People and Language Detail Report Profile Year: 2002 Language Name: Dibiyaso ISO Language Code: dby Primary Religion: Christian Disciples (Matt 28.19): 20-40% Churches: 4 The Dibiyaso of Papua New Guinea The Dibiyaso people live on the grass-covered shores of lagoons along the Aramia River, in Western Province. Before World War II, the Dibiyaso, Bainapi and Turumsa tribes were madic, moving about in the large forested area rth of the Aramia. Today these tribes all speak Dibiyaso and are virtually indistinguishable. International logging companies w harvest trees on the same land. The Gospel first came to the Dibiyaso in the 1960 s and 70 s through national missionaries from the neighboring Gogodala tribe. The Dibiyaso still use the Gogodala New Testament, but they have trouble understanding it. They want to have a Dibiyaso Bible, and they have done what they can to begin the work. In August of 2001, they asked to attend an introductory translation workshop given for various language groups in the area by agency members, Phil and Chris Carr, and mother-tongue translators from the Bamu language group. Pastor Gadila Inali and three other Dibiyaso men attended and worked diligently. In April of 2002, an language survey team visited the Dibiyaso. They were welcomed with a singsing of Dibiyaso praise songs and traditional style dances. Pastor Gadila and a teacher accompanied the team on the survey. During that time, pastor Gadila learned that he was to be transferred to a church outside the language area. In August of 2002, the Carrs were pleasantly surprised when Pastor Gadila and two other Dibiyaso men arrived at a second translation workshop. Someone in the church hierarchy had decided t to move Pastor Gadila, saying, He needs to stay there in Bamustu to work on Bible translation. The Dibiyaso have shown that they truly desire to have the Scriptures in their language, but because of the lower level of education among the Dibiyaso, they will t be able to work as independently as the Gogodala. They need a translation team to work with and train them so they can accurately and clearly translate the Word of God for their own people. Scripture Status (Matt 28.20): None in Dibiyaso Population (date): 1,953 (2000)
Have They Heard The Gospel? Call Themselves Christian (%) 95% Believe In Jesus As God & Only Savior (%) 20-40% Prophet/Good Man, But Not God's Son (%) 0% Believe In The Local Traditional Religion (%) 40-60% Have Not Heard Who Jesus is (%) 0% Number Of Pastors 8 Comment (Pastors) Number Of Missionaries Working 4 (4 Dibiyaso men and 4 Gogodala men) Comment (Number Of Missionaries) 4, based on missionary ratio of 1:488 and population of 1,953 Response To The Gospel Response To The Gospel Indifference Profile Summary The Dibiyaso identify themselves as Christian. According to church leaders, most of the Dibiyaso attend church; however, as is the case in many groups in Papua New Guinea, some people who attend church still practice traditional religion. They need to kw in a deep and personal way that God loves them and that He has the power to address the needs and fears in their lives. Having Scripture in their heart language will open the door for them to kw God intimately through His Word. Number Of Communities 3 Bamustu: pop. 554, Evangelical Church of Papua New Guinea (ECPNG) (church leaders report that most of community attends all three Sunday services) Pikiwa: pop. 536, ECPNG (73 adults in attendance at the main Sunday service while survey team present) & Christian Fellowship Church (CFC) (70 in attendance, including children, at main Sunday service, during survey) Makapa: pop. 853, ECPNG (church leaders report that most of the community attends all three Sunday services) The main demination in the area is the Evangelical Church of Papua New Guinea (ECPNG), formerly kwn as the Unevangelised Fields Mission Church. The demination is under national leadership. Number Of Churches 4 Is The Word Of God Translated? Any Hinderance To Scripture Distribution? Forms Of Gospel Presentation Available (Summary) A second demination, which has entered the language area recently, is the Christian Fellowship Church (CFC). No. Portions of Esther have been drafted, but thing has been published. Absence of Scripture No Recordings, Literature, Films/videos, or Radio. What Kind Of Missionaries Are Needed? Population All Countries Comment (World Population) None of these are available in Dibiyaso. Some literature may be available in Gogodala, in addition to the New Testament. Although Gospel presentations exist in English through all of these media, they are t very accessible for the Dibiyaso. Most are t fluent in English, and there are Christian bookstores nearby. Makapa is the only village with a generator, so equipment would need to be brought in to show Christian videos. Radio Western, the provincial radio station, has Christian programming in English on Sundays, but it is currently off the air. The primary outside assistance needed is in Bible translation. Certain Dibiyaso individuals have shown initiative by joining translation workshops. Workshops are given for various groups in the area, including the Gogodala, who are working on Old Testament translation and would like to revise their New Testament. The level of education among the Dibiyaso, however, is lower, and they will need more assistance and training in order to move forward in the task. Pastors receive their training in a three year course at one of the ECPNG training centers in the area, but additional training opportunities for pastors would also be beneficial, particularly in the areas of teaching Bible, leading Bible studies, and discipling. APCM/Pioneer Mission still works alongside the ECPNG and may provide this type of opportunity. 1,953 speakers (2000 Census). This figure includes the Turumsa and Bainapi as well as the original Dibiyaso tribe.
