Monday 15 July 2013

Isimbi's Beloved (Updated)

Today I'm linking up with Michelle W. from Blogging from the Boonies for Mail Call Monday!



I’m so glad that my precious Isimbi is on the every-two-month writing schedule. Through the Compassion Canada office, we get word that our letters are on the way as soon as they reach Canada, so we always have an exciting wait before the letters arrive!

Here is the translator’s version of what Isimbi has to say:
 
Isimbi and brother Dilani
Dear Hannah,

Beloved! I first greet you in the name of Jesus Christ. Praise King Jesus. How are you doing?School is going on well, I am in my Primary grade 4 and I recently got the 14th performance position with an average mark of 58. (I think. The translation was a little hard to read here.)
I love playing tennis. What is your best sport?May the peace of the Lord and his blessings be with you and your family. Thank you for the letter that you sent me previously. With my family, we were happy to hear from you. May the Lord bless you and increase you in whatever you are doing.
Isimbi Aurore Divine


I’ve since found out, however, that the translation of Isimbi’s letter has a lot of discrepancies. The translator may have been new or inexperienced, but whatever the case, I’ve let Compassion know about the errors. Anyway, a friend of mine offered to have her husband look at the letter, since he speaks fluent Kinyarwanda. So here is the real translation of Isimbi’s letter!


My dear beloved, first of all I greet you in the name of Jesus Christ... (There is a sentence here that was hard to translate, it was something about happiness, family and children; the sentence is not well written). Now I am in primary school fourth grade, I was 14 out of 58. I like to play soccer, how about you, how are you doing? Us we are well, I like to help my parents by fetching water, sweeping and so and so. I finish by wishing you a good day, thank you.

I am thankful for the letter and the photos you sent to me it was happiness for me and my whole family. Did it also please you? Thank you.

I’m so glad that I was able to get Isimbi’s letter correctly translated! I thought something was odd with the translation, since I read just enough Kinyarwanda to know that something was off. I was happy, however, that she calls me "beloved" in both versions! Now to start writing a reply letter!
  



4 comments:

  1. Sweet letter! She really must be a tennis fan! :)

    Have you tried colouring pages that are tennis related?

    http://www.hellokids.com/r_1155/coloring-page/sport-coloring-pages/tennis-coloring-pages

    These are some free printables! x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the link, Jenny! I never thought about sending tennis coloring pages... I wonder is Rwandan tennis the same as ours? I know in one letter she mentioned she likes playing with a tennis ball and hand ball, another letter mentioned tennis and football (soccer) and now she seems to have graduated to just tennis...

      Delete
  2. What a great letter!! That's so neat that your Isimbi loves tennis!! She sounds like a sweetheart...I love how she closed by saying, "May the Lord bless you and increase you in whatever you are doing."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She is a sweetheart, she was such a doll when my friends visited her last year... I just want to swoop over there and hug her! Hard to believe that she'll be eleven when I finally do meet her. I love her closing too!

      Delete