Giving students passion for Kiswahili

In 2013, Doreen Kiptalam was at crossroads. She had just been admitted at both Makerere University and Kyambogo University. She had, however, hoped to pursue her dream of becoming a journalist or lawyer at Makerere yet another offer for a teaching profession awaited her at Kyambogo University. And because she was coming from a humble family of farmers in Kapchorwa District, she knew she had to make a choice but kept trying her odds.

Thus, for the beginning of the 2013/14 Academic Year, Kiptalam attended classes at Makerere. But after one week, she realised that may not be the place for her, so she joined Kyambogo.

“I was asked to pay a 60 per cent deposit on tuition yet Kyambogo offered a six-week grace period. I knew this was not possible. I decided that I had to join Kyambogo where I would be allowed to pay in instalments until examination time. The arrangement suited my parents’ income,” the 26-year-old recalls when asked why she chose to become a teacher.

Six years later, Kiptalam is a proud teacher of Kiswahili language at Gulu High School where she joins Abednego Thembo, the school’s other Kiswahili teacher.

Language for the future
She has earned the title ‘mwalimu’ (Kiswahili for ‘teacher). Kiptalam argues that Kiswahili is the future of East Africa and has a potential to build commercial and cultural bridges.

Kiswahili in East Africa has its roots in a small tribal Bantu language spoken along a strip of East Africa’s eastern coastline. Experts estimate that Kiswahili is spoken by about 144 million people.

To put it another way; Kiswahili is the most spoken language in Africa, although only around five to 15 million people speak it as their first language.

“It is pretty difficult to ignore a language that is spoken by so many people. Kiswahili’s importance as a lingua franca is recognised by foreign media organisations such as BBC, which broadcasts some radio programmes in Kiswahili. So, the more students learn the language, the more opportunities are opened for them,” Kiptalam says.

She says she works in Gulu because she wants to spread Kiswahili across the country. She believes it has the power to bring Ugandans together.

Kiswahili is not Kiptalam’s mother tongue. She grew up in Kapnekut village that speaks Kupsabiny.
To her, Kiswahili symbolises the wider world. Not long ago Kiswahili was made the official language of the African Union and according to Kiptalam, in the Ugandan community, the number of people learning Kiswahili is growing.

Beginning of the journey
Kiptalam’s peasant parents raised her with nine other siblings but only his younger brother is an Agriculture teacher in Kampala.

The Kiswahili teacher attended Faith Homes Primary School in Kapchorwa before joining Gamatui Girls School for O-Level. She later enrolled at Sebei College where she completed her A-Level in 2012.

Kiptalam graduated with a Bachelor’s in Education with a major in Kiswahili from Kyambogo University in December 2016. She says the interest in Kiswahili was also low among students at university. She was in a class of 40 students.

While in second year, she started teaching at Entebbe Parents School and was posted to Gulu by the Ministry of Education this year. She is aware of the little take-up of Kiswahili even at the school.

“Here in Gulu, Kiswahili is associated with the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels. The students still prefer their local dialects. But we are making some effort. For instance, all my students must greet me in Kiswahili. I am happy they are catching up,” Kiptalam adds.

For the love of children
Despite the indecisiveness at the start, Kiptalam says she has found her calling in teaching but enjoys the journey. “In education, we do not feel appreciated as many times as it should be,”
Kiptalam says, adding, “But my appreciation comes when I get students telling me how I helped to prepare them for life. My goal is to make a difference.” “I build a really healthy relationship with my students,” the 26-year-old states.

Although her love for teaching has grown, she hopes to branch into working with organisations that deal with children or women. “I love children naturally. As a teacher you learn a lot yet there is a lot children miss out on. By working with them directly, I will be able to impact them more,” she says.

Challenging
Kiptalam says the profession is faced with a number of challenges such as the very high standards expected of them which she says she lives by. But she says, because of her age, mature students sometimes tease her.

“I consider school my second home where as a teacher, I am a parent too. For those that tease me, I make then understand that we are on totally different levels and that they need knowledge from me. The most important idea for me is that all teachers are bound by a contract of trust,” she adds.

Brief biography
Kiptalam attended Faith Homes Primary School in Kapchorwa before joining Gamatui Girls School for O-Level. She later enrolled at Sebei College where she completed her A-Level in 2012.

Kiptalam graduated with a Bachelor’s in Education with a major in Kiswahili from Kyambogo University in December 2016. She says the interest in Kiswahili was also low among students at university.

She was in a class of 40 students. While in second year, she started teaching at Entebbe Parents School and was posted to Gulu by the Ministry of Education this year. She is aware of the little take-up of Swahili even at her workplace.

Voices
“The few Kiswahili words I have learnt so far are because of her. She is encouraging us to learn the language and I hope it will be beneficial to us in the near future.” Susan Adya, student.

“I do not have any interest in Swahili language. I actually even offered Luganda at O-Level. But Doreen is so friendly I have to greet her in Swahili always.” Evangelista Lamara, student.