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Mambo Huwiss Mambo, 75, a fisherman, and recipient of the Zanzibar State Pension very month, poses for photographs with his fishing net and his fish in the village of Chwaka, Zanzibar, Tanzania Wednesday, March 15, 2017. Mambo says: “On a bad month, the pension money becomes more important because I use it to buy food." Zanzibar is the first place in East Africa to give a State pension to everyone over the age of 70.

Asherjuma Ama, who is more than 70 years old, prepares to wash her hands at the house she lives in with her 17 year old son in the town of Donge Zanzibar, Tanzania Wednesday, March 15, 2017. Asherjuma says that the first thing she will buy this month with the state pension she receives will be soap. Zanzibar is the first place in East Africa to give a State pension to everyone over the age of 70.

Fatima Mohammed, who is 70 yaers old and who has recently started receiving the state pension feeds her chicken from her hand at her home in Stone Town Zanzibar, Tanzania Wednesday, March 15, 2017. Fatima was married but her and her husband had no children and he has now left her for another wife. Fatima says: “Before the pension, my life was very difficult and I didn’t have any way to support myself.”
Now, she has a small business selling tomatoes, peanuts (which she dries in the sun at her home) and other small items. From the 20,000 TZS she receives each month Fatima uses half to buy food and the other half she invests in her business.
Zanzibar is the first place in East Africa to give a State pension to everyone over the age of 70.

Fatima Mohammed, who is 70 yaers old and who has recently started receiving the state pension sits in her kitchen in her home in Stone Town Zanzibar, Tanzania Wednesday, March 15, 2017. Fatima was married but her and her husband had no children and he has now left her for another wife. Fatima says: “Before the pension, my life was very difficult and I didn’t have any way to support myself.”
Now, she has a small business selling tomatoes, peanuts (which she dries in the sun at her home) and other small items. From the 20,000 TZS she receives each month Fatima uses half to buy food and the other half she invests in her business.

Yusuf, who is 72 years old, poses fora photograph with some fresh mangoes he has just bought at his home in Stone Town Zanzibar, Tanzania Tuesday, March 14, 2017. Yusuf is one of the first people who received the social pension when it was introduced last year. He is a retired chemistry teacher who also receives a pension from the Ministry of Education. For him the pension is helpful for months when money is tight, but he adds: “[The social pension] makes a very big difference to other older people who run their own business or who build their homes bit-by-bit.”Zanzibar is the first place in East Africa to give a State pension to everyone over the age of 70.

Ernestina Felix who is 88 yearsholds her ID card with her original ID card from the 40's s at the home of her daughter where she lives in Stone Town Zanzibar, Tanzania Tuesday, March 14, 2017. Erenestina is a widow who lives with her youngest daughter and three grandchildren. She was one of the first women to receive the social pension when it was introduced in April 2016.Her family don’t want her to contribute to the household income and look after her well, but having worked for most of her life (she worked as a maid until she was 81 years old) Erenestina doesn’t want to be a burden to them. Using the pension she has set up a new business selling juice, which she sells for 1500 TZS (around 50p) a bottle. Zanzibar is the first place in East Africa to give a State pension to everyone over the age of 70.

At a home for older people in Welezo,residents over 70 and other older people in the neighbourhood gather in the morning to receive their social pension in Welezo a district of Stone Town, Zanzibar, Tanzania Thursday, March 16, 2017. Zanzibar is the first place in East Africa to give a State pension to everyone over the age of 70.

Mambo Huwiss Mambo, 75, a fisherman, and recipient of the Zanzibar State Pension very month, poses for photographs with his fishing net and his fish in the village of Chwaka, Zanzibar, Tanzania Wednesday, March 15, 2017. Mambo says: “On a bad month, the pension money becomes more important because I use it to buy food." Zanzibar is the first place in East Africa to give a State pension to everyone over the age of 70.

Fatima Mohammed, who is 70 yaers old and who has recently started receiving the state pension buys fresh vegetables at a shop near her homel in Stone Town Zanzibar, Tanzania Wednesday, March 15, 2017. Fatima was married but her and her husband had no children and he has now left her for another wife. Fatima says: “Before the pension, my life was very difficult and I didn’t have any way to support myself.”Now, she has a small business selling tomatoes, peanuts (which she dries in the sun at her home) and other small items. From the 20,000 TZS she receives each month Fatima uses half to buy food and the other half she invests in her business. Zanzibar is the first place in East Africa to give a State pension to everyone over the age of 70.

Fatima Mohammed, who is 70 yaers old and who has recently started receiving the state pension collects her pension at a local school in Stone Town Zanzibar, Tanzania Wednesday, March 15, 2017. Fatima was married but her and her husband had no children and he has now left her for another wife. Fatima says: “Before the pension, my life was very difficult and I didn’t have any way to support myself.”Now, she has a small business selling tomatoes, peanuts (which she dries in the sun at her home) and other small items. From the 20,000 TZS she receives each month Fatima uses half to buy food and the other half she invests in her business. Zanzibar is the first place in East Africa to give a State pension to everyone over the age of 70.

Elderly people queue to receive their montly pension at a local school in Stone Town Zanzibar, Tanzania Wednesday, March 15, 2017. Zanzibar is the first place in East Africa to give a State pension to everyone over the age of 70.

Ernestina Felix who is 88 years makes some orange juice that she will sell to customers at the home of her daughter where she lives in Stone Town Zanzibar, Tanzania Tuesday, March 14, 2017. Erenestina is a widow who lives with her youngest daughter and three grandchildren. She was one of the first women to receive the social pension when it was introduced in April 2016.
Her family don’t want her to contribute to the household income and look after her well, but having worked for most of her life (she worked as a maid until she was 81 years old) Erenestina doesn’t want to be a burden to them.
Using the pension she has set up a new business selling juice, which she sells for 1500 TZS (around 50p) a bottle.
Zanzibar is the first place in East Africa to give a State pension to everyone over the age of 70.

Cassim Juma Vuai, 71 years old, and a shop owner gives mangoes to children at his shop in the town of Uroa, Zanzibar, Tanzania Tuesday, March 14, 2017. Cassim worked as a cleaner until he was 60, and was scraping by on a pension of 40,000 TZS (around £15) per month from this job. When the new universal social pension of 20,000 TZS was introduced his regular income increased by 50%, which gave him the means to set up his own shop in the community, selling basic goods such as flour, oil and shampoo.
Cassim says: “I chose to run a shop because it doesn’t require much energy as I sit here all day waiting from the customers.”
Zanzibar is the first place in East Africa to give a State pension to everyone over the age of 70.

Cassim Juma Vuai, 71 years old, and a shop owner serves a customer in his shop in the town of Uroa, Zanzibar, Tanzania Tuesday, March 14, 2017. Cassim worked as a cleaner until he was 60, and was scraping by on a pension of 40,000 TZS (around £15) per month from this job. When the new universal social pension of 20,000 TZS was introduced his regular income increased by 50%, which gave him the means to set up his own shop in the community, selling basic goods such as flour, oil and shampoo.
Cassim says: “I chose to run a shop because it doesn’t require much energy as I sit here all day waiting from the customers.”
Zanzibar is the first place in East Africa to give a State pension to everyone over the age of 70.