Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Thank you so much Mr. Masuku for the article "Child-headed families." I experienced the same conditions as Patricia and looked after my three siblings from the age of seventeen. I would understand if parents have died but I will never understand how parents can abandon their children and live in peace without the knowledge of what their children have eaten or how they survive. We need to realise that this will affect a family, a city, a country and the whole continent. How do we expect Africa to rise if children are left to pull the wagon of their elders? Parents are supposed to prepare their children for the world, have educational funds and create opportunities for them. But under these circumstances, children begin their lives already disadvantaged. I managed to rise above those situations myself and I now work with an international media company as a reporter. I have met people from other parts of Africa who also identify with this story, so I have discovered that it happens a lot in many African countries. Surely, how do we expect our mother land to prosper if we lose family values? African governments should have policies to protect and support children because they are the future.