Sandawe

Home is where you live (Sandawe, Tanzania)

Imagine having a daily ritual of walking a well to get water for yourself and your family. It is a shallow well, dug in the sand, in which water gathers very slowly. As the water table sinks in the dry season you have to make your well deeper and deeper and sometimes wait for hours until you can fill your buckets. When this proves too difficult you set off to get water from the village pump. Although you have to pay a small fee and the water tastes slightly salty it's better then nothing. When you arrive, however, the village pump is broken.

When the shallow wells are dry and the village pump broken, it is a serious problem. People have to walk further to neighboring villages in hopes there will be water there. This was the case in several Sandawe villages in late 2005. Since then, some pumps have been fixed and everyone is thankful that there has been at least some rain. But the water table is still much lower than normal and therefore the back-breaking task of digging in the sand to get water for families and livestock remains the same.

Even though there were a few rainfalls earlier this year, the Sandawe are facing a famine. At present, most people have absolutely no food left and not even seeds to plant. However, God loves the Sandawe people and desires that they hunger and thirst for the truth and come to Him with their needs.

The language of the Sandawe people is very different from their neighbors, as Sandawe is classified as a Khoisan, or click language. The Sandawe language is very complex and quite difficult to read and write. Adult literacy rate in the national language Swahili is 80%, but in practise very few Sandawe are active readers. Language work among the Sandawe is continuing at a slow but steady pace.

1. About the Sandawe -General information about the Sandawe people.
2. Sandawe Language Project - Find out more about this click language.
3. Pray - Support the Sandawe people through prayer.
4. Tanzania Info - Country information.

Apr 6, 2009 Burst into Jubilant song! Written by Amy W. "Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music." Psalm 98:4 Give thanks and praise to God for a great Sandawe song-writing workshop that was held in the village of Magambua in August 2008! There were 20 participants in the workshop and 15 new Sandawe worship songs were composed and recorded, including Psalm 98:4 seen above. What a blessing it is when people all over the earth shout for joy to the one true Lord in the language that touches them most! Read more...

Apr 2, 2009 A new beginning Written by Amy W. The Sandawe experienced a new beginning with the completion of chapters 1-11 from the book of Genesis in their language. The dedication was on December 17, 2008, in a village called Gumbu. Read more...

Mar 31, 2009 Go where the people are Written by Amy W. Part of my role as a Scripture Use Worker is getting the translated Scriptures out to the people. God has provided many opportunities for me to travel around the local language area to build relationships and help people become aware that their language is now a written language and that there is an alphabet, stories, songs and portions of God's Word in their language. Read more...

Sep 22, 2008 A divinely orchestrated purchase Written by Rachel M Yesterday I went home and was chatting as usual with the lady that helps us around our house. She mentioned that there was a painter next door-a lady-painting the house. After a few minutes she mentioned that this painter lady was asking whether or not we (Wycliffe members) had translated any books into Sandawe, her mother tongue. Indeed, the week before I had purchased books and cassettes of the books of Jonah and Ruth in the Sandawe language. I bought them because Sandawe is a click language, and many of our partners had expressed interest in it. The Sandawe materials I had bought were sitting on my dining room table. The painter lady eagerly bought them because there was a party for her mother the next day-they would be a gift for her. It seems they were planning to listen to the cassettes at the party! God orchestrated this moment where this woman I had never met would be painting next door, and I would have the books she wanted. Now her mother has the opportunity to hear God's word in her heart language for the first time.

Jan 30, 2006 Translation gem of the month Written by Elisabeth H During the translation of Genesis 3 the translation team encountered a botanical problem. The only fig tree that is known to the Sandawe is the cactus fig. Its prickly, fleshy ‘leaves’ would certainly not have been chosen by Adam and Eve to cover themselves. So, instead of saying that they used the leaves of the fig tree, the Sandawe translation just says ‘large leaves’.