Chronicle Editor
Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
CHILD-HEADED families are struggling for survival, with challenges they face being exacerbated by the prevailing economic challenges that have been worsened by the Covid-19 lockdown.
A child-headed family is one in which there is no parental care and one of the children takes over the responsibility of looking after his or her siblings.
A number of factors that include death and the breakdown of the extended family network has given rise to child-headed families.
Chronicle caught up with some of the children who are heading families on Sunday at Nketa 8 suburb Hall as a Turkish organisation, Tika was donating food hampers to them.
Each hamper comprised a 10kg mealie-meal, 4 litres cooking oil, 4kg sugar, 2kg flour, 2kg rice, packet of sugar beans, salt and 5 litres drinking syrup and a bar of soap, among others.
Miss Lomathamsanqa Sikhosana from Nkulumane suburb said she never thought that at the age of 19 she would look after her two siblings, but was forced to do so at that age when her father died in 2018, four years after her mother’s death.
“I stay with my two siblings one of them an Early Childhood Development pupil while another is now in in Grade 7. It’s difficult that as a child I had to assume parenthood for my siblings.
“As children they don’t understand that our life has changed since the death of our parents who used to provide for us. They will make demands for things that we cannot afford as they were used to being provided for,” said Miss Sikhosana, who has a certificate in Library and Information Sciences.
Now aged 21, she said it was mentally draining to look after other children as that can affect one’s school performance. She still feels the weight of looking after her siblings.
“I can’t even go out to look for a job as I have to take care of my siblings. It’s difficult never knowing what we are going to have for supper. Sometimes I have to turn to neighbours for food because some of our relatives have become distant since the death of our parents. We are really on our own,” she said.
Miss Moreblessing Ncube from Nketa 6 suburb found herself pregnant in 2016 at the age of 18 following the death of her parents and elder sister. She lives with her younger sister aged nine, her late sister’s child aged six and her child aged four.
She does not know where the father of her child is.
Miss Ncube said she does not have any source of livelihood hence she is forced to do “anything” just to put food on the table.
“Sometimes the children will see things that some of the peers are getting and feel entitled to get the same without understanding our situation. I’m sometimes forced to do whatever is necessary just to provide for them. Some of the things may seem morally wrong but what options do I have,” she said.
Another child Prayer Dube (16) said she looks after her younger sister who is 10 years old, following the death of their parents.
“My eldest brother is 20-years-old, but most of the times he is never home as he goes to the mines. I’m left to look after my younger sister who is 10 years old.
“Life is difficult as we sometimes run out of food without knowing when my brother would be returning home. We are forced to go to Tshabalala where one of our uncles stays to ask for food,” she said.
Turkish Embassy official Mr Adam Yidi Wadi said the donation to child-headed families was part of the Turkish people’s efforts to bring relief to the vulnerable in society.
“This is our third donation in Bulawayo this weekend. Yesterday, we were donating food hampers to the elderly Muslim community in Tshabalala and we also donated hampers to the elderly in Pelandaba suburb.
So, in total we distributed food hampers to 250 vulnerable people through Tika, a humanitarian organisation in Turkey.
“Child-headed families might seem sidelined but we want to say we appreciate you and value you. This donation is meant to bring relief for you although it is not a permanent position,” said Mr Wadi.
The organisation’s Bulawayo representative Mr Isaac Ali said due to Covid-19 most people were struggling to put food on the table hence their decision to target child-headed families.
“Through this donation, we believe we are trendsetters in saying there is this community that is sometimes forgotten. We hope other organisations can take a leaf from what we have done and reach to all the vulnerable members of the community.
“They need our support, we are not going to forget about them,” he said. — @nqotshili
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