people: the tiny congregation of Seaford Presbyterian Church. Their support was invaluable!

God made the birds and fish.....

The book was translated by Samuel Marcal, the man who translated the first of my books. It concludes with a Tetun translation of Psalm 8. The illustrations were done entirely on my computer using Corel Painter - a program that imitates artist's media and methods. It was tremendous fun but took a lot of hard work.

I was very blessed in that I was able to take the entire print run to Timor myself, thanks to the generousity of friends and family. It was wonderful to be able to meet some of the people to whom I had only previously communicated by email. I also met some very friendly children who patiently talked with me, despite my slow and awkward Tetun. It was much harder to understand the adults, who spoke too fast, but in Timor, so many people will respond to the minimal amount of dialogue. Everywhere I went, people would smile and respond to 'Bondia!'

In Dili, I handed out copies of the books to children in Sunday School. In Liquica, a young boy delighted me by reading my book to me in Tetun. In Gleno Town, a group of little boys were itching to peek into the box I brought.....full of books.

A girl in Dili reads her new book

Boys in Gleno Town examining
'Mundu ne'ebé Maromak halo'

Tetun for beginners #2

Timotio Nia Istoria is translated as Timothy's Story.
Nia is the attributive possessive pronoun. It follows the personal pronoun.
Ha'u is the pronoun I or me.
Thus, my book is ha'u nia livru.

Tetun for Beginners #1

If you have wondered about our imprint, our name, Grasa Mesak, and want to know what it means, please let me translate:

Grasa means grace.
Mesak means only or alone.
Thus Grasa Mesak is translated as Grace Alone. Or if you prefer it in Latin, Sola Gratia.

Interrupted by Carlos

I was busy telling you the story of my books and how they came about - until I was rudely interrupted by Carlos.

Who's Carlos?

Not the Rev Carlos Marcal, who is one of the men who translated my most recent book, and also one of the men responsible for the translation of the Bible into Tetun Prasa. Oh no, Rev Carlos is a polite and godly man whose work is a blessing to our brothers and sisters in Timor Leste.

No, this particular Carlos was Tropical Cyclone Carlos, who came to visit Darwin, caused a lot of rain, flooding, fallen trees and general mess. We lost power for 12 hours and had no internet connection for a couple of days so I was unable to ensure everyone that Carlos's bark was worse than his bite. Or rather, that our great God, who controls the wind and the waves, has, in His mercy, left Darwin soggy, but by and large, safe.

Book #1 - Timotio Nia Istoria

Kindergarten children at Gleno Town with new books!

In the New Testament there is a young pastor who has been faithfully taught the Word of God by his mother and his grandmother. The young man's name is, of course, Timothy, and those two godly women in his life are still remembered today, 2000 years on.

All over the world, and throughout generations, women of God have taught their children and grandchildren the story of God's plan for our lives. It is this wonderful oral tradition that is celebrated in 'Timotio Nia Istoria'. Timotio's grandmother tells the children the story of Christmas, of the birth of a Child who becomes our Saviour. As she tells the story, young Timotio becomes increasingly aware that this story is personal - it is his story too.

For many children, this was the first book
they had ever owned.

This book, my first, was completed in a relatively short period of time. A group of men from Australia were travelling to Timor and it seemed good that they take copies of this book with them as gifts. The men were Rev Robert Benn, Rev Gary Ware and Rev Rob Duncanson. You can read all about that trip here. Gary's blog presents a richly detailed daily account of their time in Timor - certainly recommended reading!

The book was funded by the Education Committee of the GAA of the Presbyterian Church of Australia - and I thank them for that.

In an interesting cultural aside, the book features traditional Timorese motifs on some of the pages. At the time of illustrating the book, the Museum and Art gallery of the Northern Territory was holding a fantastic exhibition of traditional arts and crafts from Timor Leste. (For all you arts and crafts lovers, the exhibition was this one)

Crazy idea . . . but a good one!

Bondia friends. As I organise the printing of my third book, I feel it is time to tell the story of this ministry.

It all began...when the formal Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, Rev Robert Benn, came to Darwin to talk to us about the newly formed Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Timor Leste. Like many Australians, my knowledge about Timor Leste was dreadfully inadequate. They were little more than an item on the news. We saw the horrific images, we heard the stories of their fight for independence but we knew so little about who the people really were. We didn't even know what language they spoke. Sure, we knew that they suffered in WWII as a result of helping our soldiers, but even this history failed to become part of our popular culture like the tales of Kokoda and the people from Papua.

Maybe because of this ignorance, because so much research had to go into the basic things like literacy, languages and resources, it wasn't until several months later, in December 2008, that I decided that the only way I could send children's Christian literature in a language that both the children and their parents could read, was to send books in Tetun, the national language. As there were no such books in the world, they had to be produced from scratch and translated into Tetun. I threw the idea at Robert Benn and his reply came back...: "Crazy idea . . . but a good one!"

And so began...'Timotio Nia Istoria'.