We did a monolingual demonstration where Tim played "Mafuru" the Tanzanian. I had three translation helpers try to translate what he was saying, illustrating both the need for translators and the difficulties (on an elementary level) that they face. They loved hearing us talk back and forth in Swahili as I translated for him, and I taught them a few Swahili words along the way. My favorite part was later hearing that some younger campers debated for quite some time whether or not Tim was actually from Tanzania!! I guess the blonde hair didn't give him away after all! We also did a compare/contrast between an Ikizu alphabet chart and the English one... the kids really enjoyed that and were rewarded with candy for each difference they found. We showed the obligatory maps and even had a video of what it was like to drive on Tanzanian "roads." And finally we closed with a bit of cultural education-- I gave them all candy and then taught them the word Shikamoo (respectful greetings to elders) and had them present their candy to their counselors as they practiced the greeting. Tying candy into any experience is sure to help them remember it!
This presentation was especially meaningful to me because I was 10 years old the first year I went to this camp. Camp was where I first learned that Jesus was more than a character in stories-- that He was real and wanted to be my friend. I spent three years as a camper and four years as a Jr/Sr counselor until finally I had too many scheduling conflicts between camp and short-term missions trips. It's only one week in the summer, but somehow those who go to camp keep coming back for more year after year. This experience was so nostalgic that we're already trying to figure out how to make sure we can be back in time for camp on a furlough-- it would be so special to have all three of us at camp together!
And now a picture... this was my last year at camp as a counselor (1999). I'm in the back row, second from the left. :)
-JLR
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