[Music]
[Narrator:] This is a countryvillage in Rhodesia
where about 50 familieshave their homes.
Here is the school wherethe children of the village
receive their education.
[Music]
It is the end of the schoolyear and the headmaster
is giving a talk to theboys who are leaving.
He tells them, now thatyou are leaving school
you should make use of theknowledge you have gained
and also try to get moreknowledge by reading
and learning fromexperienced people
you will meet in thecourse of your work.
Many of you will beworking on the land
and you must put intopractice what you have learned
in your agricultural classes.
It is very important that theland is looked after properly
and the right fertilizerand seed are used.
In this way, the cropcan be increased.
And after thefamily has been fed,
there will be produceleft over for sale.
The money earned should beused to buy fertilizer and seed
for the next crop andalso to improve living
conditions for your families.
In the course oftime, you will marry.
And I hope you willgive all your children,
girls as well as boys,an education at least
as good as you have had.
This will be difficult ifyou have very large families,
but today there are ways bywhich the size of the family
can be plannedaccording to the income
and ambitions of the parents.
This is a new ideato African people
but in the changing lifeof the modern world,
it is a good and necessarypart of family life.
When you marry, you canget this information
from the clinics of theFamily Planning Association.
[Music]
Tom [?] and Jack[?] are friends.
Tom, the bigger boy, isthe son of a businessman
who owns the village store.
Tom has not workedwell at school.
Jack's father is poor andonly has a worked-out farm,
and Jack has workedhard at school
and is two yearsyounger than Tom.
[Music]
The headmaster finishes his talkand wishes all the boys luck
with their future.
He shakes hands with each boy.
Jack follows Tomaway from the school
and they talk togetherbefore they say goodbye.
[Music]
I am sorry to leaveschool, says Jack,
but my father cannot affordto pay my school fees.
What the teacher saidis right, our land
is not properly farmed.
Although my father works hard,we never have any crops to sell
and the land hasnever been fertilized.
My father wants meto stay and help him
but my brother has foundme a job in the city
and I'm going there.
I shall save as much asI can and then come back.
And use the new ways I havebeen taught on our land
and try and improve it andhelp my father that way.
I am glad to leaveschool, says Tom,
but I won't haveto work on a farm.
Father has promisedme a job in the store.
And I know that I will likeit and make a lot of money.
I will be able to sendmy children to school,
however many I have.
[Music]
Well your future seemsgood, replies Jack,
I shall have to work very hard.
When I marry I'm not goingto have a large family.
My father did andalthough he worked hard,
it was very difficult for him.
Only my eldest brother andI had a decent education.
The two friends finallyshake hands and part.
[Music]
It is eight years laterand Jack's wedding party
is being held in the village.
He and his bride standtogether greeting guests.
Jack has worked hard allthese years, even after paying
his lobola for hisbride, he still
has money in the savings bank.
[Music]
His father died a few months agoand he and his wife are going
to live on the farm with hismother who cannot work the land
anymore.
[Music]
Tom is at the wedding too. Hisfather died three years ago
and left him the store.
Tom has been marriedfor four years
and has three small children.
Business has beengood at the store
and Tom has been makingsufficient money to look
after his growing family.
They are all happyand well-clothed.
[Music]
Jack says that he is gladto be back in the village.
I am going to work hard on mymother's farm and improve it,
he says.
[Music]
I see you still have theideas you talked about when
we left school, says Tom.
Do you still plan tohave only a few children?
[Music]
Yes, says Jack,my wife and I have
been to a family planning clinicand have been told what to do.
But Tom doesn't agree with him,because he wants a big family.
[Music]
Another eight years have passed.
During this time,Jack and his wife
have worked hard on the farmand the land is much improved.
He has had advice on whatfertilizer and seed to use,
and bit by bit theland has improved until now...
he has a flourishing little farm.
[Music]
He keeps pigs, which he sellsto the cold storage commission
and runs a small herd of cattle.
Until his small son isold enough to help him,
he employs a man tohelp him on the farm.
His wife keeps chickensand grows vegetables
and they are able to makeextra money by sending
produce to the market.
[Music]
Jack is a contented man,because he has planned his life.
He also has plannedhis family and they
have three children,aged seven, five, and two
and have decided to haveno more so that they
can give their children a muchbetter education than Jack had.
They want one daughter to be anurse and the other a teacher.
And they want their son togo to an Agricultural College
and then come backand work on the farm.
[Music]
But things have notgone well with Tom.
He now has nine childrenand the shelves of his shop
are poorly stocked.
His wife is always complainingof feeling tired and ill.
All Tom has is a pileof bills which grow
bigger and bigger every day.
And he and his wife areconstantly arguing about money.
Their children are runningwild and are always dirty
and they no longer havenice clothes to wear.
[Music]
Jack knows that thingsare no longer going well
with his friend Tomand decides to pay him
a visit, because his wifehas told him that two
of Tom's children are ill.
And so he has broughtsome food for them.
Tom and his wife thankedJack for his kindness.
Things have gone badlyfor me, complains Tom.
Life is nothing butbills, bills, bills.
There are so manychildren to feed that I
can't buy goods for my store.
I have just had a bill forthe five children at school.
And if I don't pay,they will have to leave.
[Music]
Jack is sorry for his friend.
You remember, ourheadmaster said
that we should plan our family?
Well, I'm glad that I didbecause your large family has
made you poor.
You have no land foryour children to work on
and your store doesn'tprovide work for them.
If your eldest son is willingto help me on Saturdays,
I will pay his school fees.
[Music]
Tom is grateful forthis help and tells Jack
that he will ask his wife to goto the family planning clinic.
Better late than never,says his old friend.
[Music]