Removing Barriers
Enabling Development
‘Twenty-five percent of the world’s population is left out due to language-related barriers. No one should have to sacrifice their identity to have opportunities to flourish in life.’
Michel Kenmogne - Executive Director, SIL International
Papua New Guinea is the most linguistically diverse nation in the world, with over 800 languages spoken or signed. This linguistic diversity presents both opportunities and challenges. SIL-PNG brings a wide range of academic and applied expertise to bear in partnering with communities to develop their languages and overcome the barriers they face.
Language Work
Learn more about the ways SIL-PNG contributes to language solutions in the following stories.
Abu Daniel is from Morobe Province and works as a literacy trainer in the Literacy & Education Department. Listen as she shares her passion for language preservation through literacy.
Scot and Cherie Stober are translation advisors from the USA. They work with the Mato people in Morobe Province. Here they share how the Mato people find beauty in the phrase ‘someone’s liver snaps apart’ for another person.
Lorie Temi is a teaching assistant from New Ireland Province. Here he describes the interactive, hands-on methods he uses to help students learn Greek at the Training Centre.
Listen as Naomi Pohonum, from Manus Province, describes her experience learning Greek. She is training to be an exegetical facilitator for a translation program in her language.
Discover more about the different departments and how they serve language communities.