JW Philippines Scene of the tragedy in tacloban now houses Bible translation offices

[Bible Speaks]

Philippines
Scene of the tragedy in tacloban now houses Bible translation offices
Photo: the new structures built by the members of jw on land where hundreds of bodies were swept away by the storm wave at the height of " Yolanda."

Tacloban city - what used to be the tomb for hundreds of bodies swept by the storm wave of supertyphoon "Yolanda" (International Name: Haiyan) is now an extensive ground for the message of life.

The lot of 3.800 square meters in barangay 77 Fatima here, where the bodies were razed by Yolanda on November 8, 2013, was transformed by Jehovah's witnesses (Jws) into his remote translation office (RTO) where the Bible and Bible-based publications are translated into waray-Waray.

The Complex has 13 translation offices, sound recording room, dining room, laundry and 14 rooms that can accommodate 19 translators who have given up their professional fees to work eight hours, five days a week , said Dean Jacek, spokesman for the watchtower bible and tract society of the Philippines, the legal and corporate arm of jws in the country.

He said that the 16 internal translators and three other translators, who travel daily from their homes, were unpaid volunteers who spent time and effort to ensure that biblical literature could easily be understood by ordinary people.
The rto began operating on January 22, 2016, but was open to the public for the first time this year, according to jacek.

Since last year, the team had translated more than 100 books, brochures and magazines in English which were distributed to the public for free, he said.
They are also available for free download on jw.org, the official website of the JW, added.

One of the most popular titles produced by the rto was "Konan usa imga hinigugma namatay", which jacek said was very useful to the survivors of Yolanda.
Jacek admitted, however, that translating English into waray was a challenge.

Very specific
"tends to be more specific than English, which has a wider range of meanings", he said. He also mentioned differences in regional languages. Since there were four provinces that spoke waray-Waray, what was understood in some areas could be misunderstood or even not understood in other areas, said said.

Since the facility is primarily directed by volunteers, several survivors of Yolanda, whose houses were rebuilt by Jehovah's witnesses after Yolanda, have been made available to work in the rto without paying.

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