By Irmeli Ivalo-Sjölie, Associate Trustee, Finland
Why is it important to print the existing Portuguese translation? The answer is simple. In 2003, after seven years of assiduous work, the Portuguese translation was officially launched in Brazil on a CD and made available on the Internet. There were plans to print the translation, but as a result of a number of Brazilian readers who voiced concerns about the quality of the rendering, the printing was delayed, and a process began to refine the translation.
However, having only an electronic version of the Portuguese translation in Brazil is problematic. Brazil is not like my country, Finland, where virtually everybody has a computer and a broadband Internet connection is available in every corner. In Brazil, only a small number of people have computers, and unless they live in a big city or near one, they have no access to the Internet. For example, my daughter who lives on a farm in Brazil has a computer but no internet connection. This situation divides the readership into two categories: those who can download the translated papers in Portuguese and those who cannot.
You can imagine how awkward it is at study group meetings. The host has to print the pertinent paper for all participants. Should it happen that they want to check something in one of preceding or subsequent papers, it is not possible to do so because those papers are often not available. One reader printed the whole book on his home printer. The print folders now occupy one meter (three feet) of shelf space in his bookcase!
So we must get the Portuguese translation into a book form soon so that the many Brazilian readers will not give up. They are very enthusiastic and excited about the revelation, and they number in the hundreds. I, for one, view this particular Portuguese translation as one of the most beautiful translations I have come across and look forward to being able to read it in book form.
In order to satisfy the tangible demand for a Portuguese translation, the Foundation voted at their April meeting to make this work available in its current form. Because of the quality concerns, a disclaimer will be printed on the publisher's page declaring that the work is not final and that refinement of the text is in progress. Information on the Portuguese translation can be obtained from the Foundation's Chicago head office.
Left to right: Maria Hilda Bernardino, Suzana Huttner, Marianne Prado, Pentti Pitkänen,
Luiz Carlos Dolabella Chagas (translator), Werner Sutter, Irmeli Ivalo-Sjølie