Second Survey Trip (among the Yangeré & Mpiemo)

November 20, 1995, 1st day

Left center at 7:37. Survey team composed of Dan Duke, Elysé Mohema and myself. Arrived at Bambio at 15:05 and met with the sous-prefect (regional governmental official) at his house/office. He signed our order of mission and gave us some information about the condition of the roads.

Arrived in the village of Bungeri at 16:00. Met with the Chief and school director and other men. They gave us a house next to the ex-mayor’s house. The house had 2 wooden beds, no mattresses, and room for an air mattress on the floor. I took one of the wooden beds and had 3 little brown bats right above my head. I quickly set up the mosquito net! We then sat outside eating oranges they brought us and talked among ourselves. The village was very calm and picturesque. The sound of birds and cricket type insects and humans are all we heard.
Had the group interview at about 1830. All went well and we went to bed about 2100.

November 21, 1995, 2nd day

Woke up at 0600 and had breakfast. After breakfast, the ex-mayor brought us a live chicken as a gift. We put it in a bucket to transport it and will kill and eat it later. We gave them some evangelistic pamphlets in the language Sango for the village. Tried to have radio contact at 0700 but was unable. Could hear another station make contact with Bangui (Ottawa) but could not hear Bangui’s end of the conversation. Went over to school and did SRT testing with 15 CE1 grade students (third grade). The level of French was extremely low, the level of Sango was better. Finished testing at 1000 and went back to the village where the chief told a story which we recorded for using to test dialect intelligibility with other languages.

Left the village and arrived in Berberati at 1400. Had lunch from a road-side stand of grilled meat and manioc and then went looking for lodging. First tried the Baptist Swedish mission but they only had one room and said they didn’t usually lodge people. They suggested trying the Catholic mission but they were all full so we finally settled on an auberge (like a small motel) for 5000 CFA (10 dollars). We then ran into Elysé’s wife Chantal who was also in the area on business, (she works for the national radio station and they do broadcasts in villages throughout the country.) It was decided that she would stay with us, she and Elysé in the big bed in one room and Dan and I on the floor (air mattresses) in the other room. We then went out to dinner at a “fancy” restaurant (to celebrate the visit of Chantal) where we had a tomato salad, grilled chicken, and sauteed potatoes. Went to bed at 2200.

November 22, 1995, 3rd day

Woke up at 0600 and went to see the prefect at 0740. We also went and saw the mayor who gave us advice on getting to the village. There were two possibilities for going, one being about twice as long as the other (we decided on the shorter one.) We drove 50 km towards the village and arrived where we were to get off the main road only to find out from locals that the road was unusable because the bridges were missing. So. . . we drove back to Berberatti and started in the other direction toward Carnot. After about 90 minutes we left the main road and the fun began. The road to the village was2 tire tracks through the jungle. The path was just wide enough for the vehicle. The growth often brushing the sides. The path was very sandy. Often one of the tire tracks was 3 feet lower than the other and so the vehicle tilted severely to the point that often it seemed the vehicle was going to tip over. The going was very slow often about 20 km/hr (12.5 miles an hour). We had to drive about an hour after nightfall which was quite the experience and not one I would want to do again because even with headlights it was quite difficult to see the tracks and any obstructions. Arrived in the village at 1900 and discovered we were not yet at the village we wanted but decided to spend the night and continue on tomorrow. The villagers were very friendly and gave us a nice house nobody was living in anymore.

November 23, 1995, 4th day

Did a short group interview and some RTT dialect testing and then left for the village we were looking for. The road was even more difficult than yesterday, crossed one bridge in bad condition which at first glance had looked impassable. Arrived at the village of Mabula at 1100 and did the group interview. Afterward, we went to the house they gave us and ate our “thanksgiving dinner”, baguettes, cheese, hard boiled eggs and especially cherry kool-aid and Wendy`s brownies. Gave the chicken to the chief and asked if his wife could prepare it for us for dinner. The evening meal is a subjective phrase and they brought us the prepared chicken and gozo at 1545-we ate it later. During the afternoon and early evening, Elysé did some SRT testing in Sango with whoever would volunteer and I spent the time writing letters. Did not test the school children because the school teacher is out of town collecting his pay in Berberatti.