Countries Where People Group Lives Country Name Papua New Guinea Geography & Environment Location Country Ecosystem Type Geological Type Elevation Longitude Latitude S 8 Climate Comments (Geography & Environment) Language & Linguistics Primary Language Comment (Language) Alternate Language Names Alternate Language Names Comments (Dialect) Attitude Towards Mother Tongue North of the Aramia River in the Middle Fly District of Western Province Papua New Guinea Tropical Forest Riverine Below 100m E 142 30'-143 Tropical The villages are on the shores of lagoons on the Aramia. They are surrounded by grasslands and waterways with abundant floating grass; however, much of the Dibiyaso land is tropical forest. BAINAPI Primary language is Dibiyaso, which is currently an alternate name of Bainapi. TURUMASA PIKIWA Percent Molingual (%) 20% Second Languages Other Mother Tongues Of This Group Other Mother Tongues Of This Group Comment (On Other Mother Tongues) Comments (Related Languages) Alternate Name Comment: Bainapi is going to become an alternate name of the Dibiyaso language. No significant dialect differences have been reported. Very receptive Gogodala: average of 3+FSI, excluding children (based bilingualism self evaluation questionnaire). English (language of education): 30% limited English from school. 10% conversant Motu (a trade language): 20% Tok Pisin (a trade language): 10% Doso (neighboring language): 10% Kamula (neighboring language): 10% The Doso and Kamula have a similar culture to the Dibiyaso speakers and intermarriage is fairly common. GOGODALA KAMULA Several Gogodala and Kamula women have married into the Dibiyaso speaking villages, so their children speak their languages as well as Dibiyaso. BEAMI KASUA EDOLO SONIA KALULI AIMELE Dibiyaso belongs to the Bosavi language family, which also includes Aimele [AIL], Beami [BEO], Edolo [ETR], Kaluli [BCO], Kasua [KHS], Obasulu [ONN], and Sonia [SIQ]. These languages are spoken near Mount Bosavi, to the rth of the Dibiyaso area. TABO KAMULA DOSO
Comments (Neighbor Languages) Active Language Programs Corrections To Ethlogue Entry Literacy ARI Adult Literacy Percentage 66% Adult Literacy Percentage 66% Literacy Attitude Active Literacy Program Publications In Vernacular GOGODALA Also included is Mubami Changes have been submitted. Language name Bainapi is being changed to an alternate name of new language name Dibiyaso. The new Ethlogue code for Dibiyaso is [DBY] and the new code for new language name Turumsa is [TQM]. Ethlogue code [PIK] is longer in use. Very receptive No Shell books are produced for teaching children to read in Dibiyaso. Ecomics Subsistence Type Occupation Income Sources Products / Crafts Trade Partners Modernization / Utilities Community Development Health Care (Quality) Comment (Health Care) Diet (Quality) Comment (Diet) Water (Quality) Comment (Water) Shelter Description Electricity Energy/Fuel (Quality) Clothing Transportation Infant Mortality Rate Life Expectancy Society & Culture Family Structures Hunter-gatherers Fishing, hunting, gathering and processing sago. Some Dibiyaso work for the timber companies. Royalty payments from logging companies are distributed to the various sub-clans. They also sell coconut, fish, crocodile skins, taro, vegetables, pig meat, and cassowaries at the market in Balimo. String bags made from tree bark, headdresses made from cassowary feathers, and caes. The Dibiyaso (and Bainapi and Turumsa) have always had very close relations with the Kamula and Doso. They traditionally traded with them. They also trade with the Gogodala. In Makapa the survey team stayed in houses with electric lights and a refrigerator. There are soker tables in Pikiwa and Makapa. The Dibiyaso speaking villages are all within a few hours distance by cae or 30 minutes by speedboat from Balimo or Awaba, which have goods for sale and government services. Poor Proximity is good (half hour by speed boat to Awaba or Balimo), but hospitals in Papua New Guinea are often short on medicines and other supplies. Sago is staple food, supplemented occasionally with fish, pork, or vegetables. At least one water collection tank stands in each village. River water is t suitable for drinking. Most houses are made of traditional bush materials, some with iron roofing. Generally, they have electricity. One house in Makapa has a generator. Cae (with or without outboard motor) dinghy, or walking. 7.9% (national average from UNICEF website) 63.83 years (national average from CIA World Fact Book website) Traditionally, whole villages lived in a long house, with men on one side and women and children on the other. Now the preferred housing arrangement is one nuclear family per house, but often several families live together.
