Source: BBC news, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-29040793
2 September 2014
The issue discussed in this article is corruption, how it causes more poverty and also deaths and how the money should be invested (in education and health) in sub-Saharan Africa
This issue is very important and delicate specially in Africa because the continent is wealthy in natural resources and a lot of money is generated but is not well distributed and most of the population still lives in poverty while a small percentage accumulates most of the wealth.
The words “corruption” and “developing countries” are the most used by the author while describing the situation. We have not discussed this words in class yet but I believe we will because corruption is one of the biggest issues in Africa and its consequences are devastating for the continent and its countries because the majority of the population suffers from inequality.
The author uses the expression “developing countries” which sometimes can be viewed as expression of inferiority and because he repeats the expression when he could just say sub-Saharan countries (the countries that the topic is about) it just makes it worst. He also uses the expression “poor countries” to describe the topic’s countries and that might not be very well accepted by some people. Besides that, when it comes to the topic in discussion which is corruption the author is pretty neutral, direct and straightforward reaching the main point.
The source of the story is BBC News.
I think that the source impacts the choice of words because I’ve seen other news and articles use of the same words and expressions when referring to African countries.
As I referred before this is a very important topic and in my personal opinion one of the most devastating problems in Africa. I believe the governments should try their best to eradicate corruption from African countries because it causes a lot of suffering to the African population that already suffered so much in the past and deserve better days and a brighter future.
The author refers to corruption as a killer and I strongly agree with that because when the money is not properly invested in public education the majority of the population is not able reach a certain level of education and thus have the possibility to fight for better jobs to provide for their families, and then they grow up and grow old as poor as always with very few chances to thrive in life.
When the money is not properly invested in health care the populations gets sick easier, takes a lot more time to recover and die more, especially the children.
The author refers to a report that states that because of corruption 3.6 million people die every year and if corruption was eradicated from sub-Saharan Africa the following would be possible:
- Education would be provided to an additional 10 million children per year
- Money would be available to pay for an additional 500,000 primary school teachers
- Antiviral drugs for more than 11 million people with HIV/Aids would be provided
African countries should do their best and find ways to slow down and eventually stop corruption so that the majority of the Africa’s population can access the basic conditions and stop living in poverty suffering from inequality when they are living above the natural resources that originate the money that is moved away from them.
I believe that education and health are the most important sectors in a continent like Africa that has been devastated by slavery and war for so many years so that the African people can actually have better chances to succeed and prosper in life and take their respective countries and whole continent to better days.
