“I have nothing special to eat or wear for Christmas. My family has no time to celebrate the special birthday of Jesus Christ due to economic hardships. Look, my whole family is out on the streets selling mobile phone juice cards at a time the world is celebrating,” said Silvia.
The youth buys 12 cards per day for resale. She buys a single card for $0.92 and resells it for $1. She hardly makes more than $1 profit a day.
“My day begins early in the morning and stretches until midnight. My heart bleeds to know that while I am struggling to make ends meet around town, children of my age are at school,” said Silvia.
She was kicked out of St Dungwiza Primary School in Chitungwiza last year for failing to pay school fees. She was in Grade 6 and supposed to pay $45 per term in school fees, an amount her widowed mother could not afford.
Her father passed on in 2010 and was a driver for the MDC and staunch party supporter. Silvia’s mother, Lillian, earns a living selling juice cards. The social support Lillian was promised by her party at the time of her husband’s death has not materialized.
“Zanu (PF) supporters laugh at me. They say my family is living testimony of MDC’s insensitivity to the plight of party widows and orphans. My family lives in a shack provided by well-wishers,” she said.
MDC-T Mashonaland East Provincial Chairperson and Member of Parliament for Mbare, Pinnel Denga, said the party lacked resources to take care of the huge number of people in need of both financial and material assistance.
“As much as MDC would like to assist its poor, resources remain a major challenge. The party has stretched resources to assist members when visited by disasters. There is nothing to sustain livelihoods of affected members in the long term,” said Denga.
He promised to look into the plight of the Moyo family and give assistance where possible.
The Minister of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture, David Coltart, suggested that Silvia be enrolled under the Basic Education Assistance Module. However, not all parents know how to get on the BEAM programme. *Not her real name
Post published in: News