By Lylie Happiness
OSHAKATI, April 21 – The Oshana region is facing several challenges, including high youth unemployment, and this is causing income inequality and poverty among the youth in the region.
While walking in a town near the Oshakati Town Council building in the early morning there is always a group of men and women sitting or wandering around looking for a job to do.
I had a chance to chat with a few people who I found sitting while waiting for people to approach them or offer them work to do for a day.
A woman in her early 30 years said: “We come here every morning with the hope that today will be a different day or lucky day to be picked up by someone to do a certain job, for example, cleaning yards, watering the garden and washing laundry and ironing. These are the jobs that we are being offered from time to time and the money is small. There are days that you can come and stay here the whole day and there is no job for you.”
I went on to have a conversation with a 42-year-old man by the name of Daniel who said: “We are suffering and hunger is killing us. During the rainy seasons, when people are busy with fields, that’s always our best time because in a week you can be given work by three different people, who always come to this spot and take a group of people to work in their fields.
“I have been coming here since 2020 when I lost my previous job where I was working as a security guard. Since then I have been searching for a job and nothing is coming my way and my age is going forward. I decided to come here every day so I can hustle and be able to take care of my family. I have a wife and two children who go to school and my wife sells fat cakes (vetkoek) and kapana. So I have to do this every day to meet her halfway with our needs.”
This situation has been going on for years. And with everything increasing in price day by day people are finding it difficult to survive. – Namibia Daily News
