The officers and staff of the Philippine Embassy in Nairobi have successfully completed the 48-hour basic Kiswahili language Course conducted by Aliphaxe Center on February 18.
All nine participants received their certificates of completion of the course. The basic Kiswahili language course level A1 was conducted at the Embassy conference room every Tuesday and Thursday from November 19, 2019 to January 29, 2020, from 4pm to 6pm.
“The Embassy personnel, despite their busy schedules, have showed their cooperation to learn the Kiswahili language. By the end of the programme, they have acquired basic knowledge of the language which helps them communicate well and effectively deal with the local people and accomplish their task with ease and facility,” a statement by the embassy on Tuesday said.
The conduct of said language course was made possible through the Foreign Language Scholarship Programs under the Foreign Service Institute Congressional Initiative.
Kiswahili became an official language of the African Union in 2004, joining English, Portuguese, French and Arabic.
This was after Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano surprisingly delivered his farewell speech as AU chairman in Swahili in 2004.
