When Al and Sue arrived in the village, they met much resistance and the only person who wanted to help was a man called Sewu (i.e. Servo). At that time Sewu was just a villager. But sometime after the previous chief of Vila Nova died Sewu married the chief’s widow, Elpidia. Over time Sewu became a respected chief, politician, and spiritual leader. Sewu helped Al for around 40+ years with the translation.
Maxico is Sewu’s son and was also involved for around 40 years helping Al. When Al died Sue continued using Maxico and his wife Jovina as translation helpers. Working together with Sue in the village we often used Maxico and Jovina together although I often used another Christian brother to help me.
