it is stressful enough to be an adult migrant, and the pressures on unaccompanied minors,
who are so much more vulnerable, are exponentially greater.116
Interviews were carried out either at the CMM, or at Albert Street School, which at that time
was where all of the children were receiving schooling. The interviews took place over one
week. On reviewing the information gathered, some interviews were excluded from this
study, because the children were actually aged 18 or 19, although they considered themselves
as unaccompanied minors. A few other interviews were excluded as the minors were from
Mozambique or elsewhere, and not from Zimbabwe; our interest was specifically in the
Zimbabwean minors.
The data set is based on 82 Zimbabwean unaccompanied minors.
2.
Demographic information
a. Gender and age
Gender: the minors included:
69 boys:
84% are boys
13 girls
16% are girls
This serves to underline how difficult this journey to South Africa is, and how few girls make
the trip as a result. However, the girls tended to be slightly younger than the boys.
Age:
Chart ix: showing number of children at each age
The youngest child interviewed was a girl aged 10 years.
116 In view of the findings of the study, in the course of 2009, SPT took on a counsellor to work daily at the CMM.
This counsellor, with the help of a doctor from Denmark with specific experience in dealing with trauma,
undertook the training of all teachers at the Albert Street school in basic counselling skills, including how to
recognise various types of distress in children. SPT therefore shares the concerns of many others over the
allegations of sexual misconduct by teachers at Albert Street School, and likewise urge that this issue not be
brushed aside, but be resolved through the courts and through action by the school itself.
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