In
recent years
a vast body
of knowledge
about Africa
has emerged.
There are
a great
many languages,
cultures,
and histories
on the African
continent,
and people
who wish
to penetrate
this large
body of
learning
and information
- and gain
a cohesive
sense of
African
peoples,
their arts,
and their
histories
- are faced
with a bewildering
task. This
Living Encyclopedia
of East
Africa is
intended
to provide
information
on the countries
that primarily
make up
Swahili-speaking
region of
East Africa
in a concise
form. These
countries
are
Kenya,
Tanzania,
Uganda,
Rwanda,
and
Burundi.
The Swahili-speaking
area also
extends
into southern
Somalia,
eastern
Democratic
Republic
of Congo,
and parts
of northern
Mozambique
and the
Comoros
Islands.
We have
chosen the
East Africa
region for
a number
of reasons:
1. Geographically,
the region
is well
known for
its magnificent
physical
features.
The two
highest
mountains
in Africa
are located
here:
Mount
Kilimanjaro
and
Mount
Kenya.
The
River
Nile,
the longest
river in
Africa has
its source
from Africa's
biggest
lake,
Lake
Nyanza
also known
as Lake
Victoria.
The region
is also
famous for
its game
reserves
located
at the
Serengeti
and
Ngorongoro
crater
in Tanzania
and
Masai
Mara
in Kenya.
East Africa's
governments
recognize
the value
of their
natural
resources
and have
set aside
large areas
as national
parks. Twenty-five
percent
of Tanzania's
land is
designated
as national
parks or
game reserves.
The largest,
Selous
Reserve,
is larger
than the
country
of Denmark.
2. East
Africa is
at the center
of speculation
over human
origins.
Anthropologists
like
Louis
S. B and
Mary Leakey
have indicated
that human
ancestors
may have
lived in
Tanzania's
Olduvai
Gorge
at the edge
of the
Great
Rift Valley,
over two
million
years ago.
3. The region
is also
famous for
the research
on Chimpanzees
by
Jane
Goodall.
Jane Goodall
conducted
over thirty
years of
research
in Tanzania
and established
a primatology
research
center known
as the Gombe
Stream Research
Center at
the shore
of
Lake
Tanganyika
in Tanzania.
4. Politically,
the region
is famous
for its
hospitality
to refugees
and other
politically
dispossessed
peoples.
It was known
for its
involvement
in the fight
against
apartheid
in South
Africa and
for providing
refugee
facilities
for freedom
fighters
from Zimbabwe,
South Africa,
Mozambique,
and Angola.
More recently
it has befriended
refugees
from Rwanda,
the Sudan,
and Somalia.
The region
also is
known for
its political
innovations.
African
socialism
Ujamaa as
advocated
by
Mwalimu
Nyerere,
the first
president
of Tanzania,
is a policy
that attracted
attention
of people
world wide.
Pre-colonial
East Africa
was important
politically
in that
several
large kingdoms
dominated
regional
affairs.
Two of them
were the
Kingdom
of Uganda,
which now
constitutes
the core
of contemporary
Uganda,
and the
Kingdom
of Rwanda,
which also
is the core
of a modern
nation-state.
The coastal
regions
were dotted
with powerful
city-states--settlements
that brokered
trade between
the interior
and the
Indian Ocean.
5. Historically,
East Africa
was known
for the
extensive
trade networks
that penetrated
the region
and linked
together
people of
various
backgrounds,
reaching
deep into
the interior
of Central
Africa and
eastward
across ocean
as far as
India. At
various
periods
the valued
trade items
were ivory,
gold, slaves,
beads, salt,
and foodstuffs,
especially
spices grown
in Zanzibar.
Indian Ocean
trade meant
that Swahili
and Arabic-speaking
merchants
were interacting
for at least
1,000 years,
and eventually
brought
Islam to
the shores
of East
Africa.
Traditional
economies
were based
on hunting,
farming,
animal herding,
and even
fishing
in coastal
areas. Iron-making
was practiced
as early
as 500 B.C.
Local textile
manufacture,
using cotton,
began during
the 11th
century.
6. In terms
of language,
East Africa
is united
by the common
lingua franca
known as
Swahili.
This language
is both
the native
tongue of
a specific
people -
"the
Swahili"
- and a
lingua franca
spoken by
more than
50 million
people throughout
the region.
Swahili
is one the
few lingua
francas
among the
more than
1,000 languages
spoken on
the African
continent,
and therefore
one of the
most widely
used. Thus,
although
"Swahili"
denotes
a specific
people,
a cultural
way of life,
a literature,
and a geographical
region,
its status
as a lingua
franca means
that it
is used
in many
communities
that embrace
diverse
life styles,
economic
and aesthetic
practices,
religions
and ideologies.
Within the
linguistic
rubric of
Swahili,
an entire
region -
a diverse
and complex
spectrum
of landscapes,
peoples
and world
views -
is accessible.
In the United
States,
Swahili
is classified
among the
less commonly
taught foreign
languages.
Such languages
are rarely
taught below
college
level, Swahili
being the
rare exception.
It is one
of the most
accessible
African
languages
in terms
of difficult
of learning
and availability
of learning
resources.
A
Swahili
Dictionary,
Swahili
Listserv,
and
Swahili
Club
(interaction
in real
time) exist
on the Internet;
videotapes,
illustrated
story books,
visual aids,
supplementary
materials
for computer-assisted
instruction,
and
radio
programs
on the internet
are available.
Swahili
is already
used in
African-American
communities
during their
annual celebration
of
Kwanzaa,
a festival
which uses
Swahili
words and
expressions.
Language
is one of
the best
lenses through
which to
view the
life ways,
cultures
and practices
of other
peoples.
Languages
are not
simple communicative
systems;
they are
cultural
phenomena
in and of
themselves
and at the
same time
mediators
of other
forms of
culture.
As such
they serve
as powerful
tools for
understanding
the human
groups that
speak them.
For example,
the basic
greetings
in Swahili
are more
complex
and time
consuming
than greetings
in most
European
languages.
They demonstrate
the importance
of human
interaction
and mutual
respect
in Swahili-speaking
societies.
The identification
of loan-words
(Arabic,
English,
neighboring
African
languages,
etc.) in
Swahili
also shows
the importance
of history:
trade, conquest,
religious
movements,
and global
currents
in the region.
While the
exploration
of Swahili
history
and culture
is important
in an of
itself,
the contexts
in which
Swahili
is used
as a second
and third
(and fourth
...) language
are also
important.
For most
of its non-native
speakers,
Swahili
is a language
not of tradition
but of modernity.
It is used
in situations
of migration
and urbanization,
and it is
spoken to
facilitate
communication
with other
ethnic and
national
groups.
An examination
of the dynamic
and diverse
situations
in which
Swahili
is spoken
as a lingua
franca serves
as an excellent
introduction
to contemporary
Africa and
goes a long
way toward
dispelling
essentialist
myths about
a perpetually
rural and
traditional
Africa.