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A
Personal reflection: Young people in quest for social and economic
justice in Zimbabwe
Roberta T.
Muropa
June 14, 2006
This article
was written in commemoration of the Day of the African Child - 16
June 2006
As I reflect
on how the environment that I am facing at the present moment, regarding
the way the economy is performing, I ask myself on whether people
have become ‘walking graves’ and not reacting to the harsh realities
of life. Furthermore, with the HIV & AIDS pandemic claiming
a lot of lives and young women like myself, being vulnerable to
the disease, the situation becomes even worse, and knowing for a
fact that not many women know their sexual and reproductive rights,
even worsen the whole thing. What to do is the question, because,
at the present moment, the main important issues are bread and butter
issues. Lord, where do we go from here?
I also ask myself
how workers in the main cities and towns are enduring this environment,
whether their wages are being increased, and if not, if their employers
do have a heart to listen to the plight of their employees who have
families to fend for. School children will have a hard time attending
their lessons, not knowing when their school fees would be reduced
or even increased, and in most cases, the girl child is the main
victim, as she will be the one to be removed from school, to pave
way for the boy-child,’ who will bring a lot of benefits to the
family’.
With the day
of the Africa child approaching in a few days to come, I often wonder,
if the youth do have a voice to speak out their minds, in light
of the economic and social injustices that have affected their livelihood’s
with no hope of being employed after completing their studies at
tertiary colleges, that is if they even manage to attend those colleges,
with the ever increasing tuition fees. With one year after the controversial
Operation
Murambatsvina (Restore Order), life seems to get even worse,
knowing for a fact that many people have been robbed of their livelihoods
and the right to shelter.
This
day should be a day of reflection and action towards the plight
of the African child in Zimbabwe and the region as a whole. I see
this day as an opportunity for all young people from all races,nationality
and tribes to reflect and analyze their role in alleviating poverty
that has affected their lives, both in the urban, peri-urban, mining
areas and rural areas. Many young people have become victims of
sexual, emotional, physical and verbal abuse, which should not be
condoned, and most of them are victims of child labor in the urban
areas,communal areas, mining and farming areas, and yet they are
supposed to go to school to prepare their future. But, is education
is Zimbabwe still affordable and accessible …what can I say?
I do believe that,
one day, youths in Zimbabwe will be able to live in a free society
where they are able to participate in political, socio-economic issues
that affect their lives and be bale to claim their right to life and
dignity. When that will take place, only time will tell, and when
the winds of change are blowing towards real freedom!
Solidarity
forever!!
Aluta
continua! The struggle continues!!!
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