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Lets talk about children from Norway and kids elsewhere.
15 July 2006 -
Most parents (if the kids are lucky to have one or both of them) in rural
areas do not own a television and of course they don’t have electricity. Tap
water and toilets are again things they would never dream of having inside
their own house. And how inconvenient, the kitchen is outside on the ground
around the campfire. Wow, how cosy that must be! Well maybe weekends and
when you can choose which you are not able to during winter when temperatures
can be 0 degrees Celsius in some parts of southern Africa.
Why do I mention this about Africa when we were going to talk about kids in
Norway? Well, to be totally honest (which I don’t need be, because this is
my blog), this is more an ironic comparison of the two worlds. Why ironic?
First of all, I think “our kids” are slightly spoiled (at least some of
them) and to say the least, fortunate in many ways.
First of all, they are fortunate in having good healthcare,
which includes clean sanitary conditions both at home and at school. A Norwegian
parent always has money for soap and toothpaste. In Africa you have to walk
(often) kilometres for water and mostly girls has to fetch it. After healthcare comes education. No matter how terrible your parents work with
their budget, it would be ludicrous to deny the child education from the age of
6 to 15. Community Schools are free in many African countries as well, but the
conditions in which the pupils have to learn are often terrible. And how easy is
it to learn when your stomach is empty, the teacher threatens you with a stick
and hits you when you get a sentence wrong or an answer incorrect.
In Norway you indict your teacher if his voice is to loud or you feel he is
unfair.
On a school day, the schedule is as follows; sweep the floor, fetch water, bath
in the river or at the water fountain, THEN you eat breakfast, get dressed for
school and walk all the way to the schoolyard. It’s not uncommon that they walk
for an hour and a half; others are lucky to have the school closer to the home.
Would you ever imagine your kid walking 10 km to school carrying his or her
shoes in their hands because they don’t want to wear them out? They put them on
when they get to the school because its part of the uniform. And don’t tell me
they feel more comfortable without shoes, because they are used to walk
barefoot. It is status to have shoes, so if they have a pair to spare they would
use it always.
I remember a friend of mine told me a story about a young boy from Norway that
was asked if he could give away some clothes to poor children in Africa and he
picked out a number of items but couldn’t decide if he should add one of his
favourites. He was big hearted and put it into the basket going to Africa, then
took it out again. After thinking a bit it went back into the basket but not
willingly. He again reconsidered and the t-shirt did not make it to Africa.
How should we go about teaching “our” kids about how fortunate they are? I wish
it was possible for them to experience how different and difficult the world is
in poverty stricken countries. Clothing’s brand shouldn’t be that important and
helping mom is definitely nothing to get angry about. Watching the lives of
rural children washing, sweeping, cleaning, fetching water, carrying firewood
and working on the field really puts the two worlds into perspective.
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