Fifty years of work has left GILLBT with a valuable triple heritage: language development, literacy and Bible translation.
Language Development
We are the leading organisation devoted to the development of Ghanaian languages. Working in over 30 languages, we have:
- produced alphabets, dictionaries and grammars
- done research and produced a language map showing the distribution of Ghana’s languages ?
- published academic articles.
Literacy
GILLBT Director William Addai receives UNESCO award
We continue to be deeply committed to adult literacy in Ghanaian languages and related development activities. Our achievements in literacy include:
- over 500,000 people becoming functionally literate
- 10,000 literacy programme graduates who went on to formal education – with at least 500 securing jobs, six going on to university and 100 continuing other tertiary studies
- as many as 37,000 learners passing through the programme every year
- engaging 3,000 local volunteers, teachers and supervisors to carry out the programme’s activities
- producing over 1,000 booklets in local languages on different topics addressing current issues
- receiving the UNESCO Nassim Habib Award for efforts in developing African literature, in 1991.
- collaborating with the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), to translate Ghana’s abridged Constitution of 1992 into 30 Ghanaian languages.
Translation
GILLBT has done numerous mother-tongue translations in Ghanaian languages, including the Bible, government documents, and materials for general public awareness-raising and information, such as on health and gender issues.
We have translated the complete Bible into five languages and the New Testament into another 23. Two more complete Bibles will be dedicated in 2012. See the full list on our translation page. Among our staff are translation trainers and consultants accredited by SIL International.
In collaboration with the International Federation of Women Lawyers, we also translated ‘The Rights of Ghanaian Women’ into selected local languages.
In 2006, Mary Steele, a longtime GILLBT staff member from the UK, was awarded Member of the most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth for Bible Translation, Literacy and Development in Ghana.
We wish to thank all those in Ghana and beyond who have made, and continue to make, our work possible.