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What a kind of life do young people in Tanzania have -- and maybe in East Africa if not Africa at large? Maybe Tanzanian youth a symbolises all of them, in life styles and systems. Uneducated young people are looking for opportunities to study, and those who totally fail to get the chance for schooling are sick and worried about why they lacked a golden chance to go for further studies.

The educated at certificate or diploma level want to pursue a degree, worried and always crying for a chance. The degree graduates are looking for a job that pays well, while those who are already working are not satisfied with the work they do or the little payment they receive monthly, so they are working while hoping for a new job. Those who have already changed jobs, are now thinking of going for postgraduate studies!

We are brought up by greedy parents who always tell us that we have to study hard for a better paying job; others tells us that there is no security in this world, "so study hard so that you can get a safe, secure job".

The tediousness facing young workers from the brutal bosses in offices today is also worrying them and life becomes tough. They wish to study more so that they can also become brutal bosses. New young and educated graduates face harder situations than expected when told to work under the supervision of less-educated but more experienced old workers.

Most youth have no choice over what to study -- it is always dictated to them by their parents, who go for a certain course because that career pays well. Some parents will tell their children to study accounts-related courses because when one is in the accounts office he/she always touches money and plays with it!

This leads to miserable living since one is doing the job he/she doesn’t like or neglects inborn talents or the vocation they were born to follow, in order to start chasing money. But no amount of money is ever enough, so they end up in corrupt behaviour, overeating, laziness and so on.

Look at how our politicians, CEOs and even religious leaders are very big and fat because of overeating, for our life has been turned into eat, drink and be merry. Young people are trying to make themselves fit for any job by studying more than one profession. You will find one with a diploma in teaching, a first degree in economics and a master’s degree in environmental studies, all trying to make him or herself fit for any advertised vacancies.

That’s why today everything seems not to go well because we have employees who are not willing to do what they do -- no life purpose, but working for high pay. They wish to own a beautiful car with little or no travel, a big house with a very small family to live in it. And with all these dramas still life is miserable and their is no quality in the work they do.

However, the situations seem to have aggravated by employers, who lo longer offer long work contracts. In the past, when a graduate got into an office, he or she was assured of working all his/her life until he decided otherwise, or until reaching retirement age. They were also assured of fringe benefits in terms of insurance or some social security. But nowadays, things are different. You have to work on short renewable (though this is not certain) contracts so that when you are old and can't cope with new technologies, you perish, giving way to other workers.

This reminds me of what the American writer and businessman Robert Kiyosaki calls a rat race. In his book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Kiyosaki warns against studying for a  well paying job. He says; “going to school, getting good grades, no longer ensures success.” He encourages self employment by owning a corporation or living on natural talents.

Hence, my advice to young graduates in Tanzania is not to change jobs, but either to be satisfied with their jobs by loving them and trying to love their unlovable brutal bosses, or to follow Kiyosaki’s advice on how to retire young, retire rich.  But don't wander between two jobs.

Kamala Lutatinisibwa
jlkamala@yahoo.com