Developing Online Resources for African Language Instruction: Swahili
Fundi Jahazi Bagamoyo dhow
Dhow Builder/Dhow ‘ENGINEER’
Jahazi (dhow) is an icon of the Swahili Coast. Jahazi is a Persian term for a 14th century vessel that was double-ended and sewn together, but is now square-sterned and nailed. Today’s Jahazi differs little from early ocean going vessels that traded throughout the Indian Ocean hundreds of years ago. Jahazi weighs as much as 30 tons and capable of crossing thousands of miles of open ocean.
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Harusi Wedding
Harusi Za Zanzibar (Swahili Wedding Ceremony)
The wedding is the most important moment in the life of Swahili people, and for Zanzibaris is serious business. In Swahili, a man is said to ‘marry’ while a woman is ‘married’. A wedding event involves a series of celebrations and rituals which can vary in length, depending on the families, their wealth and their own traditions. Relative and members of the community put their efforts together to make a ceremony successful.
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Hadithi Story Telling
Hadithi (Story Telling)
The Oral Arts of Africa are rich and varied, developing with the beginnings of African cultures, and they remain living traditions that continue to evolve and flourish today. Swahili communities are no exception Oral African storytelling is essentially a communal participatory experience. Everyone in most traditional African societies participate in formal and informal storytelling as interactive oral performance-such participation is an essential part of traditional African communal life, and basic training in a particular culture’s oral arts and skills is an essential part of children’s traditional indigenous education on their way to initiation into full humanness.
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Bajaj transportation
Bajaj (Transportation in African cities)
Popularly known as Bajaj in Tanzania, are small, three-wheeled Indian-made vehicles. They are popular as they cost approximately half the equivalent ordinary taxi fare and are able to travel alongside the roads when blocked by the inevitable traffic jams. However, they have a reputation for being rather dangerous, and some drivers appear to be too young for a driving license. Up to three people can fit in the seat behind the driver, but it not uncommon to see a bajaj in Dar es Salaam city with up to six passengers.