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African Insights Blog – August 2004
Born in the USA and Born in Africa -Where you are
born, determines how you live:
Where you are born will determine how you live.
To whom you are born, also will determine the quality of your life, the
kind of education you will receive, your health and well being and medical
care during the formative years, the kind of place you will call home, the
food you will eat and the bed you will sleep in. The parents you were
born to and the area of the world where you are born determines your opportunities
in life, determines your potential and success.
 It
happened last August 28th, Benjamin, my first grandchild was
born to my son, Ryan, and his wife, Kristen. They live in a suburb
of Seattle in a brand new house with a newly decorated nursery for the little
man. He has the best insurance coverage, which will give him the best
medical care available. His parents have stocked their house with
enough things to provide for a family of five children. They even
bought a new vehicle to protect mother and child as they drive around in
their part of the world. This little Benjamin, this little man I love
will have all the help and support to succeed in life.
Had Benjamin been born in another part of the world,
such as East Africa, his chance for life, opportunities available to him,
his health and education would have been quite different. His life
expectancy would not be 80 some years, as it is now, but half of that or
even less. There would be a good chance he would never see the age
of six (25% of East African children do not). Children in Africa die of
things that do not affect children in the West. In fact, most of the
deaths are preventable and treatable. If only there were enough money,
enough medical care, enough information to educate and inform as to what
parents can do. Clean water, just clean water, would eliminate a lot
of childhood diseases. Mosquito netting, things that are simple, could
and would make a difference regarding the lives of children.
Here in America, my grandson, unlike many children
in Africa, will never get sick from drinking tap water. He will not get
typhoid or other little bugs that come through the water one drinks, as
long as it is from the tap or bottled water. Little Benjamin’s stomach will
never become distended because of hunger and starvation; his parents have
enough to feed him beyond his needs. He will have more than enough
food to grow into a healthy adult and give him the energy and brain energy
to study (children who do not have a proper diet have a hard time learning),
play, participate in sports and sleep in a bed alone, a bed that gives him
the sleep he will need, everything to help this little boy become a functioning
and successful adult.
On the other hand, nothing can be taken for granted
in Africa. Life is a struggle for families and especially for children.
One meal a day or no meal is common for many a child in the slums of Nairobi
and Kampala. Food and wood to cook it with becomes a daily prayer.
Parents cry at night as they attempt to provide for their family on wages
of a dollar a day.
In the West, children like Benjamin will get their
share of chickenpox, mumps, the yearly cold, sniffles, upset stomach, and
mostly kids here in the west will simply weather it through with the help
of some medications, proper diet and loving care. On the other hand,
had Benjamin been born in a little village in East Africa, doctors and nurses
would have not attended to his birth. It would have happened in a
hut attended to by other mothers. There would not have been the medical
aftercare; there would have not been the bright nursery with toys and beds,
pictures, prayers and poems but simply the daily struggle for life that
most Africans face, day to day with all the little things that take children
before their time.
Yes, where a child is
born tends to determine what kind of life that child will have. Benjamin
was born into the best of places where all the things are in place to make
sure he will succeed in life. He, unlike a boy in East Africa, will
not know hunger; will not know the scourge of malaria, the typhoid, river
blindness, cholera and all the other things that visit the children of Africa
and take their lives during their formative, growing up years.
The birth of my grandchild made me remember children
I had met in Africa; children with dreams and hopes, who wanted to become
doctors, lawyers, mayors, fathers and mothers. It also causes me to remember
the parents with tears streaming down their face as they hold a suffering
child in their arms. Benjamin was born in the West, he is doing well
and thriving, but somewhere in Kampala, in Nairobi, a boy born on the same
day as Benjamin is floating between life and death. There is no medical
care, no medicines, and no money…and a shortened life…just because that
little boy was born in Africa…jon
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The Children of
Africa Section
Stories of African
Children, Pictures of African Children, Life for
children in Africa
 Africa's
Children Struggling to Survive:
Life is a daily struggle for the children of
Africa. The things we take for granted in the west
are often simply absent. From nutrition to
hygiene, from education to the lack of books for
reading, find out what life is like for the children of
Africa.
 Meet
Monie and Leakey:
Two children and their stories. Two different
countries, Monie in Rwanda and Leakey in Kenya, but the
struggle to survive is similar. One a child of an
unjust war that resulted in a genocide, the other child
a boy of the streets in Nairobi. Both give you
insight into the daily lives of children in Africa.
You will be glad
to have read these two stories.
 Peter
- a boy just like me: The
story of an African Boy and his triumph against all
odds. Peter came from a slum in Eldoret in Kenya.
