{"id":712,"date":"2025-01-21T08:14:04","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T13:14:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.hostinghappisoft.xyz\/la-langue-et-la-culture-francaises-sont-des-priorites-pour-les-congolais\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T08:29:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T12:29:26","slug":"la-langue-et-la-culture-francaises-sont-des-priorites-pour-les-congolais","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lacch.ca\/en\/la-langue-et-la-culture-francaises-sont-des-priorites-pour-les-congolais\/","title":{"rendered":"French language and culture are priorities for the Congolese community"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Richard Caumartin<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Canadian Multiculturalism Day, celebrated on June 27, honours the many cultural communities that help build a strong and vibrant Canadian society. In Central Southern Ontario, these communities are playing an increasingly important role in the regional francophone community. This is particularly true of the Congolese community, which took the opportunity to gather for a double celebration on the last day of June in Stoney Creek.<\/p>\n<p>With support from Welcoming Francophone Communities and the Centre francophone Hamilton, the Congolese community celebrated the 64th anniversary of their country of origin\u2019s independence and Canadian Multiculturalism Day with a gala on the theme\u00a0<em>French in Our Homes<\/em>. Why this theme? Because it explores the challenges faced by families from francophone ethnocultural communities in general as French is abandoned as the first language of instruction.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis situation does not make it easier for newcomers to integrate, as most of them find themselves at the crossroads of the two official languages and end up abandoning French in favour of English,\u201d explains the president of the Congolese community, Jean-Jacques Somwe. \u201cThis theme, however, calls for effective collaboration among the region\u2019s francophone ethnocultural communities, mobilizing their respective members to breathe new life into the use of French in our homes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hosted by Nancy Tshibola and \u00c9ric Sa\u00efdi-Sadi, two active members of the Congolese community, the evening began with the Canadian and Congolese national anthems, followed by a video about the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Mr. Somwe then addressed the guests.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOver the past five years, our community has raised more than $100,000 to help newly arrived Congolese people going through difficult times. It is proof of a deep love for our own. We must be proud ambassadors of our culture. Our generation is responsible for preparing our children\u2019s future. The board of directors is convinced that building a cultural centre would be a dream come true and the solution to strengthening our culture and our foundations for the long term,\u201d says the president of the Congolese community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo everyone who believes this dream is impossible, I say that if the 5,000 members of our community each donate $10 a month \u2014 which many already do to support our organization \u2014 we will raise $50,000 a month. Multiply that over three years and, with interest, we will have nearly two million dollars to set up a lasting foundation and aim to open a Congolese House. Our children will then benefit from an organized structure for the future of our community. The ball is in our court!\u201d The speech drew loud applause from the audience.<\/p>\n<p>The event continued with a speech by Julie Jardel of the Centre francophone de Hamilton on the importance of French in the home. She spoke about her journey as an immigrant from France to Canada and the need to protect one\u2019s francophone identity and promote the use of French in a minority setting.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Jardel drew a comparison with the myth of the Tower of Babel to help the audience understand the importance of communication for a minority community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith our French, we can still become the solid foundation of this tower \u2014 a tower of communication and community support. Beyond communication, this language allows us to pass on our values, our traditions and our stories. French must not only survive, it must also thrive. Every person who chooses to speak French helps keep the language alive and vibrant. We have a responsibility to pass on our language and culture to our children. By doing so, we enrich our cultural identity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After the speeches, the roughly 200 guests enjoyed a multicultural buffet. Performances by Congolese artists from the region, an auction and a DJ dance celebrating 64 years of DRC independence made for an evening full of hope for the future of this community.