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Read to eradicate poverty
2006-09-04 09:05:54
By Bilal Abdul-Aziz
A young girl, walks along a busiest street in Dar es Salaam. She is carrying a mid sized book on her right palm. The ’ideal’ girl’s face is shining and her steps denote great hope of a true future.
She walks for some steps and then stops for a few seconds, opens her book and possibly, as I can guess from this far—-hardly 20 meters or so—-reads a few lines, before proceeding. She might be heading for school, library or tuition.
I prefer to informally name her ’ideal’ because I am impressed by her love for the book she is carrying.
For book lovers this is definitely a clear sign of great future and hope; an excellent start of a knowledgeable society, which is educated and informed; a future of hope.
The Fifteenth Edition of the National Book Week Festival organized in Dar es Salaam annually is around the corner once again. The grand of all book events in the country starts today at the National Museum grounds in Dar es Salaam.
Official dates for the grand book event in the country are September 4 to 9, this year.
This year’s festival theme—-’Read to Eradicate Poverty’ is timely, taking into account the country’s disappointing position in the world’s knowledge share.
To eradicate poverty, people need to read right from the ’ideal’ age and keep on reading while seated and on the move, as well.
As President Jakaya Kikwete said recently, backwardness should be a challenge to make people run, not walk as they do now.
The existing knowledge gap therefore requires people to read more and frequently like the ’ideal’ girl.
Commenting on this year’s book show, a top practitioner in the book industry, Yusuf Mjungu, says while the industry acknowledges its achievements over the years in the past in the provision of books to the reading population; it also takes time to examine the challenges facing the industry in the years ahead.
Key actors at the centre of the play, according to Mjungu, have already passed their infancy stages and they are now in their teenage era. The actors—-Publishers Association of Tanzania (PATA), Writers Association (UWAVITA), Printers Association (TAPP), Book Sellers Association (BSAT), Library Association (TLA), Cultural Activities Association (CCHAUTA) and Book development council (BAMVITA) —-are seriously taking part in the provision of books in the country.
”The ’Read to Eradicate Poverty’ is reading to compete with the conditions superimposed by the changing environment, to increase the output, quality or quantity in relative terms and increasing the total output value to compete with the conditional inflation,” says Mjungu, who is chairperson of the National Book Week organizing committee.
He says the committee this year chose the theme after discovering that the current knowledge set up targets academic credentials that is why many graduates in the recent years hand up their books shortly after obtaining their certificates.
Says Mjungu: ”There are very few employers who have put further reading demands in their schemes of service, as conditions for promotions or as conditions for a guarantee for continued employment.
Here the employers may be blamed for the poor practices, but the employees are also taking a portion of the blame.”
According to Mjungu most of the working population are not making efforts to read further to improve their working conditions that is why when their surrounding environment changes, the quality of their output decreases.
”The period of decreasing remunerations is the period of the working population moving towards poor living conditions,” adds Mjungu.
”The 15th National Book Week is making a firm call to the working population to read to eradicate poverty.
Read the materials, which are already in the market and create a demand to the authors to write more and more relevant books, to simplify the research findings and publish books to disseminate the findings to the targeted markets…read to improve your business, to better utilize your working tools, to increase the market share of your products and to increase your incomes. This is the surest way,” he elaborates.
Publishers Association of Tanzania (PATA)’s Godfrey Mwakisyala believes reading, which book experts say should start at home to make it effective, poses great potentials of generating a knowledgeable society; a society whose future is bright and dazzling.
”Reading can surely contribute to eradication of poverty…” says Mwakisyala. ”But getting everybody down to read in our society and realize the virtues of reading is not an easy task.”
According to him, enriching a reading culture always isn’t an easy task because it depends on, among other things, government efforts and commitment to formulate and execute programmes, policies and strategies geared at enhancing and promoting the culture.
”Reading depends on culture. Our reading culture is not something that can be acquired overnight, as it should be nurtured right from childhood,” he says, referring to a proverb in Kiswahili Language: ”Samaki Mkunje Angali Mbichi” literally meaning you can only curve/bed a fish while it is still fresh otherwise it would crack.
”Usually…” says Mwakisyala, ”…children imitate the habit of parents and elders. If a parent frequently spares time to read and encourages his/her children to do the same, the children would slowly be developing a reading habit and love for books. Once the reading habit has been developed in our children, they would love reading every sort of book of their level and ultimately creating a society of elites when they grow up into adults.”
He believes that through reading books effectively, these literate adults would be able to learn and acquire new ideas, knowledge and skills with which to meet the globalization challenges, sustain their livelihoods and ultimately improve economic welfare.
”One of the challenges of the 21st century, as indicated in the millennium development goals to be achieved is Poverty Alleviation.
Poverty is the state of having little money or not being able to get the necessities of life.
In context, the kind of reading that is envisaged is that which focuses on getting more money and the necessities of life although one can as well read books to attain pleasure,” elaborates Mwakisyala.
He is optimistic that reading can pave the way to poverty eradication. ”Personally, I have seen a lot of people who are more successful in life, as a result of reading books all the way from their childhood up to institutes of higher learning.
Drawing from the successes of these people, I have kept on telling my children that if they do not read they would end up being poor.
But, if they effectively read and study hard, they would be able to pass their examinations in whatever institutions they might be enrolled,” he says.
In so doing, Mwakisyala says, they would be paving their way for a bright future as after successful graduation, they might be able to get good employment or become good farmers, entrepreneurs, teachers, architects, engineers, doctors, lawyers, politicians, and leaders, among other things.
Given a good employment or profession, says the book expert, children would be having a guaranteed income with which they are able to improve their standard of living and economic well-being. It is in this way that they would be keeping away from being poor.
He adds that his personal experience may not be different from the reality, insisting that children, pupils, students, scholars and adults who effectively read stand better chances of being successful in their endeavors than those turning their backs on the book.
”For example, a farmer who reads books on modern farming methods is more likely to increase his or her farm outputs and get more income than a farmer who does not read and learn new skills on modern farming.
With more income, the literate farmer would be able to improve his/her standard of living and keep poverty away from him/her,” he elaborates, concluding:”The reader can now clearly understand how reading can contribute towards the eradication of poverty and improvement of living standards of literate people in our society.
As nobody would like to be poor and live in destitution, let everybody and especially our children in schools effectively read to learn the ways of better life and keep poverty away from our families. In so doing, we shall ultimately be eradicating poverty.”
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