Each summer the Samaritan House Children’s Center offers a customized Summer Education Program (SEP) for our group of young African kids. Each morning, the SEP begins with prayer, learning new songs, and a favorite of the youngsters, Auntie Dannie’s Bible storytelling. I focused on telling the story accurately, but this year I missed two of the three essential considerations for storytelling in West Africa.
Don’t picture the beautifully illustrated booklets, crafts and other amazing visuals available for the weeklong Vacation Bible School (VBS) programs in America. Such neatly packaged offerings are not available to us because
- our finances need to be centered on providing their main meal;
- the program last for five weeks or more;
- the kids don’t speak English; and
- our kids can’t relate to many of the cultural aspects of these programs.
Hence, each SEP is prepared and designed for this specific group of children. While I’d rather like to have one of those erupting volcanoes my sister’s church used one summer at their VBS, there are some positive points to our personalized approach.
This year we matched each child with a Bible character who shared the first initial of the student’s name. How our hearts warmed at the change in each young countenance as his story took center stage.
While I used Jewish and Church History to fill in interesting background details for each Bible character, I didn’t realize I had only dealt accurately with the first of the three essential considerations for storytelling in West Africa. I share my error in the hope that others planning a cross-cultural experience next summer might avoid my mistakes.
One: Religious Sensitivities
While the relatives of our orphaned and semi-orphaned kids willingly allow them to attend events at the Samaritan House Children’s Center, it’s a tenuous approval. The Muslim adults express no opposition to us telling Bible stories to the children, but we tread carefully over that historic terrain.
For example, this summer’s five-week program took place during the period of time leading up to the important Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha—the Feast of Sacrifice. The Judeo-Christian account records Abraham putting his son, Isaac, on the altar of sacrifice. The Islamic account names Ishmael in that place.
I needed a Bible name that began with the letter I for young Ibrahima’s assigned character. Exercising religious sensitivity, I discounted Isaac, Ishmael and Israel right away. No need to initiate conflict with his Muslim uncle at home, right?
When I learned that Ira commanded a division of 24,000 soldiers in King David’s army, my heart lept for joy. As I prepared the story, I anticipated the thrill for the slightly-built young boy, knowing all of his mates would cheer him, the commander.
That’s exactly what happened on Ibrahima-Ira’s day. All the better for the children to know the reason King David chose Ira. Turns out that Ira’s faithful obedience to God resulted in all of those great military victories. King David wanted commanders that obeyed God.
Perhaps, the success of Ira’s story clouded my selection of another Bible character known for his great desire to obey God. In any event, I made a mistake that only came to light the night before the story would be told.
Two: Language Bumps
Though I searched every possibility, the only proper names that began with the letter K identified locations not people. Which character could I assign our adolescent, Kaba?
Then, I remembered one of my favorite Old Testament stories—King Josiah. Okay, using King for K is stretching things a bit, but I knew the boy would be thrilled to be king. He wouldn’t care that Josiah didn’t begin with a K. I’d just put the two names together every time I mentioned the young ruler.
The night before the presentation, I emailed the notes to my colleague. Her first language is French. For each of the twenty-seven stories I shared during the program, she translated the notes for the children.
Following the story each day, Anne-Lise wrote several points on the blackboard. The kids copied the notes in their booklet to review before the Friday competition each week.
Having emailed the notes for King Josiah, I moved on to reviewing the numerous points I’d discovered about Mordecai. My colleague’s loud exclamation startled me.
“Dannie! You can’t use King Josiah.”
“Why not? He’s a perfect example of a boy king. He became king at the age of eight; sat on the throne making changes in policy at the age of sixteen; and rid the land of all the leaders who directed the people in occult worship by the age of twenty. All of this because King Josiah wanted to obey God.”
“Yes, his is a fantastic story for the kids, but King Josiah doesn’t begin with a K. In French, King Josiah begins with an R. Roi Josias.”
I groaned. “You didn’t notice the mistake when we decided to give Kaba King Josiah three weeks ago?
Our laughter overrode our groans. Even with only basic French, I knew very well that roi is the word for king.
Unfortunately, we had no time to make any changes. The story would go on as planned. Among the French names hanging from the large letters bearing each student’s name would be Kaba’s Bible character’s name, King Josiah—in English.
In truth, language bumps such as this are not an issue for our kids. There are five different tribal languages spoken among the Center kids. Their studies in regular school are taught in the official language of the country—French. They begin to learn English in the seventh grade.
Nobody minded that Kaba had an English name. They loved the story, and Kaba really enjoyed being king.
After a quarter-century of living in West Africa, I’d have thought any animal species issue inherent in a Bible story would have been caught during the preparation. Not so.
Three: Species Diversity
I could hardly wait to tell our twenty-seven African kids the story of the courageous Abigail. Sitting in my molded plastic chair at the front of the room, I mentally rehearsed the dramatic poses and gestures I’d use to punctuate the fast-paced story.
“Go for it,” my colleague said as she tapped my shoulder.
I stood, waiting for the quiet to descend. Many of the children sang what words they could recall of the new song as they scraped wooden benches back into place.
“Abigail was the wife of a rich man, I said. “Nabal owned 3000 sheep.” The light gasps and gentle murmurs signaled the kids understood. In Africa, to own more than the one sheep the family had been fattening up for the next holiday celebration meant wealth. Imagine one man owning 3000 sheep!
Smiling, I dove into the meat of the conflict. “David’s men had been protecting Nabal’s workers and his huge flock without asking anything of Nabal or the men in the fields.” I heard slight murmurs of affirmation. Great! The kids are with me.
“However, when David’s men arrived to share in the great feast following the sheep-sheering—“ Dead silence. Internally, I heard the grinding metallic clang of a wrench hitting the gears of my story-telling.
Sheep-sheering? The silent room filled with imaginary question marks.
Oops! The West African sheep have exactly the same coat as goats. There is no wool to remove to make sweaters and woolen blankets. Such items are not needed in the hot, tropical climate.
The image of a goat or sheep with all hair removed provoked a mental picture I’d failed to anticipate. The room filled with gentle snickering.
“Okay,” I said, fighting to restrain a mighty guffaw. “The point is that in Israel, and many other places in the world, sheep have a special kind of coat. It’s not at all the same as the goats. In fact, it’s worth a lot of money.”
If only we had an internet connection, we could hit some YouTube channel to show the kids what western sheep shearing looks like. Oh well, I need to get back to the Bible story.
“The main thing is that David’s men had earned the right to celebrate with Nabal’s men. Don’t you think Nabal should have shared the food with them?”
The raucous response signaled the story was back on track. There’s just no hospitality to equal that of the African people. Everyone is offered a plate of food during a celebration. How much more the men who have protected the workers and sheep from thieves?
The girls especially liked the conclusion to the story. Abigail rushed to do the right thing. She took lots of food to David’s men before they could attack the household.
Of course, when her greedy husband died, the attack-story turned into a romance. David called for Abigail to marry him. She did, and they had a son, Daniel.
Conclusion
The summer’s over. The school bags have been filled with new school supplies. In two weeks, the Samaritan House Children’s Center kids will be back in their respective schools for another year.
Reflecting on the 2016 SEP, I wonder how many of the children will remember which Bible character had been joined to their name when we meet again for the 2017 SEP.
As for their main storyteller, I plan to be more careful as I design my stories next year. I’m going to review these three essential considerations for storytelling in West Africa as I select each and every story.
If the stories of Abigail, King Josiah, or Ira are unfamiliar to you, feel free to click on the links. Enjoy their great stories!
