When it Takes the streets to raise Children

4 am finds Namatai Masunda, 24, up and doing her household chores. With a seven-year-old, a one-year-old toddler and a husband, Namatai always has laundry, cooking and cleaning to do in the first couple of hours

Just after 5am Namatai straps the toddler securely on her back and joins the rest of the morning hustlers half jogging to the commuter terminus. Vegetable vendors must get to the market early in order to secure the freshest produce at the best prices.

Being late means buying from middlemen who would have put in hefty marks ups, eating into wafer thin profit margins.

Masunda is one of the thousands of women who are finding a new way of balancing mothering and earning a living.

"Although it is challenging to balance my domestic environment with my job as a vendor, I have to make sure my child's school work is up to date and he has food to eat when they return from school," Masunda says.

It takes a street to raise a child

Statistics say in 2017 there were estimated 10 thousand vendors in Harare alone and about 20 thousand in 2021 and in 2022 the number is estimated to be at more than 30 thousand.

Samuel Wadzai from Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation (VISET) says about 70% of vendors are women and a good number of those are of reproductive age, raising their kids on the street.

"Mothers hardly get maternity leave to take care of their young ones, as such they just devote a few days of resting and regaining their strength," Wadzai says.

It is common to see children of all ages on the streets as their mothers sell their wares. Some can be found sleeping on makeshift cardboard box bedding while others play with each other on the streets.

Netsai Kambiri, 29, says that she is an important co-breadwinner for her three kids as he husband’s earnings from his mobile handset repair informal business is just not enough for the family.

“I have three sons. One is doing grade five the other is in grade three at a local school. With school fees, food and other expenses, I can’t afford not to work. So I have to take the seventh month old baby with me to my second hand clothing vending site.”

The women have to juggle baby minding and their jobs. So sometimes a woman can be seen breastfeeding while serving a customer.

The women are worried about hygiene as access to running water and toilet facilities is very limited.

They are also concerned about security and safety of their kids while on the streets.

“It is not easy raising a child on the streets. As a mother you always have nightmares of your child being stolen and disappearing forever. Or they could wander on the roads and get run over,” one vendor said.

In the true African tradition of everyone chipping in for baby minding duties, it takes a street to raise a child on the streets.

The vendors, including the males, all look out for the children so there is almost always an eye on each child. The mother can comfortably leave her baby to her colleagues’ care and dash off to replenish her stock or deliver to a special client.

Baby or wares?

Unlicensed vendors plying their trade on the streets are ever ready to run in the unending battles with municipal and Zimbabwe Republic Police officers.

Street vendors are unlicensed and operate illegally. Obstruction to registered business premises, clogging streets and causing pedestrian jams and littering are some of the negative effects of so many vendors on the streets.

So the raids come often as the authorities struggle to maintain order across urban areas. The police impound wares abandoned by the owners who run away to avoid paying fines and spending time in police custody.

For the women raising their kids on the street, it’s usually a tough decision on what to grab and run when raids happen. Most mothers will naturally grab the child first.

Thus the women have come up with different ways of protecting their wares.

“We have hiding places where we stash our goods. So when the police come, I grab my baby and run knowing that I have some stock to give me a starting point once the I return to the streets,” says a vendor who declined to identify herself.

Breaking the poverty cycle

Raising kids on the street is not easy. Fines and loss of goods in raids mean that the women barely make a living. But for most women it is a much better option to being stay at home mothers.

According to the Zimbabwe Labour Force Survey ( ZLFS), the total number of people employed in 2021 was 7 415 518 and in 2022 the number decreased to 3 274 645. Of that number 1 908 732 are males with 1 365 912 women employed.

Most of the female vendors like Masunda and Kambiri are poorly educated and have no professional skills. So in a country with low formal employment opportunities, they stand almost zero chance of getting jobs. Thus in spite of all the challenges they stick to vending as it is practically their only option of earning something.

“Each day's earnings are a great contribution to my children’s welfare. It means they go to school, and do it on a full stomach,” Masunda. She says this is the only chance to ensure her kids get a proper education, unlike herself who dropped out of school to get married at 17.

Dialogue to pave way for licensing and regulation

The vendors hope that at some point there can be meaningful with responsible authorities for dialogue to legalise and regularise their operations so that they can get facilities that make mothering on the streets easier.

“These organisations that claim to represent vendors should push for dialogue. We would rather pay for licenses instead of being raided so often. We want security of employment even if we are self-employed,” said another female vendor.

She said that the job does not allow one to take much time off for any reason because each day’s earnings are crucial for survival.

“Because the little we earn each day counts, we cannot afford long maternity leave. We are back on the streets a few weeks after giving birth. The authorities should put in more proper vending sites with some facilities for children.

“Also the authorities can then put in facilities like playgrounds and early learning centres. There can also be study spaces so when the school kids join us in the afternoon they can do their homework there,” the vendor said.