The Bible Society of Uganda has introduced a groundbreaking translated version of the Bible in Acoli braille, specifically designed to cater to the needs of the blind and visually impaired community.
The launch of the Acoli braille Bible took place on Friday evening in Gulu City, marking a significant milestone in the society’s efforts to make the Word of God accessible to all.
According to Mr Peter Sserumaga Lumubaye, the General Secretary of the Bible Society of Uganda, the production of the Acoli braille Bible was a complex and costly process.
“To transcribe the Acoli Bible into Braille cost us USD 500 per copy, and the transcription was done by Campus Braille in the UK,” he explained. “We had to pay USD 500 per copy to make sure that they are transcribed, as such specialists are not found locally in Uganda.”
The high cost of production is reflected in the price of the braille Bible, which is set at Shs 2 million per copy. However, Mr Sserumaga emphasized that the society’s primary goal is to make the Word of God accessible to everyone, regardless of their visual abilities.
“Because we did not have enough resources and the blind people who know how to read Braille are few, so we had to transcribe a few copies, which explains why the unit cost of each Braille Bible is quite expensive,” he stated.
The Acoli braille Bible is the fifth language in Uganda to be translated into braille, joining Luganda, Lango, Runyankole-Rukiga, and Lusoga languages. However, due to the expensive process, the society only orders a few copies annually, typically between 20 and 50.
“When we are printing or ordering copies, we normally order between 20 and 50 copies because we don’t have enough resources to order them in bulk,” Mr Sserumaga said. “For this year, we have a target of ordering 50 Acoli braille bibles.”
In addition to the braille Bible, the society also launched a new updated version of the Acoli Bible, which was revised and upgraded between 2014 and 2024. The new Bible will sell at Shs 35,000 a copy. Mr. Akaka Beb Odur, one of the reviewers of the new updated Acoli Bible, explained that the need to correct critical grammatical errors and remove colonial influences led to the revision.
“In the early 80’s, the Bible was translated by our elders, whereby they were led by the whites and the colonialists had a lot of influence in the Bible, contrary to how we originally speak our language, Acoli,” Mr. Akaka said. “So, basically, we have improved the reading. Because the writing is now improved, the reading is now easy because you read it so easily, like the Acoli speaks, and we removed all those words that were introduced by the whites.”
Mr Akaka also highlighted the importance of making the Bible accessible to the blind and visually impaired community.
“The blind have been neglected for a long time,” he said. “Many parents sometimes think that blind children are not like others, so we have decided to make sure that they can hear God’s love letter to them in the media they understand, which is Braille.”