Getting to know Konan & Kouadio

For many of our readers, it is difficult to imagine what everyday life is like in Africa.  There are an abundance of images on TV and stories in the newspaper, but these are difficult to weave together into an understanding of the realities of daily life on this vast continent.

I was therefore excited to find the BBC News article below, which presents the lives of two men – Konan Vercruysses and Kouadio Koffi – who live in Abidjan, the largest city in Ivory Coast (West Africa).  Konan manages a phone box (read the article for a definition) and earns about $20 a day.  Kouadio works as a third shift security guard and earns around $2 a day.  

The article shows how they spend their money each month, but also goes into detail on their hopes and dreams:

Konan: “I just want to live alone to be a man, to face the difficulties by myself and be independent.”  “I don't like the word poor because if you have this in your mind it brings you down.  I'm convinced I will be rich one day. I would like to reach my goals.”

Kouadio: “There are many challenges. I want to see a better life, a better life for me.  I want to have a wife and children but what food can I give them?  I need money to give them a life and send them to school. I don't want them to suffer.  When life is better for me I can have a family.”

The reality is that Konan and Kouadio are just like you and me… they just happen to have been born in Africa, while we happen to have been born here.

Please click on the link below to read the full story!

BBC News: What is middle class in Ivory Coast? (25 June, 2013)