La foto és d'Asma, amb un dels seus fillsLa BBC News té una secció dedicada exclusivament a l'Àfrica. Segurament serà una de les seccions menys visitada de totes; és una llàstima perquè algun dels reportatges o articles són realment bons.
Avui passo un reportatge sobre Tanzania. És dels pocs articles on hi ha un fil d'optimisme sobre les accions que s'estan fent a l'Àfrica. Podreu llegir com una vídua com Asma, que té 5 fills i que està en una situació de pobresa extrema, ha pogut rebre ajuts per tal que els seus fills vagin a escola. Viuen a Temeke, una ciutat de 750.000 habitants, on les autoritats locals han començat a entendre que l'educació dels infants és una aposta de futur pel país.
Després de constants notícies negatives sobre Darfur, Kènia o Etiopia, incloure una notícia positiva sobre l'Àfrica dóna un xic d'optimisme (encara que molt xic).
Tanzanian care revolution begins
By Dan Dickenson BBC News, Tanzania
Asma lacks support from an extended family
Getting her 14-year-old son, Haji, ready for school is a symbolic step towards normalcy for Tanzanian Asma Yusuf.
It may be an everyday occurrence for families across the world, but 30-year-old Asma is a widow with five children and no job and is one of the poorest people in an already poor neighbourhood: Temeke, in Dar es Salaam.
Her mud house with its disintegrating grass roof is conspicuous among her neighbours' brick-built houses with corrugated iron roofs.
"Before I was facing a miserable life. I had little money, we had little food and I couldn't afford to send my children to school," she said.
"I didn't know how my family could survive."
Turned around
Asma says her life has turned round following the intervention and help of her local authority
"I have been given books and a school uniform for my son. He has been able to go to secondary school for the first time."
The financial and material support from Temeke Council has addressed very immediate needs but social support has also been invaluable, she says.
"Perhaps what has been most useful is the advice I have been given about how to look after my children without the help of an extended family."
That advice has included a range of life skills: caring for her family, managing the small amount of money she makes from selling small fried bread rolls known as mandazi, as well as advice on family planning and HIV/Aids prevention.
Changing societies
Asma is one of the lucky few who have benefited from a system that is working well in one small area of Dar es Salaam, but which is unique in Tanzania and could be copied by countries throughout Africa.
The demand for social welfare support of this type is increasing across the continent, partly because of the number of children who are being orphaned by Aids, but also because the migration of rural people to the city has led to a breakdown in family support structures.
Temeke, with its population of 750,000, is home to around 9,500 "most vulnerable children" (MVCs), as they are known in development jargon: a 10% increase on the previous year.
According to the Institute of Social Work (ISW), Tanzania needs at least 8,000 more social workers to meet the increasing demand.
Its response has been to train existing community development officers and representatives of community-based and non-governmental organisations as so-called para-social workers.
"There are many professionals who are working at community level who frequently come into contact with MVCs," says the institute's Judith Bagachwa.
"We can give these people social work skills with which they can support people who would otherwise not receive any services."
