In Broken Images

This is my favourite poem right now, an allusion to the arrogant and to the blind followers in illusion, wrapped in the mystery of their ignorance. This poem speaks volumes:

He is quick, thinking in clear images;

I am slow, thinking in broken images.

He becomes dull, trusting to his clear images;

I become sharp, mistrusting my broken images.

Trusting his images, he assumes their relevance;

Mistrusting my images, I question their relevance.

Assuming their relevance, he assumes the fact;

Questioning their relevance, I question their fact.

When the fact fails him, he questions his senses;
when the fact fails me, I approve my senses.

He continues quick and dull in his clear images;
I continue slow and sharp in my broken images.

He in a new confusion of his understanding;
I in a new understanding of my confusion.

by Robert Graves

Poverty and Child Development: The Dilemma of Children in Want”

In as much as children can successfully grow and develop into responsible and productive citizens able to fend for themselves and others regardless of where they come from, more often than not the economic status of their parents commands a greater say on where they go and how they will develop. In this regard, generally those children coming from well-off families have better chances to develop properly in areas of nutrition, health and education, subsequently having much more opportunities to choose what they want to be in their lives. The case is different unfortunately for the child who grows in want, deficiency and poverty.

A scene at a squatter camp.

With the scourge of poverty scorching through the continent, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, an alarmingly high number of children never get to enjoy a complete package of the rights they are entitled to. Due to poverty child mortality is very high as well as illiteracy. Malnutrition puts the lives of millions of children at the cliff-edge of mortality. For those who survive the scourge, life is never a pleasant experience. Whilst children born in poverty have the potential to develop into the kind of people they dream to be, the legacy of their parents’ poverty become a burden to them and a stumbling block to progress. At this stage the scene is not at all pleasing, but worse still it does not end there, but a multiplier effect is instituted bearing a string of burdens and challenges. When parents are unable to meet the needs of a child, neglect and other vices are certainly poised to affect the child, destroying security, protection and hope on the part of the child. For most children one alternative remains; to find ways to sustain themselves. The problem becomes even more pronounced given the ailing social security systems that are supposed to cater for the children’s development needs should they be sound and fully operational.

What ensures here is an ugly battle for survival and the children will do anything necessary and possible to survive, in the process turning a blind eye to the consequences of their ways, such as acquiring the HIV virus through prostitution. Many children opt for being in the streets engaging in begging and vending whilst some have made them their permanent homes, and the “homes” are not safe at all. In the streets children have become subjects of rape and sexual exploitation, bullying from their peers, harassment from local authorities, and are severely exposed to diseases and malnutrition arising from hunger, the unhealthy living environment and harsh weather conditions. Although never a justification of crime, criminal activity will certainly be done by most as an alternative for survival. Such is the dilemma of children who are prematurely ushered into the world of adulthood by the poverty at home, to stand on their own and seek survival.

With the desperate need for survival coming hard on the heels as a push factor, they unwillingly become more frequent offenders thereby running the risk of turning into hardcore-criminals, implying failed child-development.  Juvenile crime then becomes a mere indicator of loopholes in the way our children are raised, and because of the poverty of their parents that initiated this entire chain of events, they find themselves behind bars. Such is the sad reality on the ground. For this reason, a much higher number of juvenile offenders is seen in areas where poverty levels are high.

Even for many children in this vice who attempt survival strategies such as child labour, without necessarily heading for criminal activity, fate takes them there. In the process child labour interferes with the child’s education and thereby future possibilities in the labour market. Unfortunately, the consequences of child labour to the defenseless and helpless child are more than physical. In addition to injuries, poor health, and chronic illnesses, child labourers develop high level of stress culminating into anti-social behaviour. Low self-esteem and confidence affect their chances of success and subsequently in adult life. It is a complex matrix of psychological disturbances leading to the many problems of moral decadence and crime reaching its peak in their adult lives. This is how many children end up in crime and subsequently in prison.

It is never by choice that they find themselves as criminals at young age, but unfortunate fate passed down to them by the poverty of their parents and the resultant inability to cater for their proper development into what they ought to become. It is a battle for life and survival with a bitter ending-children behind bars. The reason: a search for survival!

The Brightest Young Minds Experience 2011

This story was published in the University of KwaZulu-Natal online newsletter UKZNOnline and on the University website.
http://enewsletter.ukzn.ac.za/Newsletter.aspx?id=45

From left: Mr Andrew Goronga, Ms Sophia Basckin, Ms Basheerah Mohamed, Mr Msawenkosi Jeffery Khumalo, Ms Xolelwa Zulu, Ms Frances Rachel Morrow, Mr Musa Kika, and Ms Aarefah Mathir.

Eight UKZN students are among South Africa’s 100 Brightest Young Minds selected by the Brightest Young Minds Organisation. The students attended the Brightest Young Minds Summit in Johannesburg from July 4-9. UKZN, the University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch University had the highest number of representatives.

