Vimbiso

One year ago two sisters left their home in Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe in search of a better life. Aged 15 and 12 Vimbiso and her older sister made it from Chitungwiza by whatever means to the border in Beitbridge and crossed over into Musina in South Africa.

Vimbiso looking toward the car

Before I go on what drew my attention to this story was how bad was the situation at home that a parent can let a 12 year old girl go off with her sister to make a life for themselves. The girls in question told me that they lied to their parents as to where they are going but never the reason for going off. Granted the parents did not know they would end up across the border but the girls did get permission to go into the world and make a living at 12 and 15. 

The journey from Chitungwiza to the border is fraught with many many dangers for adults now imagine two young girls. They are at the mercy of who so ever they put their trust in and in most cases these are bus drivers, long distance truck drivers and traffickers.

They clearly made it to the border and crossed the border meaning they went through the Zimbabwean border and also the South African borders as unaccompanied minors.

These girls are illegal migrants at this tender age. They do not have any documentation and hence they do try their best to fly under the radar and avoid detection by the authorities. They join the continously growing population of child migrants on the Musina streets.

When I first spoke to Vimbiso I had pried her out of the hands of a female guard who wanted to 'discipline' her for sniffing glue. The guard said it was her job on the line if Vimbiso was caught with the glue on the premises on her shift, true but man handlig a 13 year old girl to the point that she was topless during the scuffle is uncalled for. So I offered to escort Vimbiso off the premises so the guard's job would not be in danger. 

As we walked off together I began asking her to give me the glue but she refused saying it wasn't hers and should she get back to 'base' without it there would be trouble for her. I did not push her to give me the packet but as we walked I offered her a packet of MnMs and from that unlikely connection she shared her story with me.

I asked her why she sniffed the glue (someone had told me they did this because they were hungry) she just said she did it because everyone else did it. I asked where she lived and she told me she slept at the post office. And food? They beg. School? No (There are a few centers in Musina offering free education for migrant children). I asked her if she could have one thing in the world what would she want and she said she would like to go back home.

She is a girl who has supposedly been living hard for the past year on the streets of a border town. I do not believe that all her meals come from begging, I am inclined to believe that at one point or another she could have been in a position where prostitution would be an alternative source of income. This is me thinking I do not have facts and she did not say these things to me but having been in the town for a week I observed a lot of prostitution and the ladies walking the streets bars and brothels were aged between Vimbiso's 13 to their late 40s.

There are many Vimbiso's in this and other countries. Young girls who run away from home in search of greener pastures but they do not know how much the water bill of that green patch is and initially they try their hardest to pay the bill but the world is cruel the higher it gets the more they have to pay and hence they now have to sacrifice not only their bodies but their dignity as well.

Help is needed from two angles where the girsl come from and where they end up. The truth has to be told to the ones about to start the trip. In the areas they end up people must be given an understanding of the fears and situations these young girls are in and have. 

The African continent is full like these girls who are not getting any education (the one that gets you a job) and in a few years when they have to  be employed they are unemployable and open to more abuse. 

Plans have been put in place to ensure Vimbiso and her sister go back home, but noone knows if they will stay. 

Should you meet a Vimbiso this is her story talk to her and find out what she wants. What do you think shold be done to help such girls?