Chores denying Zim girls their childhood joy
Lazarus Sauti Ten-year old Amanda Sakai (not her real name because she is a minor) from Mabvuku, a high density suburb some 17 kilometres east of Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe, wakes early to wash plates and sweep the yard before spending her day selling vegetables, tomatoes, biscuits and sweets at her mother’s table instead of going to school. She is not the only girl in this tight spot as twelve-year old Purity Mwale (also not real name) from a low-income Chinyika area of Goromonzi, a district of Mashonaland East Province, also wakes early to do household chores. Mwale started helping around the house when she was seven years old . “ I clean the house, do the dishes and cook food for the family. I also sweep around the yard and occasionally, I have to do laundry for my brother and two sisters,” she says. Mwale, who is a student at Chinyika Primary School, adds: “I am usually late for classes. Teachers used to punish me, but they are now sending me back hom...