Munira Nurbhai, Grade 11
UWCEA Arusha
Tanzania is a country famous for its national parks, mountains, and beaches. Behind this facade, though is poverty. I find myself hearing the statements Mama na njaa! (I’m hungry) Dada, naomba hela ya mkate (please give me some money to buy a loaf of bread), daily while walking and driving on the streets of Daressalaam.
My heart always aches when I walk past a sorrowful mother begging for money while trying to pacify her crying baby. Or an abandoned child wandering the avenues because his parents were too poor to raise him. Why does he get pushed into a life where he has to fend for himself, with no shelter, no food, and no idea whether he will get a warm meal to shut his grumbling stomach up! Why? He didn't ask for this. That poor child just wanted to go to school, make some friends and come home to a happy family where he can talk about his day while his mother fed him some rice and curry. Now is that too much to ask for?
It might be the minimum for us, but for them, it's equivalent to rock climbing with no harness. A life where the parents can't get a job due to lack of education and the child has to sacrifice his education to earn some money for the family.
Now, why do they choose to beg? Do you ask yourself this question as frequently as I do?
Why do they choose the path of shame and humiliation just to earn a couple of bucks?
Well, they don't care about fancy cars, Gucci clothes, or eating steak every night for dinner. Their priority is earning enough for one meal a day and searching for a place to sleep at night without getting beaten to death or police calling on them.
They don't have the satisfaction of choosing whether to work in a lab or a bank. Who will offer them a job when they don’t have a degree or a phone number? Heck, they don't even know where their birth certificate is, let alone an education degree. And who is to blame here? The parents because they didn't educate their children or the government for not making education free and accessible to everyone?
According to the Noble prize winner South African leader Nelson Mandela – “Poverty is not natural, it is manmade”
In 2018, about 14 million Tanzanians lived in poverty, up from 12.3 million in 2011-2012. Why are the statistics so high? Tanzania lacks the necessary agricultural policies to meet the country’s needs. Not sufficient crops to feed every single one of the 59.73million, leading to 35 percent of children under 5 being stunted, 398 deaths per 100,000 live births, extreme famine, and deaths.
Out of the 1.3 million children aged 7 years old in Tanzania, 39.5% do not attend primary or secondary school. Today no degree means no job, so where do they go from there. They are most likely to be unemployed and unable to secure good-paying jobs. Don’t get me wrong, not every person without an education lives in poverty but unskilled workers have no job security, their wages are low, and most of the time they are not respected.
In order to combat poverty, I believe the government should provide free education to anyone who cants afford it, so children don’t have to be abandoned and left on the streets to beg or involve themselves in illegal activities.
The government needs to ensure education is provided to everyone coming from low-income families to allow many more adults and children to better themselves and our economy. A country with free education is more likely to have a better workforce leading to increased creativity.
Healthcare in Tanzania still remains to be one of the major reasons behind poverty; it doesn't receive enough funding to provide free services to the public. The funds directed towards the health sector have declined from 9.6% in 2014 to 7% in 2018. To solve this disparity, the government decided to expand coverage of health insurance and extend quality health services to the poorer regions. Moreover, Tanzania has a very high adolescent birth rate: 22 percent of women ages 20 to 24 give birth before age 18. Children under the age of 18 should be educated on birth control and abortion so teen pregnancy can be prevented as teen mothers are less likely to complete high school or college and are therefore less likely to find well-paying jobs.
Many people living in rural areas depend on farming and livestock keeping as their source of income. By providing assistance to farmers, the government can reduce food insecurity and inflation.
I hope by the end of 2030, Tanzania will have finally combated poverty so no one will ever have to sell their respect and turn to begging on the streets.
Photo Credit: https://unitedrepublicoftanzania.com/economyoftanzania/importantfactsaboutpovertyintanzania/
My heart always aches when I walk past a sorrowful mother begging for money while trying to pacify her crying baby. Or an abandoned child wandering the avenues because his parents were too poor to raise him. Why does he get pushed into a life where he has to fend for himself, with no shelter, no food, and no idea whether he will get a warm meal to shut his grumbling stomach up! Why? He didn't ask for this. That poor child just wanted to go to school, make some friends and come home to a happy family where he can talk about his day while his mother fed him some rice and curry. Now is that too much to ask for?
It might be the minimum for us, but for them, it's equivalent to rock climbing with no harness. A life where the parents can't get a job due to lack of education and the child has to sacrifice his education to earn some money for the family.
Now, why do they choose to beg? Do you ask yourself this question as frequently as I do?
Why do they choose the path of shame and humiliation just to earn a couple of bucks?
Well, they don't care about fancy cars, Gucci clothes, or eating steak every night for dinner. Their priority is earning enough for one meal a day and searching for a place to sleep at night without getting beaten to death or police calling on them.
They don't have the satisfaction of choosing whether to work in a lab or a bank. Who will offer them a job when they don’t have a degree or a phone number? Heck, they don't even know where their birth certificate is, let alone an education degree. And who is to blame here? The parents because they didn't educate their children or the government for not making education free and accessible to everyone?
According to the Noble prize winner South African leader Nelson Mandela – “Poverty is not natural, it is manmade”
In 2018, about 14 million Tanzanians lived in poverty, up from 12.3 million in 2011-2012. Why are the statistics so high? Tanzania lacks the necessary agricultural policies to meet the country’s needs. Not sufficient crops to feed every single one of the 59.73million, leading to 35 percent of children under 5 being stunted, 398 deaths per 100,000 live births, extreme famine, and deaths.
Out of the 1.3 million children aged 7 years old in Tanzania, 39.5% do not attend primary or secondary school. Today no degree means no job, so where do they go from there. They are most likely to be unemployed and unable to secure good-paying jobs. Don’t get me wrong, not every person without an education lives in poverty but unskilled workers have no job security, their wages are low, and most of the time they are not respected.
In order to combat poverty, I believe the government should provide free education to anyone who cants afford it, so children don’t have to be abandoned and left on the streets to beg or involve themselves in illegal activities.
The government needs to ensure education is provided to everyone coming from low-income families to allow many more adults and children to better themselves and our economy. A country with free education is more likely to have a better workforce leading to increased creativity.
Healthcare in Tanzania still remains to be one of the major reasons behind poverty; it doesn't receive enough funding to provide free services to the public. The funds directed towards the health sector have declined from 9.6% in 2014 to 7% in 2018. To solve this disparity, the government decided to expand coverage of health insurance and extend quality health services to the poorer regions. Moreover, Tanzania has a very high adolescent birth rate: 22 percent of women ages 20 to 24 give birth before age 18. Children under the age of 18 should be educated on birth control and abortion so teen pregnancy can be prevented as teen mothers are less likely to complete high school or college and are therefore less likely to find well-paying jobs.
Many people living in rural areas depend on farming and livestock keeping as their source of income. By providing assistance to farmers, the government can reduce food insecurity and inflation.
I hope by the end of 2030, Tanzania will have finally combated poverty so no one will ever have to sell their respect and turn to begging on the streets.
Photo Credit: https://unitedrepublicoftanzania.com/economyoftanzania/importantfactsaboutpovertyintanzania/
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