Devoted women drive
Cakchiquel
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| Two of the women who were involved in the translation of the Bible into Cakchiquel. The Cakchiquel Bible was dedicated on November 23, 2003, by the Rev Cornelio Midence Rodriguez, Executive Secretary of the Bible Society of Guatemala. Patzicía, Guatemala. Photo: Central America RSC/Ronald Ross (GUA04DJ-2.JPG) |
PATZICÍA, Guatemala — The lives of Mayan women quite literally revolve around corn. What they spend their time doing, when they are not caring for their children or doing laundry, is drying corn, shucking corn, washing corn and grinding it into the cornflour with which they make fresh hot tortillas for each meal of the day. Mayan husbands do not take kindly to warmed-up tortillas! All this means that Mayan women essentially define themselves in terms of corn.
11 years ago, in the Mayan town of Patzún in eastern Guatemala, four stout-hearted Cakchiquel-speaking women from the very humblest social origins accepted an enormous change in their lives and in those of their families by agreeing to be part of the team responsible for producing a complete Bible in Cakchiquel. This was definitely not part of the Mayan scheme of things and was going to test the understanding and commitment of their husbands and the willingness of their mothers-in-law to care for small grandchildren over a long period. It would also test the mettle of the women themselves. They would now have to pack their normal household duties into the early morning and late evening hours, without the benefits of the modern household appliances which are taken for granted in many parts of the world.
Drift away
There were also men who agreed to participate in this project. In
fact, at the outset the team had an unusually good gender balance. But
as the tedium of long-term translation work began to set in, the male
members of the team started to drift away until only one remained. It
was the women who bore the lion’s share of the burden and who stayed
the course until the project was completed.
| It was certainly not the pay that motivated them. Rather, it was the unfaltering belief that their labour of love would one day reap a rich harvest when the Cakchiquel community could at last read God’s Word in their own tongue. |
At times the going was tough. Often, family pressures were enormous and the endless days exhausting. And the project was to last 10 long years. It was certainly not the pay that motivated them. Rather, it was the unfaltering belief that their labour of love would one day reap a rich harvest when the Cakchiquel community could at last read God’s Word in their own tongue.
On November 23 their vision became a reality. The women sat proudly in the football stadium in the neighbouring town of Patzicía as the Bible they had so lovingly translated into their ancient language was officially dedicated by the Rev Cornelio Midence Rodríguez, Executive Secretary of the Bible Society of Guatemala.
Amazement
The main speaker at the dedication ceremony was the Rev Abner López,
General Secretary of the Bible Society of Mexico. When the ceremony
was over, he approached me and expressed his amazement that the translation
team had been predominantly female. As he reflected on the all-male
translation teams in his own country, he wondered how it had happened
that these lowly indigenous women had been allowed to participate in
such an undertaking. To find out, he decided to interview them. He also
decided to have the interview taped and to play it to those involved
in projects in Mexico, in the hope that it might help to open up similar
opportunities for indigenous women there.
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| Women doing their laundry on the banks of a river. Guatemala. Photo: Dietmar Necke (GUA04DJ-1.JPG) |
“Why were you invited to participate?” he asked the women.
They replied that they had been known to the team set up to manage the project and that they were regarded as capable.
“Did your husbands object?” he pressed them.
Not at all, the women assured him. In fact, as Christians, their husbands had understood the importance of their work.
Still curious, Mr López turned to me and asked, “How did these women measure up to the male translators?”
As I pondered the history of the project, I wondered if perhaps the question should not have been posed the other way round. (WR 384/14 - 3.04)