The Temporality of Mothering through the use of ICTs by Zimbabwean Women Informal Cross-Border Traders
The article explores how Zimbabwean women cross-border traders travelling to Tanzania used Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) particularly the mobile phone for communicating with family, customers and shop owners. The African feminist theory explained the women’s traders’ innovation in using ICTs. The study was grounded in the qualitative approach with the case study being the research design. In-depth interviews were the main data collection method employed. Nine key informants were purposively selected and twelve women cross-border traders aged between 24 and 53 years were snowballed. Collected data was presented in both narrative and descriptive forms. The findings indicated that the participants were forced to navigate the borders searching for livelihoods as they engaged the precarious venture of informal cross-border trading. Their frequent absence from home meant they had to mother their children from a distance. The participants in this study used ICTs to fulfil their mothering roles which brings out the temporality of mothering from afar. In addition the findings indicated that the mobile phone was used to listen to music on the way to Tanzania. The study recommends that women traders embrace information communication technologies fully as they choose smart ways of conducting business.
