REMEMBER Mbewe (17) wakes up in the morning, as the sun blushes, scantily dressed takes up his broom as he prepares for an all-day toil. Mbewe kicks morning dew as he walks a few meters from his rugged round thatched hut, to a disused mine along Mvurwi road in Concession.
Being the eldest in a family of four in a small Ramahori compound, Mbewe carries the hope of her single mother after the death of his father years back. Mbewe walks on a narrow road from his hut to the periphery of a disused mine which has offered him a lifeline.
“I started coming here a few years back. I have tried everything to make a living but nothing is materialising, said Mbewe.
Mbewe’s tale is in stark contrast to his age mates who attend school without the burden of fending for their families. Faced with financial constraints to sustain his education, Mbewe dropped out of school in form one, dashing his hopes and aspirations.
The pint sized teenager kneels down on the mine pondering where lady luck might lead him.
“I used to have dreams of living in Harare and having a better future. All that has been diminished. This is the life that I know,” he said.
Dust rises in the air as Mbewe scours for gold joined by his friend and workmate in the trade Simbarashe Boaz (19) who shares a similar background.
“I have been doing this for over six months now. Poverty pushed me into this with unemployment pushing me into this. On a good day we can split US$5. I used to work on a farm but the returns were not motivational enough,” said Boaz.
At a quick glance, antiquated machines that used to be used in gold mining in the heydays of the mine can be noticed. The duo use these machines to detect crumbs of gold in the soil after surfing. Mbewe and Boza sell the little they scour to local gold dealers.
On a good month the two can take home over US$50 which brings an element of financial stability in their homes. However this comes with its downside as the duo uses dangerous chemicals like cyanide which affects their health.
“Every day we come here we inhale dust and sometimes one spits out sputum with dust and on some days suffer from chest pains,” said Boaz.
Mbewe and Boaz’s lives are a reflection of struggles young people are subjected to in rural areas. According to statistics from Zimbabwe Statistics (Zimstat) rural areas constitute a huge chunk of unemployed people as compared to their urban counterparts.
Zimstat, in its latest labour survey revealed that 2.8 million Zimbabweans of working age are unemployed with the majority in rural areas. Zimbabwe’s unemployment rate is a result of a rotten economy which the government has failed to extricate from an abyss it finds itself in.
In 2018, President Mnangagwa, who took over from long time ruler Robert Mugabe promised to deliver employment to the majority of Zimbabweans but with another election beckoning, he has not achieved his vow.
Zimbabweans have endured more than 20 years of economic failure with Mnangagwa’s government appearing to be failing to steer the country’s tide. In the mist and uncertainty the country finds itself in, Mbewe hopes for a quick turnaround in his life.
“I know this should not be something I should be doing for the rest of my life. I hope in the near future I can be employed and live in Harare in a normal environment,” he said.
Source NewZimbabwe
