Youth’s view on and hope for their future, are connected to their opportunity to choose life paths, and make decisions related to their own future. Future life can be seen as something
41 I have talked to university students, youth who has just finished primary school and young adults who have
taken informal courses after primary school. They live in Arusha, Dodoma and Dar es Salam. They all have a clear opinion about what kind of education that has highest status, but they are also saying that all education is better than nothing. And any education that can give better chances to a paid job is good.
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that just happens, or as shaped by individual choices. No one’s life is only a result of individual choices, but in some parts of the world the individual choices are given more weight. As mentioned in 5.1.1 Tanzanians perceive their future as unpredictable, and the possibilities for choosing are limited, so also for youth. Good things and bad things happen, and are out of their control. In this situation most Tanzanians rely on God to protect them and guide them, and religion becomes a natural part of daily life.42 By this I do not perceive youth in Tanzania as passive, accepting everything that happens without will to take action. Helgesson (2006) finds many examples on youth organizing themselves to make changes in their lives or in society. I did not find examples on that in Haydom while I was there, but I do not question their ability to do so.
One of the differences between youth in Masai, studied by Helgesson (2006), and youth in Haydom are their access to a youth center and participation in civil organizations. This way of participating in society gives youth an ability to learn democracy and citizenship, and take part in discussions and decisions which involves them (Ansell 2005). In Norwegian schools this competence is a valued part of the curriculum, and to be heard is considered a right for children and youth (UN 1989). In Tanzania the teaching methods do not open for discussions and youth’s opinions, therefore it is even more important to get this experience through other channels. Haydom is a community that have developed and expanded fast, and therefore naturally lacks some of the attributes of more established societies. At present youth in Haydom lack the experience in voicing their opinions that a civil society organization could give them, and the possibility to be heard as a group.
To be able to make choices about future career, it is important to know your own strengths and weaknesses. This competence is often received through childhood and youth by experimenting and trying different activities. Feedback from others, peers or adults, also mean much in this process. Boys and girls in standard 6 told about little time to play during the weekdays, and except from one football player and one choir singer, no one participated in organized activities in their leisure time. Schoolwork and house work took up most of their time, and both girls and boys told about helping their mothers and looking after younger siblings. The only day in the week most of them had time of to do what they chose was
42 The faith in God in all kinds of harsh life situations, without bitterness was discussed among the western
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Sunday. A typical description of a normal day came from a 12 year old girl43: After I come
back from school I help my mother with housework, then I study for one hour. My parents think that it is important that I have time to study. Then I asked: Do you have time for
playing? And she answered: Yes, on Sundays. It should also be added that many found time in between their duties, in the rest of the week to play also. I have many times observed children playing on their way to or from school, on their way to the water-post, or combining looking after siblings with playing. The same girl also answered the questions about favorite activity averagely: Napenda kusoma (Kiswahili: I like to read/study). A significant share of the pupils also answered housework. It is my impression that these answers should be seen in connection with the value put on studying and working in the community. I am not sure that these youths actually answered what they preferred to do. I also asked the standard 6 pupils what people use to tell them that they were good at. The girl sited above said: My mum use to tell me that
I’m good in cleaning the outdoor area. Her answer was one of the most common ones; other
said that parents use to tell them that they were good children, that they were good in helping out with work, or that they were good in their exams. Some of the youth was also clearly proud by the praise from teachers for good schoolwork. All this general feedback is good for the youths’ self esteem, but it does not increase their competence in choosing, or continuing the improvement of specific skills.
Choosing education and work after talents and wishes are not common among young people in Haydom. There are often not many possibilities to choose from, so they take the opportunity they are given, and make the most of it44. The consequence of this is that many young people go around without knowing about their own talents, and without possibility to use their capabilities to improve their lives, or to contribute in their society. “The capabilities approach focuses on what each and every person is able to do and be, their valuable doings and beings, in making meaningful choices from a range of options; hence having the freedom to choose a life they have reason to value” (Walker 2005). To really have freedom to choose the life one values, a person needs to have knowledge about the options available and the persons own strengths. A precondition to make a choice of lifestyle is also to have information available and to reflect upon the question of what are important in my life. Youth
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The answers are translated from Kiswahili.
44 I got this impression after talking with young people in Kampala, Arusha and Dodoma in addition to the youth
I interviewed in Haydom. Their reasons behind their choice of education were mainly the possibility for work, not their own interests. I found it difficult to make them understand my question when I related education and work to wishes, interests and dreams.
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in Haydom see poverty as the biggest constraint to live the life they choose, and perceive education as the way to escape the poverty trap (Chambers 1983). It is though my impression that the constraint to what people actually can be and do also lays in the view on education as the only ticket out of poverty, and hence not on the qualities people have in themselves. In this way all the resources invested in schooling can reinforce the poverty trap instead of breaking it (For a further discussion of this topic see 5.3).