NORTH AMERICAN SWAHILI INSTITUTE

Mheshimiwa Balozi Liberata Mulamula;

Kwanza nakushukuruni wewe na bwana Suleman kwa kunipa fursa ya kukutana kuhusu utamaduni wetu kupitia njia ya lugha ya Kiswahili. Kama mzawa wa Tanzania ninatambua sana jinsi utamaduni wetu wa lugha ya Kiswahili ulivyochangia katika hali ya ufungamano na amani katika taifa letu. NIlikuja kueleza utashi wangu wa kuipatia Lugha ya Kiswahili hadhi ya kuwa na taasisi hapa Marekani. NIkataja nia yangu dhati ya kuwa tayari kushiriki kikamilifu katika mbinu zozote za kuienzi na kuisambaza lugha ya Kiswahili hasa kwa kuchangia katika kuandika fasihi zenye sifa za kushawishi wasomaji wake na kuongeza wigo katika kuizungumza.

Kama nilvyoahidi, nimeandaa shauri ambazo zinatupa mada za kuanza hatua thabiti za kufikia lengo la kuwa na taasisi ya Kiswahili hapa Marekani. Ninalo tegemeo imara juu ya uwezo wako wa kuuongoza mradi huu hadi kwenye mavuno yake tarajiwa.
Hapa chini nimeambatisha:

1) Rasimu ya kwanza ya mawazo ya kituo cha Kiswahili hapa Washington DC ambayo hapo awali nilituma kwenye barua yako pepe wiki mbili au tatu zilizopita ; na
2) Rasimu ya pili juu ya kituo cha Kiswahili hapo Washington DC ikiwa ni ufafanuzi wa ziada wa yaliyomo katika rasimu ya kwanza hapo juu.
Kwa nakala ya barua hii nimechukua fursa ya kuihusuha na kuialika DMV/ATC katika shauri hizi za Kiswahili.

Ninakaribisha maoni na mwongozo ilimradi tuweze kusonga mbele kwa njia moja au nyingine.
Asante sana
Safari Ohumay

November 13, 14

1: NEED FOR NORTH AMERICAN SWAHILI INSTITUTE (NASI):

-Why North America?

America  recognizes that ours is a shrinking world.  It needs its citizens to know foreign languages.  In  2010, the US government declared that,  “To prosper economically and to improve relations with other countries, Americans need to read, speak and understand other languages.”  This declaration was prompted by the stark reality that under 20 % of Americans report speaking a language other than English, while  over 50 % of Europeans (and increasing numbers in other parts of the world) can converse in a second language.

More and more students and their parents understand the need to communicate with friends and foes in other countries, and not always in  English.  Americans have been responding  remarkably  as foreign language course enrollment  between 1995 and 2009 increased 47.8 percent at colleges and universities.

 These impressive growth in  the demand for  foreign language enrollment means that employment opportunities for  foreign language instructors, including  Swahili are  greater than ever.

The fact of the matter is countries which establish  or support the establishment of language institutes in the United States are the ones whose nationals will  benefit most from this policy.

2: SPONORS FOR SWAHILI:

This proposal is seeking the Tanzania government to accept a leadership responsibility in promoting the Swahili language  in North America as proposed here:

a)      Offer its Washington DC property on U street NW   for the premise for the proposed North American Swahili Institute;

b)      In exchange the property would be used  as an African cultural center for the promotion of the Swahili language  and an incubator for diaspora initiatives, including (but not limited to) Swahili instructions, development of contemporary Swahili literature,  a forum for  hosting Social and business events for visiting Africans and domestic clients, and as an  outreach for Tanzania’s exports.

-Why Tanzania

Although Swahili is spoken in more than 5 countries in the  eastern and central region of Africa,  Tanzania has become the bedrock of the Swahili language. Swahili is the official language of the government and is spoken by nearly 100 percent of its nearly 50 people.  Yet  Tanzania Swahili instructors in the United States trail their counterparts from Kenya by far. For this reason  if there should be a leadership in the  advancement of Swahili  de facto, that role fittingly lies with Tanzania and its people, especially the diaspora in the Americas.  Tanzania, through its embassy in Washington, and in collaboration with  the diaspora and many friends of Swahili can and should  take the necessary steps to mobilize support for establishing a NASI, in Washington DC. 

