In the novel “Nervous Conditions”, written by Tsitsi Dangarembga, there are many different aspects of African life in poverty that has been portrayed. The main topic that I am going to be focusing on is the education of the children. I know that I have taken my education, especially my earlier education, for granted. I did not know how lucky I was to have been able to go to school every year since I was four years old. I always knew that it was hard for children in Africa to receive an education but this novel really helped me to understand what people go through. In the novel, Tambu was only able to go to school when her family could afford to send her. She even attempts to grow and sell maize to help raise money to send herself to school. Her brother, Nhamo, was the first to receive the money to go to school. He was taken to the mission by his uncle to live there and continue his education to help his family. The only reason he is able to go to the mission to school is because his uncle, Babamukuru, is wealthy. When Nhamo dies, Tambu is taken to the mission so that she can finish her education. She is the next oldest and is taken by Babamukuru to his house to live and attend classes.
In the United States, schooling is funded through property taxes and state budgets to allow all citizens a free education through the twelfth grade. Anything beyond that has to be paid for in some other way. For the most part, every child in America is guaranteed an education, as long as they pass. In Africa, if you are a male, you have a better chance at receiving an education but still nowhere near guaranteed. And a female has an even worse chance. The main focus is to help the family out. This means that children, mainly the girls, may miss weeks of school at a time to help with daily life at home. This would put them so far behind and they would usually eventually stop going all together.
A family is more inclined to pay for their son to attend school because he can grow up to get a better job and better help support the family. They are less likely to invest the money in the daughter because as soon as she is married, she belongs to her husband’s family and any income she may have, benefits her husband’s family and not hers. They do not get the benefit of having the daughter around her entire life helping to provide for the entire family. Here, we sometimes help out our families, when needed, but for the most part stay away financially from out extended family. I live with my parents, recently moved back in with them when I moved out to Ohio, and all I can think about is how long until I can move back out. It is not that I do not like my family, I love being around them. It is just that in America, we are all about being independent and being out on our own, living our own life away from our parents. Even when I was not living at home and I was in the same state as my parents, I would do what I could to help them out. I cannot even count the number of times that I would go down to help my dad around the house. Now, I do what I can to help around the house but I do not have specific chores I do every day. It is the same when I am at my fiancé’s parents’ house. In Africa, the wife only helps out the husbands’ family. In America, there is equal help to both families.
You make a good point about how education is expected for all children here, and that public schools make this a real possibility. This opportunity pretty special when you compare it to the situation in other places. Your point about how American families are more individually oriented is well contrasted with the fact that even with this individual orientation, we still feel a responsibility to help our families however we can. On the other hand, it is usually through doing things, not so often as handing over an entire paycheck to the father to do with as he will.
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