An Uphill Battle

27 November 2007

It has taken me a full two months to get the word out to my defiant villagers: I AM LEARNING FULFULDE. Allow me to backtrack a little and explain.

If you have been following my blog, you may have noted that once I arrived in country I began learning Fulfulde: the language spoken by the nomadic Peuhl (Fr.) or Fulani (En.) people throughout the North of Burkina Faso. Well, despite the fact that I live in an almost entirely Peuhl region of the country (including Djibo), the people of my village, Béléhédé, are almost entirely Fulsi or Koromba. They speak Koronfe.

Honestly, this situation was extremely discouraging at first. I consulted with several people including Béléhédé's former volunteer (Sara), my school director, and Peace Corps. The consensus was that it was best to learn Fulfulde because, no matter what, all people in this region can speak that language. When I first got to village I was content to catch up with my solitude, read, clean, organize, cook, and settle in. But once I started leaving my house I realized that everyone seemed to believe that they obviously knew me, that we were already buddies, and that I would invariably greet them in their local language as if we were just old friends.

They expected of me what they perceived of Sara. Well, by the beginning of October, every time I left the house I went emotionally armed to battle one more day of my private war.

I would address a passer-by in Fulfulde. Or if I knew they spoke it well enough, French. Honestly, every single person would answer in Koranfe. I don't speak Koranfe. I am learning Fulfulde (said in French). Mi jangan Fulfulde (in Fulfulde). Every day someone would tell me I NEED to speak Koranfe; I MUST speak Koranfe; SARA spoke KORANFE; Sara spoke it REALLY well. I tried different tactics over time:

Strategy #1: Go with your gut.
Plan to face it another day. I took a leave of absence from learning and/or practicing any language that wasn't English. During this time I got by on my French and limited local language skills. I was gathering my strength and firming up my resolve.
Strategy #2: Get into it.
I started telling people what my deal was - I am learning Fulfulde, not Koranfe. On the one hand, I know laid useful groundwork for life in village by highlighting one major difference between myself and the former volunteer. This strategy was upfront and honest. I am strong, right? Good for me telling it like it is! Well, Strategy #2 also SUCKED. Every time I left my house I was getting into another fight. Big surprise - people don't like it when you tell them you are not interested in their language. Sigh.
Strategy #3: Defiance!
Oh my, I was very frustrated, things only seemed to be getting worse on the local language front. Not only was I fighting the not-good fight every day but I wasn't making ANY progress at all in local Fulfulde because at the end of the day I was emotionally exhausted. I ignored the people who relentlessly addressed me in Koranfe even when they looked me in the face. I felt - you KNOW I don't know what you are saying. I answered everyone in the little Fulfulde I could still muster.
Strategy #4: Acceptance
Finally, I think this is where I am at. But it is possible for me to be here because it seems to be where the villagers are "at" as well. We've reached a middle ground. I have relaxed and let my guard down. I am going with the flow and avoiding the trap of justifying myself to any and every person who passes me on the road. I've got a good two or three phrases down in Koranfe and everything else can at the least be muddled through with polite gestures and some French. I have a language tutor who is actually Fulsi (Koranfe-speaking) but is graciously instructing me in Fulfulde. She is also helping me integrate into the village. I finally have buy-in and acceptance from a few, kind, village friends.

So, the lesson is...

What is the lesson? Should I have had acceptance from the get go? Should one always just go with the flow? Actually, I don't think so. My first few months in village have been great but really frustrating at times too. Sometimes, I utterly did not want to leave my house. But I don't think I would change a thing. This is better than just getting what I wanted - I think I can see the top of the first hill.