Neighbor Relations Social Habits/Groupings Cultural Change Pace Identification With National Culture Self Image Judicial / Punishment System Celebrations Local Language Broadcasting Attitude To Outsiders Attitude To Change Comment (Culture) Youth Labor and tasks (6-12 year olds) Education Close ties exist with the Kamula and Doso peoples. The Gogodala were traditionally enemies, but a significant amount of intermarriage with them shows that this enmity is in the past, although there is still some evidence of hard feelings between the groups. Traditionally the Dibiyaso (and Bainapi and Turumsa) associated with the Doso and Kamula. Since WWII, they have had increasing contact with the Gogodala. Because the Gogodala were the first group in the area to have missionaries and contact with other outsiders, many outside influences have come through them. The Gospel first came to the Dibiyaso through Gogodala missionaries. The first schools were in the Gogodala area. The Gogodala traded steel knives, axes, and other western goods for traditional items and food produced by the Dibiyaso and other traditionally madic groups in the area. Medium Similar Neutral - See culture comments below They comply with the national system. Makapa and Pikiwa hold traditional singsings (traditional music and dancing) every New Year s and Independence Day. The singsings are connected with a cultural show at Awaba or Balimo. None Their attitude toward outsiders seems receptive. The people of Bamustu welcomed the survey team very graciously. The women were dressed in traditional garb and sang and danced as the team came into the village. The Gogodala have worked among them as pastors, and many Dibiyaso have gone to school in the Gogodala language area. They assist their parents with work such as processing sago. Parts of the work are done by the women and others by men. Boys were also seen fishing. Primary Schools 3 (One goes through grade 4 and two through grade 5.) Primary School Enrollment Secondary Schools Secondary School Enrollment 47 (grades 6-12) Percent Of Eligible Students Enrolled 39.6% (of those who are ages 5-29) Teacher To Pupil Ratio Language Of Instruction Later Years Language Of Textbooks Later Years Number Of Schools > 90% Homogeneous 2 Comment (Education) Church Growth Reached Status Reached Classification 484 (These are children living and attending school in Dibiyaso villages who have at least one parent that speaks the mother tongue.) 4 (All are in the Gogodala language area. Two go to grade 9, and ather two go through grade 12.) Approximately 1:30 for primary school English English Total Baptized 75% Bible Schools The Dibiyaso language is used for the first three years of instruction. It is also used in the textbooks. Evaluated Evangelized None in language group Religion & Response Religious Practices & Ceremonies The last initiation rites for Bamustu village boys were held in the 1970 s. Pikiwa and Makapa held their last one in 1982. Those practices were left behind after they adopted Christianity. Traditional religious practices are longer carried out in such a public way.
Attitude To Christianity Attitude To Religious Change Resistance / Receptivity Recommended Approaches Current Needs Items For Prayer History Of Christianity In Group Year Began By Whom Significant Events Comments (History of Christianity) In Pikiwa, where the CFC started recently, some have t looked favorable on the new demination. They have asked for assistance in Bible translation. Having Scripture in their heart language will open doors for the life transforming Word of God to work in their hearts, minds, and souls. They need translation advisors to come work with them. Pastor Gadila Inali and Badali Miyala, two Dibiyaso men, have attended two introductory translation workshops. Pray that God encourage, equip, and empower them for the work. Pray that God would provide someone with expertise in linguistics and translation to work with them. Pray that the people would do well as they manage their land and the money they are receiving from the logging companies. Pray that the Dibiyaso people would kw God s incredible love for them, recognize His authority over all things, and surrender every aspect of their lives in joyful obedience to Him. 1960's Evangelical Church of Papua New Guinea (see APCM) 1960s: a Gogodala pastor with the ECPNG started a school in Pikiwa. 1966: ECPNG started a church in Makapa. 1970s: Bamustu village held its last initiation for boys. Since adopting Christianity, they have t held initiations. 1982: Pikiwa and Makapa held their last initiation. 1984: ECPNG started a church in Pikiwa. 1985: ECPNG started a church in Bamustu (also called Aba). 2001: CFC started a church in Pikiwa. The Gogodala missionaries with the ECPNG started it. Scripture Translation Status Available Scripture Form Of Scripture Available Scripture Use Other Forms Of Gospel Available: Literature Other Forms Of Gospel Available: Recordings Other Forms Of Gospel Available: Film/Videos Other Forms Of Gospel Available: Radio Definite None None N/A Missions and Churches Organization Name Evangelical Church of Papua New Guinea (see APCM) Organization Name Christian Fellowship Church (Solomon Islands) Main Ministry Year Started 2001 Number Of Adherents approximately. 200 Number Of Congregations 1 Number Of Expatriate Workers Number Of National Workers 1 unspecified type of worker Number Of Local Workers Number Of Workers Using Local Language