Beyond the Wall

Right now we're in this stage of our process where we are formally "language learners." For the first year that we're here, our main responsibility is just to learn the Hausa language. Everyone who goes out with our agency is required to learn language. Their past experience has shown them that the type of work we do is significantly more effective when our people learn the local language. Even for folks that speak good English, they tend to talk about heart issues in their heart language. It was explained to me that when people are broken, when they pray, when they wrestle with the deep things of life, they don't tend to think their national language, they use their heart language.

Our situation is unique because language here is different than what many of our friends are facing. The good thing is, many, many people in our city speak English. The schools operate in English, the street signs are in English, the national language is English. So, I can walk out my gate and go complete any errand I want to complete in English. In fact, I sometimes have trouble finding people who will speak Hausa with me. We both now that we can communicate so much faster in English. Plus, some people here don't speak Hausa, they speak other languages. Many of them want to practice with their English instead of the other way around.

Many people here have told us that we don't need to learn the language. Even Nigerians here have said that we will not need it to do the job we've come here to do. Ryan's main task will be running the logistics and support end of things, so he will spend many days in his office or working with our American personnel. Other ex-pats have told us that we won't ever use it if we do learn it. And it is hard. Language learning is hard. So, all of this is really discouraging.

We're tempted to quit, to make excuses, to throw in the towel. Until we venture out of our comfortable little compound or our comfortable little ex-pat circle. When we go beyond the wall and walk in the areas where the white folks rarely go, even if it's just for 30 minutes, we see the motivation for learning the language. Because, just beyond the wall of our compound, there are streets filled with people who don't need for us to learn the language if we simply want to purchase tomatoes from them. But, if we want to share the Living Water, that's a different story. When we use our pitiful handful of phrases and we see them light up, it's worth it. When we are able to greet the folks who are older than us, folks who are inching toward eternity, and they have little or no English, we find motivation. When the throngs of small children follow us pointing and shouting, "Bature! Bature!" and I'm able to smile and ask them "How is mama?" and they giggle, I am ready to run home to my voice recorder and flash cards and chip away at a few more phrases.

We call them our "language walks," but maybe we should call them our "motivation walks?"

Photos taken over the top of our wall, in the area where we take our language walks.