You’ve heard of the Kriol Dictionary… but how about the Kriol Bible? Well for the past twenty years, an organization called the Belize Kriol Project has been translating the Holy Scripture into Kriol, and it is finally available to the public. Last week, Silvana Woods and Yvette Herrera from the Belize Kriol Project appeared on Rise and Shine and introduced us to the Kriol Bible. Woods explained what it was like constructing the Bible.

Silvana Woods – Belize Kriol Project:
Over 20 years ago when we start, we come out with this [shows small book in Kriol] but the spelling was different. We had to come up with a spelling system.  We start with one lee guide.  We revised this in 2002.

This is a significant milestone for the Belize Kriol Project, but the group says they met some adversity along the way. And no, it wasn’t the translating part, but people, who believed that converting the Bible from English to Kriol would somehow change the scripture’s meaning.

Yvette Herrera – Belize Kriol Project:
We had one very hard time fi convince people that the Bible ina Kriol inspired. Somebody tell me “Oh that is not inspired.” So I tell her, OK If I tell you,  “Gaad lov di werl soh moch dat ih giv wan oanli Son.” I seh what are the difference if I say, “God so loved the world…”   What people no realize, King James Version was the “Kriol of the day,” for the common people.
 
And for all you viewers who are eager for a taste of the Kriol Bible, here’s a preview.

Yvette Herrera – Belize Kriol Project:
Eevn if Ai kuda taak eena aal di langwij dehn weh peepl taak ahn weh di aynjel dehn taak, if Ah noh lov ada peepl, aal weh Ah di seh noh amonk tu notn. Da jos laik di naiz weh sohnbadi mek wen dehn di beet pat batam er lik simbal. [1 KORINTYANZ 13:1]

The Kriol Bible is available on the internet. To download the Bible, go to www.bible.is. Click on the “Resources” option and select “Audio Bible Downloader.” You will then be asked to choose a language, select “Belize Kriol.” Next, under the “Your Version” option, select the” 2012 Edition Audio Drama New Testament,” then click “Download.” If you do not have a Bible.is account, you will be required to create one before downloading the audio file. You can also listen to the Belize Kriol Bible at faithcomesbyhearing.com. And in celebration of the Belize Kriol Bible release, the Belize Kriol Project will be hosting a ceremony next week Wednesday (March 6th) at the St. John’s Anglican Cathedral Church in Belize City. The ceremony begins at 9:30, and there you can purchase the hard copy Kriol Bible for $20 or $25. The audio version will be on CD, free of charge.

PlusTV

I downloaded this, and it is 700MB total in size. the verses are separate .mp3 files, 1-6 mb each... so the download ends up with a folder full of mp3 files. and its very cool.

Where "God" Becomes "Gaawd"

Months ago, we told you about the effort to produce the audiobook version of the New Testament bible in Kriol. It took hours upon hours of work to record and compile the voices of dozens of Belizeans speaking in kriol. They were reading from the written version of the text, which also took years to translate. But finally, as they say in the good book: it is accomplished. The book and audiobook were launched today at the first press conference we've attended in a church. Jules Vasquez reports:

Jules Vasquez Reporting

Myrna Manzanres - National Kriol Council
"From the top of my head to the bottom of my feet, welcome to this historic launching of the Bible in Kriol, our Bible, all of us who speak Kriol."

And in the church built by slaves two centuries ago, the kriol language came home in grand style, in the written and spoken word, Belize's own Kriol Bible:

Rt. Rev'd Phillip Wright - Anglican Bishop
"What a remarkable demonstration of the goodness and grace of God, that the language of the slaves who built this place of worship, will now find expression in a way like never before. A language that was once used to exclude and distinguish one group from another is now going to be used to unite our people in wonderful and unique ways."

The event was part press conference, part church service, part community celebration for a book that has been a tedious decade in the making:

Yvette Hererra - Lead Translator
"It has always irritated me when people say 'You haven't finished that as yet? If they would only know the harassment that one goes through. Sometime one phrase would take an hour or hour and a half to come up with how you say certain things in creole. The thing that we had the most difficult is the opposition that has come up against from different Pastors, Ministers, people who felt that it did not inspire. We got beat down bad."

And if you're wondering how it sounds delivered with authority - here's John chapter one, verses 1-14:

Rev'd David Goff - Superintendent, Wesley Circuit, Methodist Mission
"Yes, the word mi deh right deh long with God from the beginging, that da the same word weh make everything, and God neva make nothing without we. He mi love we till nomo nomo, and he show we a kindess weh we neva deserve, and eh make we si the real truth bout God. Dis da the word ah di Laad."

Silvaana Udz - Secretary, Belize Kriol Project
"Reverend you brought tears to my eyes. The word of God so powerful when you feel it people, did you feel that? Did you feel the word of the Lord? That is what happens when you use your language that your grandmother speaks at home."

And that, advocates say is the importance of this bible:

Rt. Rev'd Phillip Wright
"Throughout history there's been shown when a people can hear the word of God in their mother tongue, once again we will hear Jesus speak the good news in the language of the people. The language that resonates with their hearts, their experiences of God and their truer self, much as it was in the first century of the Common Era. When we hear it, it will evoke I am sure, a mix of emotions from unease to maybe humor to even delight."

