CATA: ALTT Because God Speaks Anyi
Centre d'Alphabétisation et Traduction en Anyi +Plus L’Institut Biblique
CATA’S THREE-LEGGED MINISTRY TO THE ANYI
- The first leg is…the creation and on-going literacy program among thousands of Anyi people in the Ivory Coast.
- The second leg is…the translation into the Anyi language both of the New Testament (completed 2017) and of other Christian discipleship materials.
- The third leg is…Christian discipleship training for those making up the Anyi church, including hundreds of people who have put their faith in Jesus Christ through CATA.
Welcome! This website provides information about the Anyi people of Cote d’Ivoire and the strategies being used to modernize and revitalize their language. The modernization efforts include Scripture translation and adult literacy classes. This is a forum where ongoing linguistic and cultural research is posted. You can also learn to read Anyi by downloading various materials available on this website.
Bienvenue! Ce site a pour but de promouvoir le peuple Agni de Côte d’Ivoire et de donner des informations sur la modernisation et la planification linguistique en cours. Les stratégies utilisées pour atteindre ces objectifs sont la traduction des Saintes Ecritures et l’alphabétisation en milieu rural. Les travaux de recherche linguistique et culturelle sont affichés sur ce site. Vous pouvez lire l’Agni en téléchargeant toutes sortes de matériels didactiques.
Literacy Expands Significantly — July 2023 Writers’ Workshop
Twenty-six years ago, the literacy work began among the Anyi. It can be said with confidence that there are now at least 10,000 people who can pick up the Anyi New Testament and read it. Many are still poor readers, but many are proficient readers. Some can read in Anyi as fluently as you can read in English. Beginning this year, CATA is also emphasizing teaching Anyi readers to write in Anyi. Literacy has two faces, learning to read (decoding) and learning to write (encoding). In July while at the CATA campus in Côte d’Ivoire, Ettien organized a two-week Writers’ Workshop to which 60 students who have finished the Level Four of the Anyi literacy classes were invited to attend. The training focused on the linguistic bases of writing in Anyi. The first (of a three-year) curriculum consisted in lectures on Anyi vowels and consonants, Anyi tones, verb conjugation, parts of speech, and simple, compound, and complex sentences. Syllable diagrams, word diagrams, and sentence diagrams were used to illustrate (Professor) Ettien's lessons.
The participants were taught the basics of writing by having them each write 10 Anyi proverbs. Why proverbs? Because they encapsulate societal wisdom. Proverbs are important to the Anyi because they can hardly speak without injecting some proverbs into their conversations. The ones that the participants wrote were collected and will be edited and published later as a book. We anticipate that it will contain some 400 proverbs. This will be the first ever book of proverbs in Anyi or in any language in Côte d’Ivoire.
The curriculum follows a three-year cycle. It's planned that the Ivorian graduates will begin producing literature in Anyi by telling their conversion stories, some of which are faith inspiring. It's also anticipated that village preachers will start writing their sermons in Anyi. Finally, it's hoped that God will use literacy to advance his kingdom among the Anyi the same way He used it to make himself known to English-speaking people all over the world.
MINISTRY REPORT
Over the 2022-23 ministry year, the literacy program had 3,762 students who completed the literacy year in 63 villages! Since the genesis of CATA, huge transitions have taken place. For instance, instead of trying to find villages willing and able to hold classes at the beginning, village leaders are now coming to CATA staff requesting for classes to be held in their villages.
Equatorial and Southern Hemisphere Ministries
While some Western ministries have begun to lose their effectiveness around the world, organizations like CATA are flourishing in the Ivory Coast, with God's blessing. CATA's fruitful impact will grow exponentially with the financial support of people in the West. God may have positioned Americans to provide that financial support. If you have resources to help deepen and widen the influence of CATA among the Anyi people, please prayerfully consider becoming a financial partner (or increasing your partnership).