But Agnes is fortunate. She goes to school, and has hopes of becoming a teacher one day. She says that without her older and younger brothers working back home in the rural areas she might never have been able to get an education. Her brothers are herd boys, and through the money or livestock they receive at the end of each year, they help Agnes' parents pay her school fees. She says that she doesn't know what will become of her brothers when they are too old to remain herd boys.
Jobs are really difficult and people want somebody who can read and write.
I guess they will have to go to the mines in South Africa, but we have heard stories from the men coming back, they don't want foreigners there anymore. They only want to give work to their own. Girls have traditionally been the educated ones. Traditionally boys have been sent off by their families to be herd boys as soon as they are old enough. The girls stay behind and receive most of the attention from their parents.