And delight is just what Laruen Burgess took in reading the voices of Mary and Saphirra:

Lauren Burgess - Voice of Sapphira and Mary in Bible Recording
"Today is a day of history; my name is going in the archive because my voice is right on top of the DVD. Yes I played Sapphira and Mary. I don't know why they gave me Sapphira because I will not tell a lie for any man; don't let any ghost fool you. If he stole the money, then he stole the money. I won't die like Sapheria did to tell a lie. He will die alone, not him and me."

Even the head of state Governor General Sir Colville Young gave his endorsement:

Sir Colville Young - Governor General of Belize
"Kriol is the common language of the people of Belize, and the Word of God should be in their language, Kriol."

And so today in the cathedral of John the Baptist even the hymns were in kriol, and perhaps, they sang it best.

The printed New Testament bible costs 20 dollars and the CD costs five dollars. But you can get the audio version for free at a website called Bible-dot-Is and the text version can be found at scriptureearth.org.

Channel 7

‘Hohlih Mohziz’ New Testament of the Bible in Creole

Religious and cultural history was made today with the launching of the New Testament of the Bible in Creole. The formal presentation took place during an inspirational mass at a fitting venue, the two hundred year old St. John’s Anglican Cathedral in Belize City. The finished products, a written version and a spoken version on CD, are the result of years of commitment and hard work by the National Creole Council, and a handful of persons both local and foreign working under the Belize Creole Project. The service was attended by members of the clergy of different denominations, government officials and a wide cross-section of Belizean society. News Five was a part of history today and freelance reporter Mike Rudon has the story.

Lauren Burgess, Voice on CD

“Man God good. Today is a day of rejoicing for us; today is a day of great joy. I happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy. I neva think I mi wah live fi see the day.

Mike Rudon, Reporting

But that day did come. After nearly two decades of hard work, there is a full Creole version of the New Testament of the bible, from Matthew to Revelations. Speaking Creole is easy, but translating the bible, and doing it the right way, was another matter entirely.

Yvette Herrera, Lead Translator

“We had to get some training of course and we had to work with the original Greek. We had a Greek inter-linear bible weh word fi word with the Greek. And we had to translate from a meaning base; dah noh just words right soh. And we had consultants weh come from abroad weh dah the experts weh come check everything. We had wah couple weh mi di work with wi; dehn learn Creole and we worked along with them. We did the original drafting, dehn check it and then we go over it again and tweak it. It was a long process.”

And today Belizeans enjoyed the fruits of that long process, in an almost three hour service complete with scripture readings and songs. The emotion of those involved in the project was clear, and that passion translated to those who took part in the making of history today.

Phillip Wright, Anglican Bishop

“It does give me great pleasure to formally launch this undertaking that we’ve heard about many years, many people making the sacrifices and now we are here at this point in time. And I think it is truly a moment to give god thanks. If one could use one’s imagination, I could even see heaven smiling.”

Myrna Manzanares, National Kriol Council

“Bwai I di tell yo, my heart feel like—as a matter of fact, right now ih feel like wah burden come off of mi shoulder because soh long we di try and try and like people put wi down. But todeh I feel good. I thank god that it is finish; we got it cross.”

Patrick Faber, Minister of Education

“This is a wonderful thing that all Belizeans should hold on to and love and appreciate because dah fi we language and I put my full support behind it as the Minister of Education and of course the government put ih full support behind it.”

Yvette Herrera

“Aye, ih mek mi heart full because we really gone through a lot. We take wah lotta flack from the public, from different churches and soh, but we had to keep wi goal in sight.”

Silvaana Udz, National Kriol Council

“The next you ask, revise and do wah next version of the dictionary; update it. Begin, I guess, the work on the Old Testament, but that wah take commitment. And then also writer’s workshop; goh capture the story—the rich, rich story weh people have—and put it ina di spelling system weh wi got so we preserve it and use it. And in terms of the school, you hear weh Mister of Education say, dehn endorse it, dehn understand it. The structure fi then make it workable fi wah teacher dah something fi work pan next.”

Philip Wright

“It might not be tomorrow, it might not be next year, but there will come a time when the usage will increase. As people grow more comfortable with it, I think as people hear it read, a lot of attitude I am sure will change and people will grow a lot more comfortable with it.”

Patrick Faber

“The school dehn could use it now; we got wah lot of religious instructions weh di goh on ina di class dehn. And so if the teachers dehn get wah copy of the Creole bible, I noh see nothing wrong in dehn use it fi read fi di pickney dehn because that dah something good. I mean that wah mek dehn understand better; lotta dehn noh di understand the complicated language weh di bible write ina right now. And so teachers should feel free to use it however dehn think it wah help. But it could certainly help wi society nowadays and I mi particularly happy fi hear the pastor pray just now fi di lee bwai and di lee gial dehn and the pickney dehn ina this country because that is where we really got fi focus fi make sure that we have wah future ina di country and the bible could help wi get deh faster.”

And with those endorsements from the clergy and the state, the Creole version of the New Testament is well on its way to becoming an integral part of religious life in Belize. Mike Rudon for News Five.

Channel 5

I need to get my hands on one of these.