Posted on March 5th, 2007 at 11:25 am by aaron
UNICEF Humanitarian Action Report [Zimbabwe], 2007: Read It
UNICEF Zimbabwe Feature Story: Read It
UNICEF Zimbabwe Feature [Excerpt]
In a rundown pole and dagga hut – where a torn blanket has been turned into a door and the only piece of furniture is an old paraffin lamp – Miriam Madzinga lives with her six younger siblings. They sleep side-by-side, partly through necessity (it is a one-room shack) and partly to ward off the cold.
Miriam welcomes us into their home as her half-dressed younger brothers play ‘tsoro’ (a local version of draughts) in the shade of the hut, while her young sisters help with the cooking. A bitter wind blows dust into their plates and eyes.
Miriam and her little brothers and sisters live at the heart of Buhera, two hours east of Zimbabwe’s capital, where maize is burnt dry and HIV decimates communities. Although she is just 16 years old, Miriam is head of her household. Her father died in 1998, and her mother four years later.
UNICEF estimates that 100,000 Zimbabwean children live in homes like Miriam’s – child-headed households. “I have just walked more than 4 km in search of water,” says Miriam. “Now it is time for cooking, bathing and cleaning.”