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Photo<\/strong>\u00a0: Jean-Jacques Somwe, president of the Congolese Association<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source:<\/strong> Le \br\u00e9gional.com<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Richard Caumartin La Journ\u00e9e canadienne du multiculturalisme, c\u00e9l\u00e9br\u00e9e le 27\u00a0juin, rend hommage aux nombreuses communaut\u00e9s culturelles qui contribuent \u00e0 b\u00e2tir une soci\u00e9t\u00e9 canadienne forte et dynamique. Dans le Centre-Sud ontarien, ces communaut\u00e9s prennent de plus en plus d\u2019importance dans la francophonie r\u00e9gionale. C\u2019est le cas notamment pour la communaut\u00e9 congolaise qui a profit\u00e9 de l\u2019occasion pour se rassembler dans le cadre d\u2019une double c\u00e9l\u00e9bration, le dernier jour de juin, \u00e0 Stoney Creek. Avec l\u2019appui de Communaut\u00e9s francophones accueillantes et du Centre francophone Hamilton, les Congolais ont f\u00eat\u00e9 le 64e\u00a0anniversaire de l\u2019ind\u00e9pendance de leur pays d\u2019origine et la Journ\u00e9e canadienne du multiculturalisme avec un gala ayant pour th\u00e8me\u00a0Le fran\u00e7ais dans nos foyers. Pourquoi ce th\u00e8me? Parce qu\u2019il explore les d\u00e9fis auxquels sont confront\u00e9s les familles issues des communaut\u00e9s ethnoculturelles francophones en g\u00e9n\u00e9ral face \u00e0 l\u2019abandon de l\u2019usage de la langue fran\u00e7aise comme premi\u00e8re langue d\u2019enseignement. \u00ab\u00a0Cet \u00e9tat de fait ne facilite pas une meilleure int\u00e9gration des nouveaux arrivants, dont la plupart se retrouvent au carrefour des deux langues officielles et finissent par abandonner le fran\u00e7ais au profit de l\u2019anglais, explique le pr\u00e9sident de la communaut\u00e9 congolaise, Jean-Jacques Somwe. En revanche, ce th\u00e8me propose une collaboration efficace des communaut\u00e9s ethnoculturelles francophones de la r\u00e9gion en mobilisant leurs membres respectifs pour donner un nouveau souffle d\u2019oxyg\u00e8ne \u00e0 l\u2019usage du fran\u00e7ais dans nos foyers.\u00a0\u00bb Anim\u00e9e par Nancy Tshibola et \u00c9ric Sa\u00efdi-Sadi, deux membres actifs de la communaut\u00e9 congolaise, la soir\u00e9e a commenc\u00e9 avec l\u2019interpr\u00e9tation des hymnes canadien et congolais, suivie d\u2019une vid\u00e9o sur la R\u00e9publique d\u00e9mocratique du Congo (RDC). Puis, M.\u00a0Somwe s\u2019est adress\u00e9 aux invit\u00e9s. \u00ab\u00a0Au cours des cinq derni\u00e8res ann\u00e9es, notre communaut\u00e9 a mobilis\u00e9 plus de 100\u00a0000\u00a0$ pour venir en aide aux Congolais nouvellement arriv\u00e9s qui traversent des moments difficiles. C\u2019est la preuve d\u2019un amour profond pour les n\u00f4tres. Nous devons \u00eatre des ambassadeurs fiers de notre culture. Notre g\u00e9n\u00e9ration est responsable de pr\u00e9parer l\u2019avenir de nos enfants. Le conseil d\u2019administration est convaincu que la construction d\u2019un centre culturel serait la r\u00e9alisation d\u2019un r\u00eave et la solution pour fortifier notre culture et nos bases \u00e0 long terme, affirme le pr\u00e9sident de la communaut\u00e9 congolaise. \u00ab\u00a0\u00c0 tous ceux qui croient que ce r\u00eave est impossible, je dis que si les 5000\u00a0membres de notre communaut\u00e9 font un don de 10\u00a0$ mensuellement, ce que plusieurs font d\u00e9j\u00e0 pour soutenir notre organisme, nous encaisserons 50\u00a0000\u00a0$ par mois. Multipliez ce montant par trois et nous aurons pr\u00e8s de deux millions de dollars, avec les int\u00e9r\u00eats, dans trois ans pour mettre en place une fondation durable et viser l\u2019ouverture d\u2019une Maison congolaise. Nos enfants profiteront alors d\u2019une structure organis\u00e9e pour l\u2019avenir de notre communaut\u00e9. La balle est dans notre camp!\u00a0\u00bb Cette allocution a suscit\u00e9 des applaudissements nourris de l\u2019auditoire. L\u2019\u00e9v\u00e9nement s\u2019est poursuivi avec le discours de Julie Jardel du Centre francophone de Hamilton sur l\u2019importance du fran\u00e7ais dans les foyers. Elle a parl\u00e9 de son parcours d\u2019immigrante de la France au Canada et de la n\u00e9cessit\u00e9 de prot\u00e9ger son identit\u00e9 francophone et de promouvoir l\u2019utilisation de la langue fran\u00e7aise en milieu minoritaire. Mme\u00a0Jardel a fait une comparaison avec le mythe de la tour de Babel pour faire comprendre \u00e0 l\u2019auditoire l\u2019importance de la communication pour une communaut\u00e9 en situation minoritaire. \u00ab\u00a0On peut encore justement avec notre fran\u00e7ais devenir la fondation solide de cette tour qui est celle de communication et d\u2019entraide communautaire. Au-del\u00e0 de la communication, cette langue permet de transmettre nos valeurs, nos traditions et nos r\u00e9cits. Le fran\u00e7ais ne doit pas seulement survivre, il doit aussi prosp\u00e9rer. Chaque personne qui choisit de parler fran\u00e7ais contribue \u00e0 garder cette langue vivante et dynamique. Nous avons la responsabilit\u00e9 de transmettre notre langue et notre culture \u00e0 nos enfants. En le faisant, nous enrichissons notre identit\u00e9 culturelle.\u00a0\u00bb Apr\u00e8s les discours, les quelque 200\u00a0invit\u00e9s ont profit\u00e9 d\u2019un buffet multiculturel. Des prestations artistiques de Congolais de la r\u00e9gion, une vente aux ench\u00e8res et une danse avec DJ pour c\u00e9l\u00e9brer les 64\u00a0ann\u00e9es d\u2019ind\u00e9pendance de la RDC ont aliment\u00e9 une soir\u00e9e remplie d\u2019espoir pour l\u2019avenir de cette communaut\u00e9. Photo\u00a0: Jean-Jacques Somwe, pr\u00e9sident de l\u2019Association congolaise \u00a0 Source : Le \br\u00e9gional.com<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":713,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_breakdance_hide_in_design_set":false,"_breakdance_tags":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nouvelles"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lacch.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lacch.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lacch.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lacch.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lacch.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=712"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lacch.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":714,"href":"https:\/\/lacch.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712\/revisions\/714"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lacch.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lacch.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lacch.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lacch.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}