The government of the United Republic of Tanzania had the wisdom to acquire assets in the most prized location in the United States. It turns out that it owns  free and clear, two buildings in the North west quadrangle  of the city of Washington DC, a stone’s throw from the down town  business district, where the World Bank, the IMF, the Federal Reserve, the White House and at a farther distance, the US congress and the Supreme court  are all located. One of the highly prized best locations in the whole Atlantic region of the US is  the site of an unoccupied property owned by the GOT.

The yearning for  a main African language has been heard all across the continent; but the will power  to take specific actions to realize this need has not been as evident especially from the usual suspects- countries of the East African Community where Swahili has permeated almost all their communities.

Here is how one African leader expressed his desire at an African Union Summit in 2004 as reported by the BBC News:

“A summit of African leaders was thrown into confusion when Mozambique's president addressed the meeting in an African language - Swahili.

Officials scrambled around looking for interpreters and President Joaquim Chissano offered to translate himself.

The African Union uses Arabic, French, English and Portuguese in its summits.

Mr Chissano said he made his farewell address as AU chairman in Swahili to further the AU pledge to promote African identity and languages.

Swahili is spoken by around 100 million people in East Africa and there are moves to add it to the list of official languages.

But Mr Chissano is not a native Swahili-speaker. Reuters news agency reports that most African leaders and ambassadors were baffled, unable to understand what he was saying”.

We may never know why  president Chissano acted the way he did.  But one thing is undeniable:  He wished the Swahili language could be more aggressively used to benefit a wider population, and he  being fluent in Swahili, took upon himself that responsibility.  That was an exemplary act of commitment to Swahili.

 Could Tanzania  have the will power to lead? Tanzania has the means to lead this effort in the like manner  as it led  the Independence struggles for the liberation of Sothern Africa providing safe havens for the fighters as well as  for refugees fleeing tyranny and oppression. Today, it is nothing short of fortuitous, that at this time when the need for  a Swahili Institute is expressed continent wide the government of the United Republic of Tanzania has in its possession an asset, a building that could be put to this noble use.

  Understandably the property referred to has remained in a state of disrepair for  an inordinate time for reasons that are not known to the general public,  but it is fair to speculate a funding problem  due to competing priorities at home for the much needed rehabilitation of the building.  In this proposal of partnership for a Swahili Institute the GOT  only needs to participate by leasing its property for the designated purpose.   Other partners- the DMV community and other  Diaspora Associations in North America, and quite conceivable an undetermined number of friends of Swahili, could pick up  the  funding responsibility for the much needed rehabilitation of the property.  This proposal is optimistic that a current estimate of $2-3M (subject to detailed cost evaluation)  for the rehabilitation can be raised privately through creative financing if  a long term lease is granted by the GOT . It is in this context that this proposal is being framed:  A partnership  between the United Republic of Tanzania, using this asset as its share of  this project, and  the Swahili community in the Americas  with specific tasks(coordination/secretariat) being carried out by the Association  Tanzania Community in the DMV area.

3:  ACTION PLAN:

This plan  is predicated on the existence of  a unity of purpose and shared responsibility between the Ubalozi and the Tanzania diaspora communities.

 To get this concept  Note off the ground, the followings steps are proposed:

a)      A meeting of minds and  vision between the Ubalozi and the DMV initially;

b)       Seek indication of support for the proposal  including its mission and  fund raising initiatives, from other diaspora associations in North America – by DMV

c)      To assign any specific tasks  resulting from  agreed concept to individuals on time bound  decision points

d)     Represent the proposal to the next level ( permanent Sec Foreign/Minister and Chief Secretary) and share the  decision of the government for further action.

4:  PROGRAM SUSTAINABILITY

It is  the  assumption of this proposal that  the   operations of the Swahili Institute will be  self-sustaining as follows

a)      A multipurpose/ versatile hall  space will be  available  on hourly  occupancy rates to  members and the public at large

b)      Classroom facilities will be set up for  small Swahili instructions, to the children of the diaspora and public at large;

c)      A versatile space for  display of all  of products and series which are linked with the Swahili culture;

d)     A  convertible space to provide  for  temporary/short term office space for  visiting dignitaries for periodic consultations with  the US government, the World Bank and the IMF and other important  institutions in the US.

All these  service will be priced at comparable  rates in the market place to generate adequate revenues for off setting, the lease payments and other operating expenses including  routine maintenance  of the property and associated assets.