by Tatenda Murandu
Increasing levels of poverty in Zimbabwe has led to the vulnerability of older adults due to inadequate and poorly funded social safety nets and social care services. Older adults in Zimbabwe are struggling to survive.
Mary Masango, 82, of Mbizo Kwekwe sells vegetables at a small market stall to make ends meet. “This is how I get money to buy food for me and my grandchildren,” she said while cleaning her tomatoes. She tears up as she narrates how difficult it has become to cater for her five grandchildren without any help from her family.
“Some of them don’t even know their parents. I started staying with them when they were infants. Death robbed me of most of my children, now I am all alone,” she cried.
Mary Masango’s story is much like most of the elderly population in Zimbabwe. They are forced to be providers for their children and grandchildren. High unemployment levels have forced most young people to cross borders looking for greener pastures. However, without proper documentation most struggle to make it in foreign lands. They fail to send back money to their parents and the burden to care for their children rests on their parents.
The Covid 19 pandemic only intensified this plight, lockdowns exacerbated existing inequalities intensifying the plight of older persons. For Mary, lockdowns meant she was unable to go to her vegetable market stall. Selling from her home was not as profitable as selling from her market place and her family suffered as a result. It became increasingly difficult to put food on the table and sometimes she and her grandsons would go to bed after having a small portion of boiled cowpeas.
Jack Ngulube, Tenants and Residents Association (TRA) Chairperson says that older people a neglected and marginalised community. Ngulube called upon the younger generation to embrace the older generation and to know the importance of valuing them. He aims to continue raising awareness about the aging population so as to ensure that people grow old with dignity. One of his strategies is to take advantage of the international day of the elderly that is commemorated on October 1 yearly, to raise awareness of the increasing need to support older adults.
But for Mary, a dignified life is still a pipe dream, currently two of her grandsons have dropped out of school because she is not able to pay their school fees. She has no one to assist her even her extended family, says most people nowadays do not give importance to the plight of older people.
Most elderly people are struggling raise money to pay for their utilities including water bills and end up getting disconnected by city councils. They end up going for days without water. Although Government has waived hospital and clinic user fees for those 60 and above, they still have to buy their own medication which is beyond their reach.
Mary is diabetic and also suffers from high blood pressure.
In as much as there is an international day of older persons, more interventions are needed to ensure that other elderly persons like Mary live a dignified life.