Holiday earnings : Children Hawk for Fees

As the days for the resumption of school draw closer, some school children on holiday have redoubled their efforts to generate more income to help their parents send them back to school. This is evident in the number of children now found on the streets of Douala. Even in the outlying neighbourhoods, these children brave the heavy rains, sometimes going from door to door to hawk their wares.
Some of the children were seen selling boiled groundnuts, eggs and maize. Others hawk roasted maize or plantains with plums, candy garri and many other items. The situation in Douala's markets is no different, as most markets are crowded with children hawking various items to earn more income to facilitate their return to school. They beg from passers-by and do their best to convince them to buy their items.
Little Charlotte (about 12 years old) was seen hawking fresh tomatoes at the Deido market. She told this reporter that her mother sells fresh tomatoes and every day she follows her to the market to sell some of the tomatoes. She said she does this to raise money for her to go back to school. She revealed that she sells between 5000- 6000 CFA per day. She has been selling fresh tomatoes since she went on holiday in June. She was optimistic that with the money she has earned so far, she would be able to go back to school without any problems.
Anatole is a 15-year-old student at GBH Deido. He said he asked his father to give him capital to do business during the holidays and his father gave him CFA 3,000 which he used to buy fresh groundnuts and cook them. He said he had been hawking fresh groundnuts for the past two months. "I always like to hawk in Bonanjo because people buy well and pay cash". He said he had been able to save about 30,000 CFA since he started the business. He disclosed that his mother has kept the money and that at the end of ...