Language File III: Finding Tutors

Upon arrival, we had the pleasure of meeting a young man named JB. JB was given the opportunity to study in the capital and has a good command of English. As a bilingual Karamojong (one of the few) he has been a great help to the team as a cultural adviser, translator, and friend. JB was the natural choice to help us with the recruiting and training of language tutors. I informed JB of our plan for learning language and asked for his help.

JB became our language coordinator. His responsibility was the hiring of language tutors and translating for me in the training of language tutors. We hired tutors at the common labor rate for the area. The tutors viewed the job as much easier than "labor" and found the opportunity agreeable. In a few days we were up an running. The training of the tutors was simple and direct. We started with a basic question and response approach based on the documentation we had done earlier.
Greetings were first, which fit our situation and the local culture well. Much time was spent explaining what we were trying to accomplish and what was expected from the tutors. Also, I tried to build the confidence of the tutors. I got the feeling early on that the tutors felt as if they would not be able to help because that had not "been to school." I encouraged them that what we needed were people willing to help and who spoke the language. I told them that they were the exact people for the job.