The Yawo have many proverbs
and stories that express the
need for working with others
on important tasks. One of their
proverbs is, ‘Alone, alone, one
does not make history’, which
means that to achieve anything
significant people must work
together. We have followed Yawo
wisdom when making the English-
Ciyawo dictionary. This dictionary
is the result of a dedicated team
of eight Yawo lexicographers who
have worked together to achieve
our goal. Others in the Yawo
community, including students,
teachers and senior Yawo chiefs,
have also reviewed the dictionary
and provided us with valuable
feedback and encouragement.
Their endorsement then
enabled the Malawian Minister
of Education, Science and
Technology to officially launch the
dictionary, allowing it to become a
public document.
Third, you might wonder why
Global Interaction and cross-
cultural workers like Wendy and
I would spend so much time
undertaking a project like this.
We believe that God is interested
in every aspect of the Yawo’s life.
Jesus, when He talked about His
ministry on earth, talked about
it in holistic terms. We read in
Luke 4:18-19 that Jesus saw His
ministry to people in word, sign
and deed and through Jesus,
God is reconciling, renewing and
transforming all things to himself.
At Global Interaction, we believe
that God calls us to join Him in His
mission to the world and that we
should also work holistically in the
same manner as Jesus.
Obviously, a dictionary on its own
is not enough to reconcile, renew
or even transform the Yawo. In
fact, fully meeting the education,
health and economic needs of the
Yawo would still not be enough
for them to experience true
shalom. For this to take place the
Yawo also need to encounter Jesus
who is reconciling, transforming
and renewing all things. For
such encounters to take place
it usually requires people who
can communicate with the Yawo
meaningfully in their own language,
which is why we are constructing
the second side of this dictionary.
The Ciyawo into English side will
help explain the most important
and frequently used Ciyawo words
to cross-cultural workers who are
working with them.
The first side of our dictionary,
the English into Ciyawo side is
complete, has been circulated,
and is being used. We could not
Vision Spring/Summer 2019 · Page 4
have achieved this without the
vital financial contributions,
encouragement and prayers of
Australian Baptists. At the public
launch of the dictionary, Global
Interaction donated 500 copies
on your behalf to the Malawian
Ministry of Education. The
Australian government donated
a further 200 copies through
the embassy in Zimbabwe. The
second side of the dictionary,
the Ciyawo into English side, is
nearing completion. Through this
effort cross-cultural workers will
have access to a tool that will
help them learn more of the Yawo
language so that they are better
able to understand and speak to
the Yawo meaningfully.
Yawo wisdom tells us that we
cannot complete this project
alone, or even the larger work
of seeing people reconciled and
transformed. It requires all of us
working together.
— Ian Dicks
Ian continues to work part-time as
a cross-cultural worker in Malawi
with the Yawo and is a lecturer in
Intercultural Studies at Whitley
College, Melbourne.
We celebrate that this long-term project is nearing completion.
To learn more, visit: www.globalinteraction.org.au/Projects/Dictionary