The Real Side of Africa

This summer, we spent several weeks in Tanzania, hoping to grasp the impact malaria has on their lives, and the experience gave us a different perspective of the situation. Yes, we were struck by the poverty and hunger, the children who struggle to survive, the diseases which remain on the rampage, and the political corruption that continues unchallenged. This needs to change.

Despite this, Africa is a vivacious continent, full of potential and a country where we’ve never felt so welcomed. From the moment we stepped off the plane until the moment we got back on it, we did not stop hearing greetings like “karibu”, “habari” or “hujambo” from locals as we walked through the street. We received so many invitations to dinner and Iftar (breaking of the Ramadan fast) that we had to start turning them down, unable to fit them all in.

Though so often the lives of people in Africa may seem distant and unimaginable, it is not quite so different as you may have thought. These are people with needs and wants just like me, but who live their lives in the heavy shadow of poverty and preventable disease, and it is from our visit to Africa that we found our inspiration to assist in the fight against malaria.

Nadeem Javiad, Faiths Act Fellow