High cost of Data disrupts the lives of women and girls
By Spiwe Hellen Chihwanda
One Saturday afternoon we sat in the park as is our habit in my area. We sit and reflect on how time has passed though it still feels like yesterday. Once upon a time in that same park we used to play all sorts of games as girls. That Saturday we sat and reflected on the dreams and aspirations that we used to have. Of all the dreams and aspirations which we had one thing led to the other and life happened. Here we were a group of young women or should I say young mothers whose dreams were yet to be fulfilled.
As we sat sharing our journey into motherhood I realized that eight amongst the ten of us became mothers unexpectedly. We were not prepared for this journey of motherhood and the burdens and responsibilities it comes. We were not equipped enough yet we were left with no choice than to embrace it. One thing I noted with great concern was the magnitude at which young women and girls end up resorting to ‘friends with benefits’ to ease the burden of cost living on them. With the majority of parents migrating beyond our borders in search of greener pastures, children are left in the hands of care givers who are in most cases relatives. These relatives end up neglecting the children and these children have to fend for themselves.
In such a scenario, the girl child suffers a lot because she becomes vulnerable. Not every man is bad or has bad intentions. Some help with a fatherly heart but in one way or the other, I realized in each of the eight stories, these young women had been sexually exploited resulting in them falling pregnant.
One of the young women shared her story of how her dreams came true when she was admitted into university. However this dream turned into a nightmare when the Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID19) forced the government to impose virtual learning on every student. This meant there was need for a laptop or a good phone for her to be able to learn. This was a huge blow to her as the demands did not end there but there was a 50gig data requirement that needed to be purchased on a monthly basis. Zimbabwe is ranked as one of the countries with extremely high cost of data in the world. When she shared this challenge with her peers she was introduced to one guy who would assist students to purchase data with cheaper rates.
Regardless of how cheap his data bundles were, still she could not afford them. She narrated her ordeal to the guy who in turn offered to assist her on the basis that she becomes his house maid. One thing led to the other and eventually she became pregnant. She was left with no option than to elope and accept her fate. As her peers will be graduating this year, her child will be turning four years old. As her peers will be attending job fairs and beginning their long awaited journey in various fields of their careers, she will be seeking for enrollment forms for her child to begin Early Childhood Development classes (ECD). The high cost of internet has not only destroyed our future but it has also shattered our hopes and aspirations. We end up living miserable lives due to poor decisions which will be backed by emotions instead of logic. It is high time internet access is regarded as a basic need and its cost reduced to affordable prices so that everyone is able to access it.