The eight students are: Ms Areefah Mathir, a Masters student in Chemical Engineering; final-year Bachelor of Social Science student, Ms Basheerah Mohamed;  Mr Musa Kika, first-year LLB student and the only first-year student to attend the summit; Mr Msawenkosi Jeffery Khumalo, Masters student; Ms Frances Rachel Morrow, who is studying Politics and Economics; Ms Sophia Basckin, studying Philosophy and Linguistics, Mr Andrew Goronga, a final-year Electrical Engineering student and Ms Xolelwa Zulu, a PhD student.  Six of the students are based on the Howard College campus, while one is from Pietermaritzburg and one from the Westville campuses.

The Brightest Young Minds Summit is South Africa’s premier youth summit that brings together 100 of the brightest and most passionate young minds with the view to connecting them and channelling their hearts and minds into initiatives that have a positive societal impact. They are chosen from thousands of entries from university students and young people between the ages of 20-30 from all over the country. They are selected using the criteria of innovation, leadership, and academic accomplishments. Delegates get the rare opportunity to interact and network with some of the country’s top thinkers and leaders, whilst a platform is also created for them to showcase their talents. All the UKZN students are academic high achievers and have over the years exhibited leadership and innovation through personal initiatives and association with various organisations and groups.

The theme for this year’s 11^th edition of the summit was “A Climate for Change”, focusing on perhaps the major challenge that the next generation of leaders will be faced with, that of building a carbon-free economy that is environmentally sustainable. Among the many high profile organisations and companies that the delegates engaged with were T-Systems, BMW, Pam Golding, Vodacom, X-Trata, Sasol, Unilever, Dimension Data, and leaders including Dr Yaw Afrane-Okose of the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Dr Richard Worthington of the World Wildlife Fund, Mr Stanford Masie of Novell South Africa and former CEO of Google Africa, and Dr Andrew Venter of the Wildlands Trust.  

Past alumni of the summit have included numerous Rhodes and Fulbright Scholars, entrepreneurs and the founders of successful social initiatives.

Budgeting for child welfare essential. By Musa Kika (Published in The Standard Newspaper, Harare, October 2010)

CHILD BUDGETING: FUNDAMENTAL FOR CHILD PROTECTION

The commitment of those in authority and the importance attached to child protection in any given country can be measured by the amount of resources channeled towards this sector. The same applies to all the other areas. Not only will the amount of resources allocated to child protection reflect the willpower, but they will ultimately determine the achievement desired. It will show that we are a nation in which children’s rights are taken as human rights, and where every child develops to their highest potential without any challenges that can be prevented.

The above position is recognized and recommended by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in Article 4 wherein state parties are enjoined to “undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative, and other measures for the implementation of the rights recognized in the present convention.......undertake such measures to the maximum extent of their available resources and, where needed, within the framework of international co-operation”. This provision recognizes that resource allocation is indispensable if child protection is to be achieved. In Zimbabwe the child rights area has not been considered a priority in budgeting. Whilst we truly appreciate the efforts made by the government to channel much of the nations budget allocation to education, areas such as health, OVC programming, shelter and birth registration remain painfully under-funded. The development of a child is multifaceted and requires that each aspect be concurrently addressed to achieve holistic growth, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

It is hopeful to note that there is growing realization by development practitioners that budget analysis and advocacy play key roles in advancing child rights[1]. As implied by the theme for the Day of the African Child this year, “Planning and budgeting for children our collective responsibility”, the process calls for our collective efforts in resource mobilization and lobbying for the relevant budgeting authorities to put children first. As we do this, we must not be shortsighted that such budgeting will only serve to provide the immediate needs of the children. It is about the distant future that we intend to prepare for the country’s future adults. One of the 10 imperatives adopted by the May 2000 “Say Yes for Children Campaign”, that culminated into the 2002 UN General Assembly Special Session on Children, is  “Fight poverty: Invest in children”.  This resolution stemmed from noting that “investment in children lays the foundation for a just society, a strong economy and a world free of poverty”, establishing the relationship that exists between the elimination of the challenges we face today and the proper upbringing of children, who are the custodians of the future.

The attainment of universal child protection hinges on the effective mobilization of resources, both for programming, implementation and evaluation so that we achieve a “Zimbabwe fit for children”.

A government budget is an expression of the aspirations of those in power. Through the budget, one can see whether children are a priority or not. Our call is that indeed they are a priority. Prioritizing children’s issues cannot be divorced from budgetary allocation. How our nation progresses is determined, among other things, on how much we value our future and invest in it. This investment is through channeling resources to the development of humanity. Children are the future of this nation and let us prioritize their needs.

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[1] B. L. Muchabaiwa, Child Budget Analysis and Advocacy,  NANGO 2007