What will you be doing when you get home from school tonight? Possible answers- eating, talking to parents, swimming, seeing friends, reading books, playing games etc

Life is very different for children in Africa How do you think life might be different for children in Africa? Here are some clues.... Do you think they might eat different food, play different games or have different things? Let’s find out a bit more about Africa – it might give us some more clues! .....

What do we know about Africa? Africa is so big that the USA, all of Europe including the United Kingdom, China, India and Argentina could all fit into it. Africa is a continent made up of lots of different countries. Can you guess how many? Over 60! Over 1,000 languages are spoken in Africa. Africa is BIG!

Lots of different animals live in Africa You might know Africa for it’s animals - because it’s big, lots of different animals live in Africa! People go on safari to see all the amazing animals that live in Africa. Zebra, lions, hippos, giraffes. Can anyone name any others?

Lots of different people too! 1 BILLION PEOPLE live in Africa Now think of how many people live in the whole of the United Kingdom…..Lots and lots of people. Now in Africa there are 17 TIMES as many people than live in the U.K! Lots of different people too!

What’s the weather like here today? It’s sunny all year round in most of Africa and it’s very hot! (click mouse for sun to appear) It does rain sometimes but only for 2 or 3 months of the year. (click mouse for rain to appear) What happens when it rains here? Rain is annoying because you have to use an umbrella or play indoors. But in Africa, rain makes people happy because it makes their crops grow (click mouse for crops to appear). And crops are really important because most people in Africa grow all of their own food. Who had a birthday in November, December or January? Well that’s when it rains in southern Africa so you would be dancing in the rain on your birthday!

What’s for breakfast? What did you have for breakfast? Cornflaes, toast, orange juice etc. What do you think children in Africa eat for breakfast? Click twice for two pictures of nshima This is nshima – a porridge made from ground maize that is boiled with water. It is a staple food in Zambia and Malawi. It is quite tasteless and they eat it boiling hot! It makes you feel very full but it does not have a lot of goodness. Most children will eat this twice a day if they are lucky. Sometimes they might have some green leaves (like pumpkin leaves) or tomatoes and onions to eat with it.

What do you drink? What do you have to drink? And how far to have to go to get a drink? To the tap or to the shop Most people in Africa have to walk miles to collect dirty water to drink. The water these children are drinking is from a river abut 2 miles from their village. Animals also use the river and the children’s mothers wash their clothes in it too, so it is not very tasty. But in some places there are wells which pump fresh water from the ground below. People still have to walk every day to collect water, but it’s nice and clean!

What do you do in your spare time? Do you remember what we talked about at the beginning? What things will you be doing when you get home from school? Reading, watching tv, playing on your computer. What do you think children in African villages do in their spare time? They don’t have electricity remember! There are no shops to go to, no cinema, no play parks, no new toys, no libraries and because adults work so hard there isn’t much time for clubs or outings. One thing children in rural Africa like to do is play games - soccer and netball are popular. Click twice to reveal images These will be played in dusty fields and school yards without proper shoes or equipment – even footballs are scarce and are often home made by tying up a bundle of rags with twine!

What chores do you do? Most children in African villages have to do chores in their spare time Click twice to reveal images Children are part of the household and in a farming family everyone must help to make ends meet. Poor families have to grow all their own food, collect water and firewood. Children have to do lots of work on the land where their family grows food. It is hard work and takes a long time because there are no tractors or other machines - they have to do all the work with hand tools. This boy is using a tool called a hoe. Children are expected to help with many other chores every day before and after school. They have to help cook, carry water, carry firewood and look after baby brothers and sisters. Can you imagine carrying a bucket of water on your head like this girl? Some jobs on the farm mean that some children miss years of school. If the family has some cows or goats these have to be minded and brought long distances to water each day. This job is given to a boy or girl of 8 to 12 years of age and they may have to do this for a few years and never get to school or to play with friends.

Do you like school? Click to reveal image Do you think these children are looking forward to school? For children in Africa going to school is a privilege. They like going to school! Does anyone here walk to school? These children have to walk about 2km to school and can you see most of them don’t have shoes on!

Meet Medrine In most countries in Africa, primary school is free, so a lot of children go. But not many go to secondary school because you have to pay and most families can’t afford it. Schools are very crowded – many classes have between 60 to 100 students in each room! Rooms, playgrounds and toilets are all over-crowded. This girl on the right in the pink dress is Medrine. Medrine Mwansa is 13 years old. She is the oldest of 7 children, 5 boys and 2 girls. Her parents, like most people in Masaiti, are subsistence farmers which means they have to grow all the food they need to eat. Medrine is now in year 5 at her school as she started school when she was 7. When she grows up she wants to become a schoolteacher like her class teacher Mr. Kamonje. This will be very difficult for her so she works very hard at school as well as at home. You can find a diary of Medrine’s day and follow up activities here: http://www.selfhelpafrica.org/selfhelp/Main/UK_Schools_Assembly.htm

Life is hard for many of the people who live in Africa So we’ve found out is very different in Africa. Life is very hard for many of the people who live in Africa as well. Let’s find out more about one country in southern Africa called Malawi. Malawi is a small country - smaller than Britain Can I have two volunteers please to come and hold up numbers “4” and “7”? Volunteers stand either side of speaker holder up the numbers. Now Malawi is the SEVENTH poorest out of 200 countries in the world And if there were 100 people from Malawi in a room, only seven of them would have electricity! Think how many times you turn something electric on. You wouldn’t have an oven to cook hot food, or a radio or even a light bulb! One thing that you use electricity for is the television - only 4 people in a room of 100 would have a television! And unlike you lot, most children in Malawi want to go to school. But because you have to pay only 4 out of 100 will be able to go to secondary school! Now can you two (volunteers) stand next to each other please? Now 47- that is really old in Malawi - most people die before they are 47! Now could that half of the room stand up please? (indicate which half) Now if you lived in Malawi, you lot wouldn’t be able to read! Now could the rest of you stand up please. Because people in Malawi haven’t got much money they can’t afford to buy food. So in Malawi EVERYONE (that would be all of you) grows their own food! Most people will struggle to find enough food to eat one meal a day so they spend a lot of time hungry. MALAWI

So life in Africa is very different to life here So life in Africa is very different to life here. Most people are poor and don’t have enough food. But there are ways that people can be helped. Where do you go when you need some help? Parents? Teacher? Well they can’t go for help to their teacher or parents because they are very poor too. So charities from the United Kingdom like Self Help Africa help the families instead. Let’s find out how....!!

We can help people grow their food Self Help Africa helps people grow their food by giving them seeds and lessons on how to grow them. This lady called Hilda got some seeds and farming lessons. Now her fields are full of healthy crops! When her neighbours see Hilda’s healthy crops, they ask her for advice and Hilda tells them. So Hilda is teaching other people what she has been taught herself! If you remember- lots of people in Malawi don’t know how to read, so they can’t just be given a book and teach themselves how to grow seeds! Instead they can be given lessons on how to grow seeds. Then once they know they can become a teacher and tell other people what to do. When Hilda harvest her crop of beans she will have enough to feed her children and enough to pass on some seeds to neighbours.

We can help people look after livestock We also give people animals like goats and chickens. How do you think goats or chickens help people who are poor and hungry? Goats milk and chickens eggs are full of protein. School uniforms and books cost money, so goats and chickens can be sold to earn money. Does anyone know how to look after goats or chickens? Well people in Africa have to learn too, so Self Help Africa gives them lessons.