His story is tragic, but profound. Thrown away at
the time of his birth, raised by a grandmother, sleeping
for days without food, and yet there is a strong will to
survive.
Life in a Kampala Neighborhood:
I spent some months living in an area of Kampala where
you will not many a western person. My home, was in a
small courtyard where one of the children I became
friends with was Axum. An account of what life is
like for people in Kampala, Uganda and how children live
in tough times.
 A
day in a School in Africa: A day at
Saint Andrew's Nursery and Primary School in Kampala,
Uganda. Get a feel of what school is like in a
Kampala neighborhood. Get a feel of what school life is
like for a child at Saint Andrew's Nursery and Primary
in Kansanga, Kampala, Uganda.
 Life
Saving Medicine - Soap and Water:
Death comes to thousands of children in Africa, all
it takes to prevent it is soap and water. What
people do not realize is that soap and water will
eliminate 40% of children's sicknesses and diseases.
The best medicine for African children is simple soap
and water. The problem is access to water, besides
water in many cases costs money and has to be carried a
distance, so you avoid using it, even for washing of
hand in the case of children.
 Aids
and the Children of Africa: Each
day more children become orphans because of the ravages
of AIDS. Many children are born being HIV positive
and life ahead of them is simply tragic. The
emotional scars, the inner and outer pain is great for
the children of Africa.
 Culture
– Patriarchal Ways and Education of Girls:
African Parents are
deeply concerned for the education of their children.
Boys are pushed to be educated, girls on the other hand,
if there is a lack of funds, they just might be the
first to stay home. The poorer the family, the
bigger the chance that the girls in the family will stay
home and help at home. 67% of girls in slums drop out of
school while only 38% of boys do so.
 The
children of the LRA:
This section deals with the
children of Northern Uganda. Find out about Child
soldiers of the LRA, what happens to abducted children,
the children who evaded captivity by becoming night
commuters, the stories of abducted children. The
person behind the abductions of children, Joseph Kony.
 They
just keep on coming:
There is Church and then there the
unique, one of a kind church for children in the
Bugolobi area of Kampala. It is amazing sight as
children stream in rain or shine to come to
church. They come mostly from slum areas nearby,
but quite a few walk several miles to come to church on
a Sunday morning.
 Children
born into Slums:
A child that is born into a slum
in Africa does not have much of a chance in life.
From day to day survival which ranges access to clean
water and food to education, it is all about money.
The future for such a child means being locked into the
cycle of poverty and rarely is there a way out for
such a child.
 Children
- Born into slums-The Solution=Education:
How do you help a child in a
slum in Africa? Education is the solution and
even with education alone there is no guarantee
since here in Africa getting a job, any job is
simply tough, without an education there is no hope
for a meaningful future and a breaking of the cycle
of poverty.
 Children
Born into Slums - Child Sponsorship:
Sponsor a Child in a slum in Kampala. His or her
parents have no money to help and assist their children.
There is not enough money even for food, at times for
water, at times to pay to go to a latrine. Life is
simply tough. When it comes to education, children stay
at home, work around the house, take care of the other
children and miss out on being a child.
 Send
a book to a Child in Africa:
If you go into a home in Uganda,
one thing that will be absent are books. In
Kampala there are only about five book stores to be
found. Children grow up not reading. The
power and of the dream and imagination is simply not
released in the life of a child. Your donation of
some books could and would make a difference in the life
of a child living in a slum, where books are the last
things one thinks about.
 Start
a Library in Africa for Children:
Libraries, one can spend hours in them. In Uganda,
most schools do not have lending libraries. If
there are some books, they are behind a locked door,
behind glass, to be protected. Children are
deprived of books that would allow them to grow and
become. Start a library in Africa is a project
with the intention of getting thousands of books into
hands of children that will allow them to released in
their imagination and heart.
 African
Children Photo Album:
The pictures of Africa's Children tell their
story. One can read the stories on this site, but when
you see the pictures of the children of Africa, your
heart simply melts. Meet the children of Africa
through pictures. There are lots of pages for you
to peruse and enjoy.
 Make
a difference in the Life of a Child:
It is one thing to read about the children of Africa,
look at the picture, but coming here and being with the
children is most awesome thing one can experience.
Not only will you make a difference in the life of a
child, but a difference in your own life. One to
two weeks that will be life changing.
 What
can I do? This is a question that I am
often asked, here are some practical answers as to how
you can help and assist the children of Africa.
One of the most inspiring ways is coming here to spend a
few weeks and visit. It is one of the best
investments you can ever make.
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Last updated:
06 July 2010
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