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ON THE WEB
| ISSN 0856-9135; No. 00228 |
July 13 - 19, 2002 |
ON THE WEB
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by Raja Jivraj Street children season Efforts to get street children off the streets of Arusha seem to have miserably failed. The tourism season is on and street children have outnumbered tourists in areas around the Clock Tower. The children look like they are coming straight from rehabilitation camps judging from their attire and apparent good health. It is however, worrying that the children have become more aggressive. In fact they are a threat to tourism. I visited Mr. Sausage vehicle parked along Joel Maeda Street, opposite the RTC supermarket on a Friday night and was shocked by the unruly crowd. At first, I thought Mr. Sausage, was hosting a party for street children but later realized that the children are in fact stalking Mr. Sausage patrons and backpackers. The District Commissioner, Bertha Mende recently announced that her office had found an answer to the street children problem in Arusha. Surely she has. They took the children to camps to prepare them for the tourism season! * * * High place in heaven With privatization of all sectors in the Tanzania economy gaining momentum, one of the most welcome developments is in education. A few years back, it was a status symbol if one had a child attending primary or secondary school in Kenya or Uganda. The rush for schools in neighboring countries was a result of the reduction of the Tanzanian education system to shambles after its “nationalization.” Less than a decade after the doors of private schools have re-opened, the race is phenomenal. New Schools, like bars and pharmacies, are opening at every corner. It’s strange however, that no school would like to be referred to as a school. It’s either an academy or its name must have the prefix Saint meaning that it’s holy or, rather, its owner has officially been recognized by the church “as having won by exceptional holiness a high place in heaven and veneration on earth.” I know most of the “saints” who have opened schools in Arusha they are ordinary humans. * * * |
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Last modified:
July 12, 2002. Webmaster: WDJMallya |