Disney movies have actually taught me some things, and Hakuna Matata is a real expression in Swahili and really means “no worries” (their version of “hasta manana”). Simba, really does mean lion, Asante Sana means ‘thank you’, and Rafiki is Swahili for friend!
A part from cutting my life span in half, working in Tanzania was both the most amazing and most difficult experience by far. Despite the culture shock and feeling intimidated by a completely different world, I managed to step out of my comfort zone and I found immersing myself in the language and culture made my experiences that much more enriching.
Putting aside my fears and inhibitions, I began to walk around town by myself and explored the market places. I became a regular at one particular mango stand that would become my place of refuge after rough days at work when I really needed my spirits lifted. I became good friends with the market guys that every afternoon they would already have a seat ready, waiting for me to drop by and hang out with them. Communicating in the beginning was challenging as their English was very limited. They would throw words and phrases at me and I’d madly thumb through my dictionary to figure out what they were saying. It wasn’t long before I had collected enough words that I was confident enough without it.
It took about 2 months to learn the basic grammar rules of the language. By 3 months I was able to do some light bartering by myself. By the 6-month mark I was somewhat fluent and began conducting workshops in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment to people who had little to no knowledge of English. By 9 months I had a solid vocabulary (and confidence) to be able to talk slang (courtesy of my market friends), argue with people I disagreed with, and tell people off when they were being jerks. By this time, the rapid Swahili of my co-workers was no longer a match for me that if they wanted to keep something from me, they had to switch to their tribal language to prevent me from understanding. By the end of the year, I was able to participate in meetings with government and UN officials and contribute to discussions on HIV/AIDS in Swahili.
As a lowly woman in a patriarchal society, I probably had to work twice as hard as a foreign man, in order to be taken seriously by my male colleagues. Learning the language not only earned their respect, but the local people I worked with were also more welcoming and accepting of me as a foreigner. In the development field you would otherwise be seen as an intruder especially when working with communities on sensitive issues like HIV/AIDS, sexual health and sex practices.
Locals in remote areas of the country are more used to seeing foreign white people than they are of Asians, or Asian women for that matter. They assume all Asian people are Chinese (Mchina in Swahili) and related to Bruce Lee; I’d indulge them and say he was my grandfather. Some days the mocking heehaw sounds made to imitate Chinese got to be extremely annoying and it took a lot of restraint to bite back clicking sounds to mock their Bushman’s tribal dialect (which is how some Westerners perceive African language to be). In the slums guys would throw crude, sexually degrading insults at me and on days when it came to be too much, I’d fire back “be careful what you say to an Mchina or your penis will fall off” banking on their ignorance and highly superstitious beliefs.
“Swahili” means of the coast, from the Arabic word s¨¡hil and refers to both the language and East African culture. Both Swahili language and culture is a mixture of Bantu, Arabic, Persian and Asian influences. Other Swahili-speaking countries including Kenya and Uganda adhered to British rule and adopted English as their main working language, while Tanzania remained loyal to their Bantu/Swahili roots and kept Swahili as their national language. English is taught in schools to the same degree French is taught in our Canadian curriculum. Though there are private schools comparable to French Immersion in Canada, that offer intensive English learning, only those privileged enough to afford such schools will be more conversant in English.
While Kenya and Uganda still experience hostility and tribal wars, Tanzania is relatively peaceful with very minimal animosity between tribes and people claim it is because of the Swahili language that unified the nation. Different tribes revert to English as the default language in Kenya and Uganda. Whereas in Tanzania, everyone speaks Swahili no matter what tribe they come from, and both their tribal language and Swahili are adopted as their mother tongue.
It was interesting to learn how each country regards the other in this respect. Tanzanians view Kenyans and Ugandans as pretentious, stuck-up, brown-nosing, snobs who sold-out to Britain and saw it beneath them to retain their Bantu roots by adopting English over Swahili. On the other hand, Kenyans and Ugandans view Swahili people of Tanzania as uneducated, low class and undignified because of their lack of proficiency in English and insistent preservation of Swahili culture. Friends have told me during travel to these countries, they felt they were looked down upon when all they had done was pleasantly offer a friendly greeting in Swahili, rather than the monotonous English “hello”.
On the whole English definitely opens more doors for East African people. As an international language it is especially important for business. It never hurts to know more than one language and without a doubt the more international languages you know the more opportunities you have. In any case I have still learned to appreciate Swahili and grown to respect the language and the people in Tanzania who take pride in speaking it.
When I was leaving to head back to Canada I tearfully said my goodbyes to friends I came to regard as family, and my friend Pascazia replied, “Listen to yourself, you’re one of us now”.
