Young Africans Struggle With Jobs, Education Amid Pandemic
Voice of America
HARARE - The future looked promising for Tinashe Mapuranga, an intern at a leading bank in Zimbabwe who appeared set to get a staff position as soon as he completed his college degree. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Amid the lockdowns, the 24-year-old was one of the first to be laid off and has no idea when he'll be able to get his degree because of frequent school closures. "It has really affected me a lot in my studies. I have no money to buy data and I don't have a personal laptop to study online and keep up like what others are doing," said Mapuranga, who lives with his mother in Chitungwiza, a sprawling working-class area southeast of Harare, the capital. "I was supposed to finish in November or December 2021, but as of now, we haven't completed much of the work," he said. "Truly speaking, I am not sure when I will finish the degree. I can't wait to graduate and find a job and do something tangible in life."A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's rocket launch during a news program at a bus terminal in Seoul, South Korea, May 27, 2024. FILE - Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks to reporters in Colombo, July 29, 2023. FILE - A TV screen shows a report of North Korea's spy satellite into orbit with its third launch attempt this year with an image of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Nov. 22, 2023.
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. A member of the bomb squad of the Israeli police collects debris after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck in the Israeli city of Herzliya on May 26, 2024.