She pushes a concrete-laden wheelbarrow with the agility of a teenager. Yet at 37 years of age, Mirirai Shambare, a holder of a teaching qualification, has never worked in a classroom since she graduated from college about nine years ago.
She toils at a construction site near her rural hometown Mutoko, 143 kilometers (89 miles) east of the Zimbabwean capital Harare, joining thousands of women nationwide who have taken to hard-hat jobs at a time when the country’s economy teeters on the brink of collapse. Unemployment in the Southern Africa nation currently stands at 90%.
“I’m a laborer now, an assistant at a construction site near my home here because surely I can’t find my job which is that of a teacher,” Shambare told Anadolu Agency. Hilton Savanje, an economist based in Harare, blamed economic hardships for this shifting trend Official data shows women are also providing 70% of the labor for agriculture and constitute 61% of the farmers.
For many Zimbabwean women like Shambare, it may be long before befitting jobs come their way. But many others like Chidzudzu have accepted their fate and moved on.
CENTER FOR AFRICAN STUDIES
Center for Africa Studies (AFRAM) which located in Ankara, is an organization facilitating under the administration of African Affairs Council (AFAC). It makes various researches about Africa to enhance economic and cultural bounds between Africa and Turkey. AFRAM’s publishings has been shared with different institutions as they require to obtain.
AFRICA OBSERVATORY
Africa Observatory is one the publishing of AFRAM and it has been published each two weeks. It has been delivered to different institutions via e-mail.
