As this phase of my journey through Africa comes to an end, I’ve reflected over what I am taking away from the experience. Lots of wonderful memories, thousands of photos, new friends. But in thinking about what I have learnt from my time in Africa, two things strike me most.
The first thing is how different life could be. Yes, I’ve travelled in poverty-stricken areas before. But it’s not until I worked with women in this situation, that I really tried to put myself in their shoes. What would my life be like if I had been born into a rural African village? Can I imagine living in a 2-roomed brick house with earth floors? Having nine children (the average in Uganda)? Spending my whole day washing clothes, fetching water, cooking, looking after all those children? Perhaps if I had a business selling charcoal or second-hand clothes I would need to fit that in too. Worrying about whether I had enough money to feed my children and send them to school? Doing what my husband told me? No. Despite the fact that many of these women appear to be happier than their stressed out, materialistic counterparts in the west, I can’t imagine living that way. Life is hard. The future is uncertain. Wealth and privilege are largely the product of birthplace. I thank my lucky stars that I was born in the UK. Life really is a lottery…
My second realisation is the impact of population growth. 58% of Ugandans are under the age of 15. The statistics are similar in Malawi, Madagascar, Tanzania and Ethiopia. Populations in Africa are young and forecast to grow. None of these countries has much of a formal economy. Jobs for school-leavers are few and far between. As this generation comes of age, how are they going to sustain themselves? What sort of life is their country going to offer them? Access to education, healthcare, clean water, sufficient food…all of these things are already under extreme strain. How do the governments of these countries plan to deliver a good quality of life for even more citizens? As things stand, they can’t. For the last few years, the shores of Europe have been inundated with economic migrants searching for a better life. As populations grow, access to jobs and vital services seems likely to decline. If quality of life declines, those searching for something better will inevitably increase. Africa’s population growth is not sustainable. We all want Africa to realise it’s potential. The youth will be a key part of that. But only if they feel they have a better future. Charities and NGOs play their part too. But they tend to focus on providing education, healthcare, clean water. Are any of them focussed on controlling population growth? Because that to me seems like the African elephant in the room.