Lok leb acholi manok

I have a secret: one of my goals during my Peace Corps journey was to become fluent in the local language of my region, Acholi.  Actually…that’s not so much of a secret.  My guess is that this same desire is the hope of many PCVs worldwide.  When we speak in the local language, we connect with our community in a new way.  Community members are both entertained and touched that a foreigner would take the time to learn their language and make an effort to use it.  And we are placed with a host family as we undergo weeks of language torture training to help prepare us for community life. 

I really enjoyed my homestay experience.  Once again, I was placed in a family headed only by a woman; I have never had, or met, a Ugandan host father!  It’s crazy to think that all three of my Ugandan host families, all from very different parts of the country, have been similar in this way, but I am grateful because it allowed me to be more comfortable with my families.  The house during my Peace Corps homestay was the nicest one that I have ever been invited to stay in, but mostly I couldn’t believe that I was going to get my own (noise-free) room!  My host mom was very quiet, like me, and we spent all of our evenings together in the sitting area either uncomfortably watching sexy telenovelas or simply discussing life in northern Uganda. 

My host sister-in-law and nephew...is that a thing?

At the same time, during the day, I was studying Acholi.  The sheer content that we would cover in a single day was overwhelming.  Not to mention, it was stressful to be with a small group of people who were also stressed out.  By the end of these working days, I was too mentally exhausted to think in English…but I persisted.  I was naturally decent at understanding and speaking the language, which made me believe that I could become fluent with a bit more tutoring and study.

Once I had moved into my Peace Corps housing, I began my hunt for a language tutor.  But I was a new, foreigner and didn’t have a big budget for booking tutors, so it was much more difficult than I anticipated it would be to find someone to help teach me Acholi.  Not just anyone speaking the local language would do, either, because I needed some type of structure in order to make progress.  I tried and failed more times than I can remember to find someone to help me improve my language skills.  I even tried teaching myself a few times, but eventually gave up.  I was a bit frustrated because Peace Corps Uganda (PCUG) had done an excellent job looking out for volunteers during training, but did not have a system in place for volunteers, like me, to connect us to language tutors in our respective districts.  I also admit that I could have pushed harder to see myself succeed; as much as I believe PCUG needs a better process for language development, I know that I chose to quit the pursuit as well.

I watched my dream of being a fluent Acholi speaker fade into darkness, including my hopes to share meaningful Acholi conversation with English speakers.  Connection with community members is not the only positive of knowing the local language, but being able to share what I have learned with my friends is also equally important.  Whenever I hear one of the many languages of Uganda spoken, I am still amazed (three years later) at how people have learned over time to communicate with one another.  Some of this awestruck wonder is lost in the United States, a country that believes English should be the only language necessary and demands lingual assimilation.  I wanted to be able to share some of this spoken magic because one does not need to fully comprehend a language in order to understand its beauty.  I was getting ready to add this to my list of volunteer failures, when I remembered that I did have some Acholi that I could share in just as meaningful a way.

At the end of our language training, Peace Corps throws a celebration party for all of the homestay families and facilitators.  Volunteers learn a local dance and make fools of themselves trying to master moves that are frequently uncomfortable in the name of fellowship.  Local leaders are invited to share their enthusiasm for the program and host families receive their certificates to remember their volunteer.  Volunteers are responsible for adding to some of the agenda, including a “thank you” speech to all of the families completely delivered in the local language.  I was involuntarily given the task of sharing this speech in front of everyone.  Now, I don’t fear public speaking, but I was a bit concerned that I would make a fool out of myself in Acholi.  But with the help from my language facilitator and other volunteers, I only needed a bit of practice to deliver the headlining speech.  My favorite part about reading the speech was listening to the host families go “mmmmm” whenever they heard something that resonated with them.  I felt like I was connecting with them on more than a lingual level, but on a spiritual one.

I kept that speech.  It is a reminder to me of where I began and of the moments shared with others.  The speech essentially is simply a really long thank you to our host families for all they did for us: welcoming us into their homes, teaching us how to do basic tasks, and caring for us.  I am not going to translate it verbatim, but I wanted to share this language that has sounded like home to me for the past two years.  Only those with an understanding of Acholi (or Luo) will understand completely, but I hope you will still try to read through it anyway. 

As a brief guideline, the letter “c” is pronounced like “ch” and “pw” sounds the way one says “f”; the “r” in “maber” is silent.  Also, the vowels are pronounced similarly to the way they are said in Spanish (“a” is “ah”; “e” is “aye”; “i” is “ee”).  If you see the letter “ny” or “ng” (i.e. cwinywa), I’m not really sure how to help you pronounce them because it took our language group four weeks to learn how to say it properly and I sometimes still need to practice pronouncing them before saying the actual word.

“Apwoyo bino.

Cwinywa yom totwal ni wubino kay tin.  Ka pi konywu ku pi cabit angwen mukato, nongo pe wabiloko leb Acholi maber, pe wabitedo dek me tekwaro, nyo pe wabilwoko bongo maber.  Wapwoyowu pi jami egini weng ma wupwonyowa.  Wamito Waco ni wapwoyowu mada pi yabo gangiwu ki cwinywu pi dano ma woko calo wan.

Tye pi mar madit totwal katimo gin makomeno man pien wutimo gin makomeno tamwa ikom Acholi obiloke matwal.  Watamo ni cawawa kacel obedo layabwang pi wun ki pi wan bene.  Gin madongo time ka dano me lobo me pat pat bino kacel imar.  Ka ngene kit ma watye kwede watye ka loko lobo kabedo maber.  Wabitiyo ki pwonye weng ma wanongo botwu pi kwowa weng I Uganda.  Wiwa pe biwil I komwu ki gin ma wutimo.

Apwoyo matek.”

Xoxo,

Emilia

P.S. – If you would like to actually hear what Acholi sounds like, then you can do a search on YouTube for Bosmic Otim and listen to some northern-Ugandan style music.

DISCLAIMER: The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps.  And all photos in this post are owned by Peace Corps.