[APCPress] NO EMBARGO: Jambo OpenOffice - Swahili Free and Open Source Software

[Karen Higgs]

Alberto Escudero -longtime APC collaborator- is localising 
OpenOffice.org and other open software to Swahili, the lingua franca of 
East Africa, spoken by almost 100 million people. We believe you will 
find this news important.

Best wishes
APC
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For Immediate Release


Because it could be done, we play our part!
Swahili Free and Open Source Software.

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania -- As the Father of Tanzania, the late Mwalimu 
Nyerere will always be remembered by his famous saying: "It can be done; 
play your part".

Today, 4th December 2004, The Open Swahili Localization Project, also 
known as Kilinux, is proud to announce the first ever release of a free 
office suite software in Swahili, called "Jambo OpenOffice."

Jambo OpenOffice is the Swahili version of OpenOffice.org, a leading 
international effort to provide a free and open source office suite 
based on open standards and capable of running on all major computer 
platforms.

This pioneering effort is funded by the Swedish International 
Development Agency (SIDA) and The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM). It 
is coordinated by the Department of Computer Science (UDSM), Institute 
of Kiswahili Research (IKR) and the Swedish consultancy company IT+46. 
The project does not only aim to localize free and open source software 
into Swahili, but also to create awareness of the benefits of using and 
extending free software.

For more information:
http://www.o.ne.tz/
info at kilinux.org - (www.kilinux.org)

Main project coordinator, UDSM
Dr. Hashim Twaakyondo
Email:htwaaky at cs.udsm.ac.tz
Phone: +255 22 24 10 657 (office), +255 744 386261 (mobile)

Technical project coordinator, IT +46
Dr. Alberto Escudero Pascual
Email: aep at it46.se
Phone: +255 745 88 40 04

ICT Project Manager, SIDA
Nils Jensen
Email: nils.jensen at sida.se
Phone: +255 22 21 22 235 (office), +255 744 44 44 80 (mobile)