{"id":137661,"date":"2022-03-15T12:08:33","date_gmt":"2022-03-15T11:08:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=137661"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:11","slug":"i-find-encouragement-in-other-countries-across-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2022\/03\/15\/i-find-encouragement-in-other-countries-across-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I find encouragement in other countries across Africa’"},"content":{"rendered":"

A continent plagued with colonialism and exploitation, Africa faces many obstacles in its strive for development. Poverty and inadequate access to education and healthcare are only some of the issues students Talita, Auguste and Radi were surrounded by growing up in Malawi, Burkina Faso and South Africa. \u201cMalawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, but we find encouragement in our neighbouring Rwanda and other countries across Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Talita Dielemans <\/span><\/p>

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On 16 March the conference \u2018Social challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa\u2019 will take place, organised by the Association of Students of African Heritage (ASAH), UNICEF Student Team Rotterdam and Think East. The event is about the challenges the African continent faces and students will be able to ask experts questions on these issues. Speakers include members from the Center for African Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and a Policy Officer of Migration and Refugees. You can find tickets here<\/a>. All ticket funds will go towards\u00a0UNICEF project \u2018Safe at home, far from home\u2019<\/a> that aids refugee children in Uganda with psychosocial support in the form of sports and education.<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n

Steady but slow<\/h2>

The Dutch-Malawian Talita Dielemans (20) grew up in Malawi and has lived in neighbouring Rwanda and Zambia. She is the chairwoman of the Association for Students of African Heritage and studies Management of International Social Challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cProgress in our country is steady, but slow. I think our capital is doing much better than before. Construction of new roads and buildings is possible due to financing from China. But for the rest of the country the infrastructure hasn\u2019t changed much, nor have the social issues. Most people live in villages spread throughout the country, which hinders access to education and healthcare. Children, like my cousins, have to attend boarding school. Most families can\u2019t afford that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a nightmare for my grandfather to travel from the countryside to us so we can bring him to a good hospital. During Covid, we didn\u2019t even have ventilators for seriously ill patients. Meanwhile, Rwanda was one of the first countries to implement robots in the fight against Covid. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, but we find encouragement in our neighbouring Rwanda and other countries across Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gender equality<\/h2>
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Auguste Ouedraogo<\/span><\/p>

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For Auguste Ouedraogo (22, Management of International Social Challenges), Burkina Faso is home. Growing up, he was surrounded by poverty without realising its magnitude. Having had the opportunity to live abroad and study, he feels it is his destiny to give back to his country.<\/p>\n

\u201cSports and education are important gateways for tackling our social and economic issues. We have a young population that doesn\u2019t have the resources to impact their future. We need to figure out how to get them educated, because this holds the key to progress.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the issue of gender equality for example, we\u2019ve started regressing. I often refer to the revolutionary leader of the 80s, Thomas Sankara. He was one of the first heads of state in the world to promote gender equality and he challenged the Burkinab\u00e9 to question their conservative views. Nowadays, my friends laugh at me whenever I say things like \u2018it\u2019s not a woman\u2019s job to cook for men\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cLuckily, there\u2019s improvement on other issues. It used to be your standard of living that would determine whether you\u2019d receive medical treatment, but there are efforts to change that. The last time I visited home, a new hospital and cancer treatment centre the size of Woudestein campus was being built, mostly with Chinese funding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Understanding poverty<\/h2>
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Radi Damianov<\/span><\/p>

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When Radi Damianov (21) was two years old, he and his parents moved from Bulgaria to South Africa. Studying International Business and Economics, he hopes to find a way to give better opportunities for education to children.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s important for individuals to see how poverty is different in other countries. In the Netherlands, poverty means that you live in an apartment in an area that\u2019s still quite safe. In South Africa it means living in a house made of metal plates and wood, without a proper bathroom or bedroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did community work in orphanages in some of the poorest parts of Johannesburg and that really opened my eyes. The orphanages have so little funds, which means that there often isn\u2019t enough food, the milk is watered down and many of these children don\u2019t have the opportunity to go to school.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why an event like this is so important. We need students to understand how important issues such as poverty, education and corruption are. And we need to find a way to overcome these challenges, to start afresh and create new opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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