This item (below) is a couple of steps away from African writing and doesn't even concern African languages, but it highlights an issue that is important in Africa but often overlooked: the language(s) of agricultural extension. The example below concerns migrant farmworkers in the US who come from Mexico but do not mainly speak Spanish, and the efforts of US extension agencies in Oregon to provide services for them. (Extension, for those not familiar with the term, concerns support for people's activities by a specialized technical or social agency).
In Africa the situation is different. Agricultural extension concerns farmers who live in the country and extension agents are from the same country, if not the same region within it, and generally (though not always) speak the farmers' language(s) to one degree or another. What is of interest is how the extension agencies in Oregon are trying to deal specifically with the language issue. In my experience this is not an issue that has received much specific attention in African agricultural research agencies, let alone international aid agencies and NGOs assisting in agrculture and rural development. A lot is left up to the language skills of the extension agents and the farmers they work for/with, and very little is done to train the agents in the local languages or to develop materials to assist them and the farmers in those languages. There are exceptions, and certain projects have made efforts, but so far as I'm aware, there is generally little concern with doing more in, and for efficiency of communication in, farmers' languages. I wrote above that this is a couple of steps away from literature. On the other hand, all of these issues are interrelated: literature, education, extension/development activities, information and communication technologies, etc. And the extent to which use of people's first languages is facilitated or promoted in one area supports efforts in other areas. Anyway, I'll leave it there. Don Osborn Bisharat.net Indigenous languages replace Spanish in Oregon fields Agencies reach out to farmworkers who speak neither English nor Spanish GABRIELA RICO Statesman Journal November 12, 2005 http://159.54.226.83/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051112/NEWS/511120306/1001 Just as the Oregon employment department was feeling confident that it offered enough Spanish-speaking farmworker liaisons, everything changed. In the Willamette Valley fields, a growing number of migrant workers arrive speaking Mixteco, Triqui and Zapoteco, indigenous languages from Oaxaca. "Pretty soon, you won't need me in this job," said Daniel Quiñones, a Spanish-speaking farmworkers representative with the Oregon Employment Department. In the position since 2001, Quiñones was struck by the blank stares he got when he addressed workers in Spanish. "The people tend to come in groups," he said. "So, I'll ask if anyone in the group speaks Spanish." Usually a man steps forward with limited Spanish skills, but enough to understand what Quiñones is trying to communicate. "Our job is to educate them that they have rights," he said. "A lot of them don't know that they have rights in the United States." Enforcing minimum-wage laws, workplace safety and child labor laws all are the responsibility of the state, Quiñones said. The number of indigenous workers from the state of Oaxaca is growing in Oregon, but they maintain an unusually low profile, he said. "They're a different breed of people than we're used to," Quiñones said. "The reason we know they're here is because there's so many of them." In response to the phenomena, the Oregon Law Center started an outreach program three years ago. The Indigenous Farmworker Project of the Oregon Law Center employs three trilingual outreach workers to communicate with migrant workers and offer legal services, said Julie Samples, an attorney with the Oregon Law Center. One initiative involved putting wage and hour laws and workplace safety information on audio cassettes in these indigenous languages -- the best way to reach migrant workers from Oaxaca who either don't read or speak languages without a common written equivalent. Earlier this year, the Legal Aid Services of Oregon and the Oregon Law Center received a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices division and a visit from the special counsel, William J. Sanchez in recognition of these efforts. Although Oaxaqueños first started migrating into the United States during World War II, the population in Oregon has grown significantly in the past five years, Samples said. It is estimated that tens of thousands of people from Oaxaca now live in Oregon, and this state's demand for these workers continues. Aside from outreach, the project educates employers, police, social-service agencies, medical clinics and schools about indigenous people. The women are less likely to speak Spanish and being able to provide information to them in their native language is rewarding, Samples said. "Watching their eyes light up when someone speaks their language ... it never gets old," she said. Future farmworker outreach employees in Oregon may need to have an indigenous language on their résumé. "We're tossing around changes in recruitment to reflect the population," Quiñones said. "It's all new to us." Copyright 2005 Statesman Journal, Salem, Oregon ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/TpIolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AfricanLanguages/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! 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