Reporting live from the unemployment office!
I do not believe in hell. I believe in unemployment, but not hell- Dustin Hoffman. I have no idea what he means, but in my books unemployment is hell and hell is unemployment.
I have always wondered how it felt like to wake up everyday, make the bed and have to face the reality that you are stuck at home for the rest of the day because you do not have school to attend or even a job to report to. I have sometimes complained of long working days when I would start work at 0800hrs and end the day at 2000hrs. I have cried over the fact that I would work six days a week and get only Saturday off which had to be dedicated to laundry, to grooming, church, family, friends, men, sleep. I have made fun of the peanuts I would get at the end of the month and I have certainly splashed some money on unnecessary items in the stupid name of living only once. I have also woken up my whining sister in the dead of the night to massage my feet and back after a long day of work, I also have escaped dish washing duty because I actually had a few dollars to have my brother do it. I have balanced school and work like a pro because I had to.
But now, I cannot do all this because my reality is that I am on a proper holiday where I do not have to attend online lectures or submit assignments or take care of the kids and I do not have a job. At first I romanticized this, it really was easy after that one hectic exam week in October which I am still convinced was a death trap. I explained it away as taking a well deserved rest, so I embraced the early nights and late mornings, enjoyed catching up on some favourite shows, solo dates in bookshops in search of old favourites and new discoveries and men in spectacles, laughed like a kid on dates with my favourite human, basked in the joy of writing new poetry and got lost in Brett Young songs and fantasised about visiting Mykonos which is not going to be anytime soon from the look of things.
Evaluation of first week in the unemployment office: I love it here! I could do this everyday if I have an obese bank balance to fund it.
Then week two had its turn to show me around the hidden compartments in the unemployment office. Suddenly Sunday was a lot like Monday, Tuesday and Saturday were twins. Everything was now just monotonous, something I have been running away from my whole life. And the dishes had to be done too. My head, a mess. And now I would actually feel the first stings of unemployment when I had to ask my mom for money to do my hair and had to nag my Dad for airtime of all things. I felt my independence slide away like it was escaping a poverty infested being and dependence perch itself on shoulders too tired to try and shrug it away. A whole nightmare! So the week ends with an email marathon, an overflow of LinkedIn job notifications, dropping CVs in almost every little corner with a door and a desk. I swear this week alone, I have gained secretariat expertise I am ready to attend to the President's emails.
Evaluation of second week in the unemployment office: Aaaagh !! I hate it here but hey you, there's light at the end of every dark tunnel.
Then third week, well am I not chest deep in this water? Wait; it is tears! You know those tears I once cried for that stupid man, I want them back because I am running out of tears for these painfully polite rejection emails and for the calls which start with an "unfortunately ma'am". Now I have to face the reality that I might spend the holiday without a job which means more than just not having money. I kiss independence goodbye and hope I get the hang on this whole dependence thing. Also, where do they sell marriage at low prices, Shoprite?
Evaluation of week three: I AM DONE! I AM DEAD! HOW AM I EVEN HERE? JOHN GRISHAM, WHO IS THAT?
Well, there you have it, my first three weeks of unemployment and I have always had a vacation job since 2018. Thing is my life has been simply school and then a holiday which meant finding a job and making my own money so I can take care of my other needs without my parents having to bear the burden of taking care of me. Unemployment comes with a lot of frustrations and overthinking, escapism which sometimes is through the most dangerous tunnels, depression and a whole lot of suppressed feelings which are even hard to identify.
Then there is the entrepreneurship advise which I am sure everyone has had it given it to them without asking. trust me, I have nothing against entrepreneurship, I believe in it, have tried it on countless occasions, will be my go to plan when push comes to shove. I believe in entrepreneurship and its ability to turning around the plight of unemployed youths. I believe in its ability to answer the unemployment question and resuscitate Africa's economic potential. But I hate that have you tried selling this, start something of your own, be your own boss kind of advice. It really feels like rubbing salt to the economic-coated wounds.
However, if entrepreneurship is really the answer, what about the existing frameworks? Can they sustain entrepreneurship? I do not think so.
Firstly, there is no doubt that Africa is the world's youngest population with more than half its over 1 billion population being under the age of 25. As such the future of the continent's economies rests upon the shoulders of the youth. My Zimbabwean experience is that many young people are willing to venture into this entrepreneurship field, even forced into it by this unemployment situation. Youths are all over the place selling stuff, WhatsApp is one big mall where you get clothes from Zambia, Avon cosmetics, eggs from Gutu, grain from Dotito wherever that is, gadgets from China, you name it. Everyone is selling something we might as well be on our way back to barter trading sooner than we predicted. Truth is entrepreneurship at this point feels like a convenient solution to job creation and providing a better shot at a secure shot to Africa's young people.
But not everyone is an entrepreneur and it is cruel that people are forced to seek survival in areas they do not stand a chance to make it. Majority of people are not looking to be entrepreneurs because it is not something you just wake up and decide to do, it requires skill, tact, market and even worse, it requires money. Majority of people are actually looking for jobs rather than entrepreneurial break through. So yes, we need entrepreneurs but not everyone is an entrepreneur and I have always found it disturbing that the situation is so bad to the extent that if you are not trying to make money the entrepreneurial way, you are labelled as lazy and deserving of the money drought and the fruitless job hunting.
Besides, how supportive is Africa's or even closer home, Zimbabwe's environment to entrepreneurial quests? Zimbabwe's economy is very hostile for most entrepreneurs, talk of limited infrastructure, transportation huddles, capital financing or even basic things such as communication what with data prices escalating like inflation rates nowadays. Huddles exist even in less tangible things such as legal frameworks and competitiveness. We can not even start with politics what with incumbent presidents thrice the age of average young people. The future of Africa's young population is left in the incapable hands of old men who are tasked with driving the youth agenda which they do not even understand because of the generational gap. See the problem of such governance is that it would limit entrepreneurship to buying and selling while neglecting the most fundamental things such as reviving manufacturing, in creating ease of passage into not only accessing funds for cash-flow but accessing raw materials which are very essential. The fact that the country does not have a currency of its own and relies on multiple currencies is in itself a barrier to entrepreneurship. Hyper inflation, absence of proper regulations, standard policies and laws regarding business ethics are just but a few challenges to entrepreneurship in Zimbabwe and these are things that young people cannot control.
So it really is painful to watch everyone try and be an entrepreneur in a quest for survival. How we have glorified it as the one size fits all answer. Being an entrepreneur is more than just coming up with a business idea. There is nothing shameful about helping others build their dreams. Some people are meant to be builders and others supporters or followers. It really is like some people being meant to be mothers while others really do not have that maternal instinct to become mothers.
There are certainly other ways to make your mark in the world so do not beat yourself up for not possessing entrepreneurial prowess.
We can not all be entrepreneurs!
Till next time
-Mitchel
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