The guest in this week’s podcast was Dr. Amana Mbise who is a professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage . Dr. Mbise teaches in the Social Work program, and he focuses a lot of his efforts on studying social injustices in Alaska and back in his home country of Tanzania. Dr. Mbise is well versed and well-travelled in the field of social work thoughout multiple different countries including Tanzania, Denmark, and the United States.
Throughout the podcast Dr. Mbise emphasizes the cultural importance his language is to him. Especially his first language which is that of the Tribe he is a part of. He mentioned at one point that it was a great sadness that his children couldn’t communicate with him in his Tribal tongue. In Tanzania little ones start the beginning of their lives with the language of their tribe. When they ender schooling they begin learning Swahili, and in their last years of schooling they learn English.
When asked how he maintains a cultural connection with his country and culture Dr. Mbise said that it is easy as all his family still resides there. He mentioned that when he switches back to his native tongue he almost feels like a completely different individual. Dr. Mbise also mentioned that he owns land in Tanzania which is a huge defining factor regarding staying close with his family and culture. He delved farther into the different aspects regarding his thoughts on the Swahili language overpowering the smaller tribal languages. Dr. Mbise acknowledges that the intentions to the county were perhaps in the right place but were done in the wrong way. When asked he went on to say that though it wasn’t executed as well as it could have been. A student mentioned that while the idea of a universal language is appealing , it needs to be done in conjunction with maintaining individual cultures.
He went into details about the differences that countries had to each other in regards to receiving aid and explained that while Tanzania received aid he wasn’t in a position to know what the price of that aid was but he was sure there was one. He explained that in Denmark the aid is offered and free to anyone in need but that in order to qualify you couldn’t have anything work wealth such as engagement rings of value. In the US the aid is available but often it requires writing grants to ask for the funds needed.
While listening to this talk my first thought was that DR Mbise was an intelligent well-versed individual that I could learn a lot from. He started out as a sociology major and in the words Professor Settler mentions that in a way the two men are alike because both felt almost as if social work found then and put a label to what they were already working on.
When listening to this podcast I found myself almost envious of the connection he feels for his Tribe , his family, and his culture. Even completely around the globe Dr. Mbise has remained and is still strong. It emphasizes what he was speaking on in the beginning and the importance of maintaining the cultures. I don’t think I’ve ever felt a culture that I feel as strongly about as he does for his. Overall this podcast was extremely interesting to listen to. I forgot to take notes on what was being discussed because I was so focused on trying to absorb the material.
Sarai Gomez
I enjoyed this podcast.
I found it humorous and ironic when Aman highlighted how the government will have “great” ideas on how to preserve indigenous languages and culture but have the actual tribes wanting and voicing their need for another approach. It makes it difficult to preserve a culture that is slowly dying off because of the lack of or even too much intervention.
He says that it’s important to preserve the native language. I agree, it ties us to our culture. But it’s tricky when living in a country whose main language is not the native language we have learned. I have noticed for my own culture that when people immigrate here, they want their children to have the best possible chance of succeeding and many times think that the way to achieve that is not give importance to have them learn their language. So we end up with what we call “the no sabo” kids (the “no, don’t I know”) (its not meant to be grammatically correct.) which essentially slowly kills off the culture our parents and ancestors have. it creates a barrier between parents and grandparents. It makes it difficult to connect with each other.
Josh Fine
I listened to this podcast a little over a week ago, prior to relistening to it this time. I find that Dr. Mbise’s warmth and charismatic way of speaking, caused me to misinterpret some of his criticisms the first time, when I was not quite as focused on listening. Specifically his response to David’s question regarding language preservation. The first time I listened, my thought was: “Oh, okay, so the Tanzanian government wants everyone to speak a universal language to stop tribalism and the conflict that comes with it. That’s seems like a good thing.” This time, I was listening while typing my blog on First Alaskans Institute, who have a strong focus on Native Alaskan language revitalization. I immediately looked up at the screen and realized that that assimilation is exactly what happened in the United States, in regards to the Indigenous people whose lands we are on. Dr. Mbise puts emphasis on the fact that there are no government programs for language preservation for the tribes residing in Tanzania. That makes me wonder if there are any notable private entities that are working to aid preservation. Dr. Mbise stated that that would go directly against the government policy, as well. I wonder if there are repercussions for those actions.