November 24, 1995, 5th day

Left village at 0630 and arrived in Berberatti at 1600 (about 200 km away). Went to the same auberge and got two small rooms at 3000 cfa and 1500 cfa. Ate a dinner of gozo and antelope which was very tasty!

November 25, 1995, 6th day

Had a perfect radio contact with Wendy, usually, her voice is distorted like a robot but today it was like she was right next to me. Left Berberatti at 0730 and arrived in Nola at 1100. Crossed the river on a ferry and went to see the prefect. He wasn’t there due to a parade in town but his secretary was very friendly and signed our order of mission. There was also a woodcarver there who showed us some of his work. I bought a candlestick holder in the shape of an antelope and Elysé bought 2 small wooden masks. We then found out that he was Mpiemo (the language we were interested in) so we invited him back to town with us and had an interview with him and another man in a café. We were primarily interested in where we could find Mpiemo villages. Afterward we went and found an auberge and took 3 rooms. Dan then went to scout out fishing possibilities, Elysé heard someone in the street with a radio and realized his wife Chantal was doing a radio program, so he went looking for a radio to listen to. I sat down under the paillote writing letters. For dinner we went to a little restaurant, I had macaroni and meat sauce and the others had plantain and meat sauce. Went to
bed around 2100.

November 26, 1995, 7th day

Went to Sango church service and didn’t understand a word (Elysé translated occasionally). Dan introduced us in Sango which brought applause from everyone (for his ability in Sango). After church Dan stayed in town to watch a showing of the Jesus film in Sango at a small video room. The afternoon we went down to the river and Dan and Elysé took turns fishing with Dan’s pole. Nothing was caught!

November 27, 1995, 8th day

Did SRT testing among 40 children at a school in Nola. Did CE1 class in the morning and CM2 in the afternoon.

November 28, 1995, 9th day

Arrived at the river at 0730 and took the ferry across at 0800. Arrived in the village of Bilolo at 0915. Found out that school is not in session due to the national holiday the 1st of December so we went directly to the chief and did a group interview, recorded a story in Mpiemo and did 7 SRT’s with volunteers. We also talked with leaders from the Baptist and Catholic church and then left the village at 1500. Drove 40 km to the village of Satuba and arrived at 1700. Since it was so late they suggested we sleep in Salot (10 km down the road) and come back in the morning. So we went to Salot and stayed in an auberge which is part of a big lumber company. Talked with several French men who arranged the housing, they were very nice. Had dinner of hot-dogs and bread, had hot bucket showers and went to bed around 2100.

November 29, 1995, 10th day

Woke up at 0500 because the lights in the room automatically came on but stayed in bed till 0530. Tried to make radio contact but was unable. Went back to the village of Satuba at 0830 and did a group interview and while Elysé did some SRT’s with volunteers, Dan and I translated the story from yesterday with the help of the men. We also talked with some of the leaders of the Baptist church there in town. We then drove back through Salot and headed for Nola in another direction. Decided to investigate one more village farther south, looking for a language called Mpomo to see if they could understand Mpiemo. Drove as far south as possible and came in sight of Congo on the other side of the river. The people in that village told us that the Mpomo live mainly in Congo. We then headed back to Nola and arrived around 1930. Went back and got rooms at the auberge, cooked up some fish someone gave Elysé in that last village and went to bed.

 November 30, 1995, 11th day

Woke up at 0600, tried radio contact but unsuccessful. Went and saw pastor of a Baptist church at 0745 and talked with him about the possibilities of restarting a Mpiemo language project (the Gospels were translated some years ago by a Swedish missionary). We then went looking for the woodcarver because Dan had ordered a piece but we were unable to find him and so decided to forget about it. Left Nola at about 0845 and except for a flat tire about 21/2 hours from Bangui (in which we almost couldn’t figure out how to access the spare tire) we arrived back home at 1900 into Wendy’s open arms