Swahili People Group

The people group I decided to chose was the Swahili people group. The Arabic culture has proved to have had the biggest influence in determining Swahili traditions. A major component of the Arabic culture is the Islamic religion. Islamic traditions have been adopted by the Swahili people and take part in almost every aspect of the Swahili tribe’s daily life. It affects the food they eat, the clothes they wear, and their general lifestyle. Swahili children are required to attend religious classes where they study the Qur’an and the Arabic language.

To the Swahili people, marriage is where the transition from childhood to adulthood occurs. The Swahili typically practice arranged marriages but it is common for the bride’s parents to pick a groom for their daughter. The daughter however does have the right to decline her parent’s decision and choose her own groom. Swahili marriages take place over several days. They involve elaborate preparations, ceremonies, and activities for the men and women. Men are the only ones allowed in the mosque for their official marriage vow though. The Swahili speak in the native tongue, the Swahili language which is in the Niger-Congo family.

The reasons the Swahili group intrigued me are kind of unorthodox. I heard about the Swahili people group through Kyle Davidson’s brother who is actually studying the Swahili language. That kind of grew my interest in the Swahili people so I actually took the time to learn a tiny bit of the language too. In addition, my sister had went on a mission trip where she spent a month in Africa. She had the most incredible experience with nothing but great things to say about the trip, so that further grew my interest in finding an unreached people group in Africa, which the Swahili people are. In addition, only 1.44% are professing Christians of the 1,755,600 people, so they’re a large group who need reaching. Generally, I just thought they would be a really interesting people group to do the project on.

Did you like this example?

847

35