Today we’re going to talk about Colombia. The vice president of Colombia who is of African origin or African descent. She is a Colombian of black skin. In other words, she’s one of those people that whose ancestors were taken to the Caribbeans and Southern America to go work as slaves and stuff like that. So Francia Maria Marquez has made it to become the first black vice president in the Colombia, since the creation of the Colombia.
Table of Contents
- Vice president of Colombia Visits Swahili Language Speaking Countries in Africa
- What to Know About The Swahili Language
- Speech By The Colombian Vice President on The Language Swahili Language
- Why and What Purpose Will Swahili Language be Taught in Colombian Schools
- Swahili Teacher Exchange Program
- Critics of The Swahili Language for The Colombians
- The Vice President of Colombia Face Lots of Criticism on Her Tour of Africa
- The Vice Presidents Response to Critics Based on Her Tour of Africa
- Swahili is The first Most Spoken Language in Africa
- Example of African Presidents Who Prefer to Speak Swahili Not English
Vice president of Colombia Visits Swahili Language Speaking Countries in Africa
Francia Marquez did not forget her ancestors. She decided to reconnect with the continent. She decided to take a trip to Africa. Throughout a couple of countries including South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia. So the goal was to reconnect with the continent to learn and to exchange. She came up with some very interesting ideas. So she wants Swahili to be taught in Colombia in a curriculum in schools.
What to Know About The Swahili Language
Swahili language for those of you who don’t know, Swahili is most spoken in Eastern Africa particularly in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Bundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and more. Swahili is a beautiful language. It is in fact the most spoken language in Africa. Yes, Africans need to come together.
Speech By The Colombian Vice President on The Language Swahili Language
Speech by the vice president. Thank you very much. We made the decision as a government. Led by our president Gustavo Pedro and myself to make a tour on the African continent to reconnect with this region. Of course it is very important to us. We have historic ties with the African continent. I am a woman of African descent. The root of my ancestors are here on this continent. I am here in a very historic context in order to create South South cooperation ties between our countries to strengthen diplomatic, political, economic relations and of course cultural relations.
Why and What Purpose Will Swahili Language be Taught in Colombian Schools
Swahili will be taught in Colombian school as a foreign language option. Colombia vice president has announced that the move will help afro Colombians reconnect with their root. Great idea. But it has faced an outcry among an opponents on the right. Obviously they don’t want Francia Marquez to do anything positive. I mean first of all, Colombia is a country with 9% of it’s population being of African descent. I think it’s great that you give them an opportunity to choose to either reconnect or not and maybe also other people that are not necessarily black to learn the language which is a beautiful language.
Swahili Teacher Exchange Program
So vice president Francia Marquez made the announcement last week, upon a return from official visit to Ethiopia, Kenya and South Africa. The Accord signed will enable Colombian teacher to travel to Africa to teach Spanish, while teachers from African countries notably Kenya will have the opportunity to teach Swahili in State School in Colombia.
Very interesting good exchange. So you send your teachers to come to Africa to teach Spanish. Well not that we need it but yeah good. Obviously we have to exchange something. African nation send you African teachers to go teach. They say it will be offered to Colombians of African origin and to anyone who would like to learn the language. This is important for reconnecting with root and rebuilding historical memory.
Critics of The Swahili Language for The Colombians
But the announcement met Fierce criticism from Marque’s opponent on the right.
The political opponent say why do you want to bring Swahili to Colombia. We don’t need Swahili. Look at the distance between Colombia and Africa. We don’t need Swahili here. Why don’t we do English instead of Swahili. Francia Maria Marquez, the vice president of colombia insisted that English should not be force on everybody in Colombia. Swahili would make more sense for the 9% of population of Colombia than English would.
The Vice President of Colombia Face Lots of Criticism on Her Tour of Africa
She is facing a lot of criticism. She is a young 40-year-old woman, vice president of her country far away. But she acknowledges Africa in the biggest Manner and facing a lot of criticism. They say the vice president’s first official African Tour was described by the right-wing commentators as expensive Safari. She’s going to do an expensive Safari with conservative politician demanding to know how much it had cost to tax payers.
The Vice Presidents Response to Critics Based on Her Tour of Africa
Interesting, now she responded saying I have been to Europe and the United States before and nobody asked how much I had spent. She retorted. So when you travel to Europe they don’t ask you how much you spent. When you go to Canada the USA, it’s fine. They don’t ask you anything. But when you go to Africa they want to know how much money that cost you on a safari. Some question why Swahili. why Swahili is the language, suggesting English was a better option. Marquez say Swahili because it’s the first most spoken language in Africa, with over 2 million speakers.
Swahili is The first Most Spoken Language in Africa
Swahili is the first most spoken language in Africa. A lots of people speak it in many other African countries. I mean if you are from Congo going to Tanzania, you don’t need to speak English.
Example of African Presidents Who Prefer to Speak Swahili Not English
Actually many Tanzanians don’t speak English at all. Even those who can speak English, they don’t like speaking in English and that’s beautiful. I like that even from the former president Magufuli spoke Swahili. He was a proud person. He had the dignity. He never traveled to Europe or United States for no reason. During his term, his 5 years term, he rebuilt his country with pride with money from the tax payers. He never went to World Bank or IMF begging for money like most other African countries do. Amazing tremendously great president. He spoke Swahili all the time.
So Burundi is the same. You go to Burundi, you speak Swahili.
So again fellas I think it’s a beautiful thing that this lady, that need to be encourage. Madam Marquez, 40 years old beautiful lady. African descent, African skin coming to Africa to reconnect and I think one of the best way to do is by adopting Swahili as a language. Let me know how you feel about this. Is Swahili the language that we all need. Whether you are African in a continent or African descent in a Caribbean who recognize themselves as African. Is this a language that should be adopted by all of us. So we can very slowly start building ourselves. Let me know your comment please.
God bless
