At the end of September 2018, Jehovah’s Witnesses in Rwanda reached a milestone in their efforts to share the Bible’s message in the languages of their branch territory: the inauguration of translation work into Rwandan Sign Language (RWS) [Meaning: Something very exciting/important happened for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Rwanda at the end of September 2018: they started to translate Bible-based publications in Rwandan Sign Language (RWS). This will help them to share the Bible’s message in the languages spoken in their country].[1] These efforts will benefit some 113 deaf brothers and sisters in Rwanda and will better equip publishers to preach to the over 30,000 deaf and hard-of-hearing people in the country [Meaning: There are 113 deaf brothers and sisters in Rwanda. They will benefit from the sign-language publications. Also, there are more than 30,000 people in the country who are deaf or cannot hear properly. The sign-language publications will also help the publishers to preach to all those people].[2]

The RWS translation team has translated the brochure Listen to God and Live Forever, the short video Why Study the Bible?, and most of the tracts that are part of our Teaching Toolbox. These publications will be made available on our official website in the coming weeks.[3]

The RWS translation team works in a facility that is just a five-minute walk from the Rwanda branch office in Kigali.[4] The team consists of two brothers, one of whom is deaf, and two sisters. Each member of the translation team is proficient in sign language and completed a four-week-long training course designed to assist them in learning the principles of translation [Meaning: Each member of the translation team knows sign language very well and has attended a four-week-long course that helped them to learn how to translate].[5]

One of the RWS translators, Rwakibibi [Rwa-ki-bi-bi] Pron: rgwààkíβíβí] Jean Pierre [Jean Pi-erre] [Pron: ʒã pjeɣ], explains why sign language presents obstacles not present when translating into a language that has a written alphabet [Meaning: One of the RWS translators, Jean Pierre Rwakibibi, explains why translating in a sign language is different from translating in a written language]: “Deaf people communicate ideas visually by using their hands and facial expressions, so sign-language translators translate text to video by employing a special technique called idea mapping. [Translator: “Idea mapping” is explained in the next sentence. If you do not have a similar expression you can use in this sentence, you may simply say: “. . . to video by using a special technique.”] Using a whiteboard, we convert the English text into drawings that act as a guide as we express the ideas of the original text in sign language [Meaning: On a whiteboard, we draw pictures that represent the ideas of the English text. These drawings serve as a guide to help the translator sign the ideas of the original text]. To ensure the clarity and accuracy of the finished product, an outside panel of deaf Witnesses reviews the translated materials and offers feedback [Meaning: We want to make sure that our translation is clear and accurate, so we show the video publications to a group of deaf Witnesses who are not part of the translation team. They tell us what they think and help us to improve the translation].”[6]

Mr. Augustin Munyangeyo [Au-gus-tin] [Pron: ogystɛ̃] [Mu-nya-nge-yo] [Pron: mùɲààŋgjèjò], board chairman [Translator: If you do not have an expression for “board chairman,” you may say: “who is one of the leaders of the Rwandan National Union of the Deaf.”] of the Rwanda National Union of the Deaf, a national nongovernmental organization that advocates for the rights of deaf Rwandans [Meaning: a national organization that helps deaf Rwandans to have their rights respected], comments on the Witnesses’ RWS translation work: “We deeply commend Jehovah’s Witnesses for providing religious education using the Bible and videos prepared [Meaning: We sincerely commend Jehovah’s Witnesses because they teach others about God by means of the Bible and videos] in Rwandan Sign Language.”[7]

To date, Jehovah’s Witnesses translate into over 90 sign languages worldwide, and have produced a free app, JW Library Sign Language^®, that also allows users to access [Meaning: where people can watch] Bible-based publications in more than 90 sign languages.[8][9][10] The availability of these many sign-language publications assists our brothers and sisters worldwide to [Meaning: Because there are all these sign-language publications, our brothers and sisters around the world can] declare the good news “to every nation and tribe and language and people.”—Revelation 14:6, footnote.