My African heritage plays a crucial role in my storytelling. My Swahili culture and language largely constitutes my identity as a storyteller. ven though my children are half Czech, and half Tanzanian, they are blended in both cultures in a beautiful way. I believed by them having Swahili language and cultural awareness they will appreciate more the half of who they are, and be happy and free, when they visit Tanzania.
he case of Mbye Otabenga (c. 1883-1916), now popular as “Ota Benga,” a Congolese young man from the Mbuti indigenous forest people, who was put in the zoo in America, is not isolated from the deep-rooted and widespread oppression and suppression of people of different races by the Caucasians of Europe and America, who at the time dominated science, trade, media, and publications.
The degrading oppression of people of African origin who have been referred to by colour ‘black,’ a hugely controversial and widely unacceptable taxonomy, has for centuries been given both reason and justification meaning by manipulating science in favour of the pervading oppressive idea.
Rights of children are constitutionally protected by the laws of our country, and internationally recognized by the United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child and other related conventions. This is to say, parents, despite playing an important role in the child upbringing, do not have absolute rights on the life, development, and wellbeing of a child. Neglect being a form of child abuse and maltreatment goes a long way in the integral formation of the child as he/she grows up.
Children can be encouraged to learn foreign languages even without being told their mother languages are not good enough. This way they will keep their love towards their mother languages and will not feel shameful to use them.
While traditional visual artists have so much value in the work done, the social media art appreciation is being taken over by the AI artists who invest nothing in their designs, and have no emotional connection with such art works. Traditional visual artists deserve more admiration and support than the AI artists who are not personally involved in the production of the artworks.
Shimbo Pastory
The World Social Report mentions the Sub-Saharan Africa region among the regions that will experience the fastest growth in the number of older persons in the next 3 decades. The need for advocacy for care and protection of elderly with dignity and value both systemically and among individual persons is higher than we think, especially when we recount gruesome incidences of cruelty and abuse of the elderly, and deplorable conditions of living which many elderly persons live in.
As religious faith fills the gaps for realities beyond our understanding, especially in our part of the world where superstition is a constant trend, its influence on people’s feelings, emotions and dispositions for various actions towards people and concerns around us, cannot and should not be underestimated. There is a lot of misleading, brainwashing, and deception under the cover of religion, often at the detriment of innocent adherents and the wider society.
At many night parties, especially for weddings, birthdays, and others, children dance to entertain adults. This is not new, however, it has taken a different turn. In the past, it was more of a show choreography where children knew their place and delivered just as is appropriate for decent and respectful entertainment. However, the trouble now is that children are made to dance to indecent songs in indecent manners as they see on the internet and on TV.
Bongo Zozo stands out at a mention of a possible consistent global volunteer in promoting Swahili. He is a British national, yet one with immense love for Tanzania and Africa as a whole. In this interview, he spoke at length about his life journey and his love for Kiswahili Language.