House bound: Why girls leave school to do domestic work

As an administrator for the ministry of education and a member of Camfed’s Community Development Committee in Iringa, Tanzania, Mary Mwakajwanga helps monitor Camfed’s work on the ground. Because Camfed’s programs are designed to reach the most vulnerable girls in any given community, Mary has encountered dozens of girls in the course of her work who have migrated to the city to do domestic labor. Her mission: to track down children who have been forced by difficult circumstances to leave school and work for a living, and to offer them the opportunity to re-enroll in school with Camfed’s support.

Fatina Kiluvia talked to Mary Mwakajwanga about the conditions that drive young people to leave their families in search of jobs that offer little compensation and a high risk of abuse.

Q: Why do so many girls in rural Tanzania become domestic servants?

Mary Mwakajwanga: Poverty and lack of education. Most girls in rural areas cannot afford to go to school past age 13, and since there are no economic opportunities for them in their villages, they flee to big cities to earn money, in search of what they think will be a better standard of living. Also, in many villages in Tanzania, girls are often encouraged to marry young. If a girl is not offered someone’s hand after she finishes primary school, she might leave her village to escape the questions and shame about why she is not married.

Q: What kind of work do domestic servants do?

MM: They clean, they cook, they wash clothes, they help raise babies, and they care for sick family members. Depending on where they are working, they might do farm work, or they might assist in income-generating activities like selling doughnuts.

Q: How many hours a day do they work on average, and how much do they get paid?

MM: It is common for them to work about 18 hours a day and get paid about $13 a month.

Q: Describe a domestic servant’s typical day.

MM: She normally will wake up at 5a.m. to make preparations for the day. She might sweep the floor, prepare breakfast for the family, get the children ready for school, and go to the market.

In the afternoon, she prepares lunch, picks up the children at school, and, if she is working on a farm, she will go to the field to cultivate.

And in the evening, she cooks dinner, washes dishes, prepares the children for bed, and does some tidying up. Generally she gets to bed by about 11p.m.

Q: Can you talk about the ways in which domestic servants are exploited?

MM: They are exploited financially, because they do not get paid adequately for the hard work they do. Tanzania just passed a minimum wage law, which requires that workers be paid $56.00 a month for day jobs and $21.00 a month for those who board with their employer—but domestic servants get paid far less. Also, if a house girl makes a mistake, like breaking a glass, the cost is deducted from her salary, which is already low. Even more disturbing is that these girls are sometimes sexually exploited.

Q: Do girls generally report abuse?

MM: No, because most of these girls are not aware of their rights. They fear that if they report abuse, they will be fired, or at the very least, they will not be heard. Also, they are ashamed and want to avoid ridicule.

Most girls who work as domestic servants come from very poor families, so they are powerless to do anything—they have no status. Also, some of the girls are orphans, so they are susceptible to exploitation because they have no family to turn to for help.

Q: How do girls find work as domestic servants?

M.M.: Generally, they are recruited. Because it is common for girls in rural areas to search for work as soon as they finish primary school, landlords often send their domestic servants back to their villages to recruit other girls who have just completed their primary school exams. Also, during harvesting season, businessmen who travel to the rural areas from the city recruit girls to work for them or their relatives. The other factor is that when parents see their neighbors’ daughters returning home from Dar es Salaam with presents, they might try to convince their daughters to get a job in the city so they can bring nice things home to them.

When the girls leave, neither they nor their families realize that they are putting themselves at risk. They have high hopes.

Q: What needs to be done to stop the exploitation of domestic servants?

M.M.: Society as a whole must become more aware of human rights, and the laws of the land. And children should be educated in order to become literate and qualify for good jobs.

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