Botswana truly is an amazing country. It is census time and so one can see census takers all over town smartly dressed in their census t shirts and hats (and black slacks it appears) and carrying large pale yellow cloth bags containing their census documents. They come into each house and sit down and enumerate the household. There are apparently 600 enumerators assigned to Gaborone’s many different neighborhoods. Each one has two weeks to reach an assigned set of households. And because we are living here at the moment, I, as head of our three person household, was interviewed as well. She thought she should skip over the questions about whether I had cattle or land but I wanted to hear them all. Censuses have led to conflict in Africa, especially the question about ethnicity (as it will reveal which group is larger, due more resources etc). This census asked what language is spoken at home, which is one way of getting at the ethnicity question. Also lots of questions about what the house is constructed of and access to electricity, toilets, and the internet. I hope the internet question will reveal the need for a major upgrade! The last population and household survey was in 2001.
No comments:
Post a Comment