This is a question that interests all countries: access to knowledge, in this case for the 120 million people who speak the Swahili language, in Tanzania, Kenya or Uganda, and who until now had to master English if they wanted technical answers on Covid-19, climate change or even the exploration of the planet Mars.
A constraint that Syriacus Buguzi, 30, doctor by training and scientific journalist has just removed. He launched the first issue of his magazine last week Mwana Sayansi, “The scientist” entirely in the Swahili language, on the model of the popularization monthlies that exist here in France, Science & Life, Science and Future, Epsiloon or The research.
Baby is born, with lots of milestones to achieve. Gazeti la kwanza la sayansi kwa lugha ya Kiswahili nchini Tanzania linalochapishwa na @ResearchC0M
Pata habari & uchambuzi kuhusu sayansi/utafiti kukidhi mahitaji ya hadhira ya Kitanzania.Pakua gazeti hapa: https://t.co/cW8imQAH5W pic.twitter.com/KOzGirqGdb—Syriacus Buguzi (@buguzi) February 14, 2022
It was the Covid epidemic that convinced him to set up this magazine in Swahili. “Here in Tanzaniahe explains to the BBC, all scientists communicate in English, and it’s a barrier, it slows down the transmission of information, for example, for a study on the Omicron variant to reach someone who can’t read technical terms in English, Tanzanian journalists need to take an interest in the study, translate it and then write about it in their newspapers. Anyone who wants to go further, to have a little more than a simple summary does not have the opportunity.” Syriacus Buguzi therefore wants to break down the language barrier, in all scientific fields. The first issue of his magazine features articles on artificial intelligence, agriculture, and of course the Covid-19.
The first science & technology newspaper written in the Swahili language has launched in Tanzania. Journalist Syriacus Buguzi wants to make sure that ‘information in science goes to the people in the language they love most.’ https://t.co/KOtWx79kBV
— BBC News Africa (@BBCAfrica) February 16, 2022
It targets a very wide audience, which therefore ranges from general media journalists to school teachers, including teenagers, “because young people who must have the keys to understanding the world in which they evolve”and above all, adds Syriacus Buguzi, to have the keys “to fight today’s scourges, the multiplication of epidemics, climate change or even the proliferation of fake news. (…) I have always been immersed in science, it was my father who kept me curious until I became bilingual and could read by myself, but mastered English to the point of being able to read newspapers in that language is the privilege of a minority. And that’s what we hope to overcome with this magazine.”