From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:ZIMBABWE: CHILDREN SUFFER AS COLONIAL POLICY REMAINS INTACT
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 02:52:18 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: ZIMBABWE: CHILDREN SUFFER AS COLONIAL POLICY REMAINS INTACT


an inter press service feature

by andrew zhakata

harare, dec 5 (ips) -- everyday, young shupikai tavanda, leads
her blind parents to the first street mall in the capital,
harare, where they parade together with other destitutes begging
for alms.

shupikai and her parents live in one of harare's high-density
suburbs, kuwadzana, situated about 8km from the city.

''my parents do not have anyone to guide them, so i have to
do it myself. if we have enough bus fare we board a bus and if
we do not have, we just foot to the city'', says the lean and
scruffy eight year-old.

in the course of the day, shupikai who is required to attend
school has to divide her time between growing up and playing
adult: looking after her little brother and two sisters and
having to dash from one cafe to another to buy, beg or ''steal''
food.

such is the daily rough and tough routine of hundreds of
children in zimbabwe's cities and towns some as young as
four or three years old. like their blind parents whom they
lead, these children have also been doomed to a life of
begging for survival.

a life spent in stinking alley ways or street corners is
depriving them of their childhood and education. a bath is a
rare occasion for them. even a day's meal is dependent on how
the generosity of the members of the public happens to be.

at last week's donors' conference on assistance to african
children, in the senegalese capital, dakar, zimbabwe's
president, robert mugabe, said economic hardships caused mainly
by the current severe drought had adversely affected the welfare
of the zimbabwean child by encouraging child labour.

''although accurate data on this recent phenomenon has still
to be compiled, my government is greatly concerned by this
development and is examining ways and means of eradicating child
labour and child abuse'', said mugabe.

however, people argue that the problem of child deprivation
has existed for a long time and it will continue unless the
government changes its social welfare policy and effectively
addresses the plight of the destitute. (more/ips)


zimbabwe: children (2)

with a population of about 10.8 million, zimbabwe has an
estimated 100,000 blind people. many of them beg on the streets
for their survival and because of society's negative attitudes
towards the blind, only a handful manage to have a proper
education and gain employment.

''the practice of taking children to street corners exposes
them to all sorts of social vices at an early stage and this
results in juvenile delinquency '', says martin sadomba.

sadomba, a sociologist at the university of zimbabwe, argues
that putting these children in institutional homes, a thing once
suggested by the former director of social welfare, chimbidzayi
sanyangore, does not solve the problem.

''the government should stop recoursing to a colonial welfare
policy which blames the destitutes for their predicament and
requires the needy to prove beyond doubt that he or she is
really destitute'', sadomba told ips.

the department of social welfare, urges sadomba, should
advocate for a comprehensive welfare policy that seeks a
rehabilitation and resettlement programme with infrastructure
that provides for health, education, recreation, rehabilitation
psychiatry and extension services.

the police have on several occasions raided blind beggars and
other destitutes but they still trickle back to the streets to
beg.

''i have to beg to survive because i am getting very little
money from the welfare. no one is willing to employ me
although i am a qualified telephone operator '', says 35
year-old takky munemo.

munemo who has three children and a wife, claims that he
gets only 70 zimbabwe dollars (about 14 u.s dollars) per month
from the welfare.

edna ncube, a blind mother of four, says much of the 16 u.s.
dollars she gets as a grant, is spent on rent, electericity,
water and food. edna claims that she used to get rent and
children's school uniforms provided separately in 1981 and 1982,
but this stopped long ago.

the department of social welfare refused to comment on the
allegations.

however, william sithole, director of the council for the
blind, admits that the destitutes are getting peanuts from the
welfare and urges a review of the welfare policy.

sithole also expressed grave concern about society's
ingrained negative attitudes which depict blindness as a
curse. (end/ips/az/oa/92)