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WHILE his peers were tucking into marinated fleshy and juicy chicken cuts, Jacob sat under the shadow of a nearby green tree waiting for the sound signalling the end of the lunch break so that he could get back to work.
It had become routine to see the stocky and bald-headed artisan with a furrowed brow sitting under the tree each time the acoustic device sounded to mark either the beginning or end of the tea or lunch break.
Food and fruit vendors who frequented the area unsuccessfully tried to persuade him to buy some of their products.
“I am in the middle of a crisis. My children’s school fees leave me with nothing to spare and I cannot afford the luxury of splurging on fast-food packs, which are popular in this industrial area,” the father of four could be heard saying while making his way to his usual spot.
Such are the sacrifices that come with parenting. A good number of men and women are having to work on empty tummies to ensure they save as much as they can from the little they earn to keep their children in school.
“I take one meal a day. I only eat supper because if I try to compete with the bachelors and spinsters, I would have done myself a disservice. I shall enjoy later in life when my children have completed their education.”
If there is research to be done, then it should be one that assesses the food component in water. A good number of people spend the whole day drinking copious amounts of water in an effort to stave off hunger.
“The economy has not been working in my favour but I am managing. I won’t die because I have the mental satisfaction that what I am doing is right,” Jacob said with a chuckle.
Some parents even volunteer to work overtime to raise extra cash and this naturally eats into their health and social life.
Some parents wake up before sunrise and sleep after midnight to make ends meet. Others are performing degrading tasks as part of sacrificing for the welfare of their children.
Though plausible, what Jacob and many other like-minded parents out there are going through in an effort to provide for their children’s education is painful. It requires children who are observant and caring enough to avoid disappointing their parents and repay them with passes. Unfortunately, what is happening in schools today shows that most children cannot be bothered. Sacrificing for most of today’s children is akin to tying a stash of cash on the leg of a bolting leopard, as Jairos Jiri Band leader Paul Matavire said.
Igombototo nemashura ezviratidzo.
According to a recent report from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, at least 415 school-going girls dropped out of examination classes in Manicaland Province during the Covid-19 lockdown period mainly due to marriage and pregnancy. Of the figure, only five boys dropped out. Provincial Education Director Edward Shumba said there was need to intensify guidance and counselling in schools.
“We all want to enhance guidance and counselling where these things are happening,” he said.
“And for the parent, if the child has become pregnant, let those deliver, give them a second chance. The ministry allows us to go for the second chance because, right, they could have made a mistake, but who does not make a mistake. We all make mistakes and, yes, we have learnt from our mistakes.”
Schools have been transformed from being places where children acquire education into theatres of the absurd. Children are being photographed performing lewd acts. In one video that circulated on WhatsApp, there were close to six couples who had sacrificed their studies for a steamy session of kissing and fondling in an empty classroom.
Drugs and alcohol are being consumed at school without fear, while sexual acts are being performed at parties being organised by learners. You really wonder whether these learners still value education and attach importance to their health.
So worrying is the current trend that First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa has advocated a return to the country’s traditional way of life, which had in-built mechanisms to foster discipline in children.
“I never applied to be born. I must live my life the way I want. Who said I should never be allowed to make my own choices? Elders must leave us alone,” I heard a scantily-dressed young girl saying in a bus queue while speaking with an anglicised accent for effect.
The Bible urges people to honour their fathers and mothers so that their days on earth may be increased. It remains to be seen whether or not it will be long before the naughty children start paying for their misdeeds through ill-health.
Inotambika mughetto.
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