ACHIEVING 2030 GLOBAL AGENDA BY SAVING ELDERS IN RURAL TANZANIA
PREPARED BY ; Sarah Edgar, Happiness Anderson, Beatrice Mwijage, Jackline Josephat and Alinda Rutahiwa.
It was expected that by the year 2050, the number of older people for the first time in human history, will have increased and go beyond the number of children under 14 years of age In the African continent alone, that number is expected to increase from the present 38 million to 212 million. Despite of elders in developing are still vulnerable to obtain their needs and less care about them elders (Tanzania National for elders, 1999)
The objectives is to increase number of visitors in elders centers, to rise community awareness on the role of elders in the community, to lob government and non-government in preparing and constructing more centers and to develop, expand more activities within center for them to generate money and lastly to achieve the ¼ of global agenda goals. The idea will employ online and offline strategies in achieving the objective.
We expecting community behavior change from stereotyping mind concerning elders, to have more family in Tanzania who are devoting they are time to save elders pay a visit and send some staffs to them, formulate more projects within center that can generate funds for them to sustain they are needs, elders increase understanding and find opportunities within SDGs and lastly having more followers in our social media pages
2.2 PROBLEM AND CONTEXT
Old age and aging is a notion that defines the final step of human growth from childhood, youth to old age. In Tanzania an individual is recognized as an older person based on age, responsibilities and his or her status, for example, a leader at his or her work place or in a clan. The older people mostly living in rural areas whose advanced age limits them from active work (National aging policy, 2003)
In rural Tanzania elders play a huge role in saving community in achieving the 2030 global agenda, elders use traditional herbs to cure diseases goal 3, elders provide us with informal education/history that is cruel helpful in daily life-goal 4, elders are lack basic need and are the one who stay in rural and practices agriculture goal 1 and 2, elders use unreliable sources of fire/cut down trees for charcoals and fire hood goal 7, 15,11and 12, elders are the one who engage mostly in informal business and art designing that played a greater role in national economy goal 8 , generally elders have a greater advantage in SDGs and less effort have been put ahead on their role.
The save elder is a group idea from five ladies who observe through social media, magazine and review that elder are the huge group of people who aside behind since most of the institution deal with women, youth and children but less work on aged group. Never the less the following are facts challenges collected from field (Funga funga (Morogoro) and Karibu sebuleni (Zanzibar) include, limited center for them to stay, community stereotype on how they perceive elders as witches and let them live with fear with in community, aged people being isolated by family and as time they are admitted at the hospital, aged people are at risk after youth within the family die with HIV/AIDs and 1999 large number of older people (about 75 percent) live in rural areas and less number of family visiting centers.
2.3 SOLUTION TO OVERCOME THE CHALLENGES
- To increase number of visitors in elders centers, The save elder idea aiming on increasing number of visitors that will be done by posting address on center available in each region and let the community to pay a visit and providing them with basic needs
- To rise community awareness on the role of elders in the community, the idea will employ online and offline methods to make sure community get aware on the role of elders in community, not only that but also changing their negative attitude and love elders. Community stereotype on how they perceive elders as witches and let them live with fear with in community, this can be solved by awareness rise by training with community on the role of elders with communities and change their perceptions and the use of social network to spread awareness
- To lob government and non-government in preparing and constructing more centers and to develop and expand more activities within center for them to generate money. The government role according to developed countries is to prepare center for aged people to stay, but this is very less in Tanzania meaning that more helping hand needed to increases center done by partnership of both parties.
2.3.1 STRATEGIES TO PROMOTE THE PROGRAM
The program will be promoted within online and off line by the help of each group member
Online strategies
- Every day the group will be share picture, quotes or saying in save elders group pages to raise awareness
- To increase number of followers by tell friend about the group and the aim of the group
- Online campaign relevant to issues of elders
- Start online debate and discussion relevant to elders that will be done youth
- Connecting with more stakeholder outside Tanzania
Offline strategies
- Physical visiting the elders centers
- Conducting seminar/workshop/capacity building within the center of elders
- Conducting seminar in school and university targeting the youth
- Physical meet with different stakeholders in Tanzania and share the idea
2.3.2 RELEVANT
The solution will based on online and offline, both are relevant since all youth as ambassadors are the one who use the social media while the offline strategy will be relevant to all elders who will be physical meet by the group and being educated on different issues
2.3.2 UNIQUENESS
The idea has it uniqueness in term of strategies and solution that make it new since the idea buy much time of youth as the ambassadors of saving elders around Tanzania, but the idea is new since no one notice if elders are vulnerable to change and need a group to save them
2.3.3 IMPLEMENTATION
2.3.5 EXPECTED IMPACT
- Expected community behavior change from stereotyping mind on elders by educating the community and raise awareness on the elders and their important in our community it easy to solve the stereotype mind of people towards elders.
- Expected to have more family in Tanzania who are devoting they are time to save elders pay a visit and send some staffs to them,
- Expecting to formulate more projects within center that can generate funds for them to sustain they are needs ,by expanding and formulating new activities in centers it easy to get fund which will enable the save elders team to solve the problem facing elders ,and even when the population of elders will increase
- Expecting to have more followers in our social media pages such as (Face book ,Instagram, Watsup) with more like, by having more followers this will mean that the community is aware with what the save elders are doing, and this also will enable the save elders to have agents who will spread the idea of saving elders all over within Tanzania.
- Expecting to improve life of elders by number of basic needs provided by family who pay a visits
Expecting to achieve ¼ of the global agenda such as goal 1,2,3,4,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15 and 16 by the role of elders in less developed countries
2.4 RELEVANT EXAMPLE
We have different relevant example who saving elders but not online , most of them are private person decided to visit and government role that is very limited in saving them but less have been done relevant to our idea based in Tanzania. Example Funga Funga-morogoro and sebuleni kwa wageni- Zanzibar there are physical center for saving elders but less have been put online concerning their activities
2.5 CHALLENGE WE MIGHT FACE AND HOW TO ADDRESS
- Community willingness to pay for visit, by educating the community as they have role to get involve and to save other human
- Community unwillingness to change stereotyping perception, educating the community through seminar and workshop
- Elders perception on being in center , by lets them understand that being in center is great than being at home by having participatory talking
- Government changing policy that might not include elders, we should robe the government to let them in by participate in seminar and in all activities relevant to constitutional formulation
- Who has a role to save elders (other think only government while government will think only parent) by educating the community that everyone have a role to save them
- Fund challenge, we can address this by looking more sources of fund, but we can manage well the available fund to reach the target
2.6 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
We as save elders, committed to solve the following goals under 2030 agenda by the empowering elders role in community, we will end poverty, hunger since elders are within a group of people who are vulnerable to poverty, we will achieve better health to all aged by robe government for free health services and more services in rural area, we will achieve better formal and informal education because elders are very good in histories also economic growth since elders are the one who take time in cultural staffs creation for world market, general we should not hide their role for achieving 2030 agenda.
Appendix I; This was our first posting picture that represents elders in Africa
Appendix II : Instagram and whataap group
Senior Lead of Online Sales at Magnum Photos
2ySarah, thanks for sharing, this is interesting!
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5yT he whole Program is beneficial to Tanzanian Elders..I do appreciate