The People of East Africa
Primary 6 · Social and Religious Studies
The People of East Africa
Lesson 3 of 4
25 min
Let's begin
Mutesi's cousin has moved from a village in Nyamasheke to Kigali to look for work.
In the same week, a family from Burundi opens a small shop on Mutesi's street.
Both families have moved. But are they the same kind of move? Today you will learn the words for moving, and the reasons people move.
Some migration is voluntary: people choose to move. Some is forced: people have no choice.
Worked example
A nurse from Huye moves to Nairobi to work.
Step 1 She leaves Rwanda, so in Rwanda she is an emigrant.
Step 2 She arrives in Kenya, so in Kenya she is an immigrant.
Step 3 Same person, same journey. The word depends on which side of the border you are looking from.
And Mutesi's cousin? He stayed inside Rwanda, so his move is internal migration. The family from Burundi are immigrants in Rwanda.
Push factors are problems that drive people away from a place. Pull factors are attractions that draw people to a new place.
| Push factors (drive people out) | Pull factors (draw people in) |
|---|---|
| Famine and hunger | Better jobs and higher pay |
| Shortage of land | Better social services: schools, hospitals, clean water |
| War and insecurity | Good security and peace |
| Unemployment | Better standards of living |
| Drought, floods and landslides | Fertile land and good rainfall |
| Persecution and discrimination | Family and friends already living there |
Usually push and pull work together. A young man with no land in his village (push) hears about jobs in Kigali (pull), so he moves.
Careful! A factor is "push" or "pull" depending on where it is. Famine in your village pushes you out. Plenty of food in a new place pulls you in.
Tip
Push pushes you OUT. Pull pulls you IN
Emigrant = Exits a country. Immigrant = comes In.
Answer each one, then tap Show answer to check.
What is the difference between an emigrant and an immigrant?
Answer: an emigrant leaves his or her country; an immigrant comes into a new country.
Keza's family moves from Rubavu to Kigali. What kind of migration is this?
Answer: internal migration (it is inside Rwanda).
Is "shortage of land" a push factor or a pull factor?
Answer: a push factor. It drives people away.
Give two pull factors.
Answer: any two of: better jobs, better schools or hospitals, good security, better standard of living, fertile land, family already there.
What you learned today
Sources and credits
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Quick check
Match each word to its meaning.
Tap one on the left, then its partner on the right.
