“Young people must ‘get their hands dirty’ for Mozambique to grow” – Graça Machel

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“Young people must ‘get their hands dirty’ for Mozambique to grow” – Graça Machel

12:13 CAT | 06 Sep 2016

The Elders (File photo) / Graça Machel

For Mozambique to “have high levels of growth, and for the current scenario to change, the youth of this country will have to get their hands dirty and work,” according to Graça Machel, activist, former Minister of Education and president of the Foundation for the Development of Mozambique.

According to Graca Machel, it is necessary that young people cultivate the spirit of struggle, sacrifice and dedication, and to take current circumstances as an opportunity to demonstrate their value in society.

“What Mozambique will be in the next 10 years depends on you. If the country is still the same, you will be to blame. The quality of life of Mozambicans can only improve if you – all of us – embrace this cause,” she said.

Machel was speaking in Maputo at the conference organised by the Global Shapers Community, of which she is patroness, on the theme “Connect, Innovate and Undertake”.

Machel also laid on the young the responsibility for industrialising the country to stop it being a mere consumer and start producing the goods and services it needs.

“To make this possible, young people will have to get their hands dirty. Mozambique has to change and you have the opportunity to choose what you want the country to be. You have the freedom to choose what you want to be and how to help the country,” she said.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Ragendra de Sousa, who directed the opening ceremony of the event, urged young people to invest in entrepreneurship and saving as a way to address barriers in access to bank credit.

“It is wrong to continue to point to the difficulty of accessing bank credit to justify our failure. The solution lies in saving, but this means reducing or limiting consumption. Success is always the ally of hard work and social values,” he said.

Source: A Bola