By Memory Mudzani
Zimbabwe still suffer from child labor despite all the work which has been done in trying to curb this problem.
Researches have shown that Child labor is caused by high percentage of child headed families due to poverty, divorce or separation of parents as a result of death.
In an interview Childlife National Director Kudzanai Mhesano , said that child labor is the inability of parents to provide for their children and in most cases these families will become child headed families , robing children their childhood as they are forced to grow up at an early age because of the situation at home.
Andrew Chikamhi who is the founder of Blessing Generation Charity organization told this publication that one of the major concerns in Africa is child-headed families, which he said it needs to be given enough attention to it because if these children are not given assistance from family and elderly community members, they will end up being involved in prostitution, crime, domestic work and domestic violence may increase.
Chikamhi further said that the community and the child’s family must work together to provide the child with all the help they can because most of the time, these children become psychologically damaged and it will impact their entire childhood.
Tawanda Mpofu from Mbizo said that the society needs to be educated on the issues of child labor and child headed families and its dangers when he narrated how he saw young children working as illegal artisanal miners and how it is affecting children’s behavior and their future.
Mhesano also said that they are doing a number of activities before, during and even after the problem to help children who are heading families at an early age and bring back their dreams.
Mhesano further said that they offer shelter for extreme situations and also refer to other homes for the safety and security of the child.
“We do provide basic needs like clothes, health, food, social support, paying school fees and all necessary support to children living in a child headed family, we also give free educational materials and platforms for such children to be able to learn supporting the education for all idea and we also give free textbooks, workbooks published from our organization,” said Mhesano
Mtatiwa from child integration Zimbabwe also said that as an organization they work with children in difficult circumstances where children find themselves living in a roof headed by another child and the reason will be either because parents divorced or they separated because of natural cause like death , he further said that in a situation like this they will come up with intervention where they provide these children with basic requirements like education, food, health, transport and accommodation if the situation is critical .
He further said that they put some of these children in foster parents so that they can experience a normal life like other children and most of these foster children lives in Epworth .
He further said that it is hard to prevent child headed families because some children support their siblings due to the death of their parents so there is need to tackle the causes of child headed families and ministry of social welfare has to come up with intervention where the law has to protect these children who are working at a young age so as to survive , he also said that there must be interventions which are supported by the government to help child headed families .
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