BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe — Fifth Avenue is arguably the busiest street in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second-largest city. Designated for use by informal traders in the metropolis of about 665,000, it is always teeming with thousands of vendors who place their products in bays marked out on the tarmac for sale. Its eastern stretch is dominated by fresh produce traders; its western side by used-clothing hawkers.
Amid the bustle, two ladies talked over a small plastic table that had some bottles arranged on it at the corner of the avenue and Fort Street to the west. It turned out one of them, Senzeni Moyo, who appeared between 19 and 22, was looking for a particular skin-lightening cream — CT+. She said she used the cream to appear lighter and prettier but had not been using it for a while so her skin was getting darker. Her interlocutor, a trader on the other side of the table, convinced her to try an alternative cream — Pretty White.
“CT+ is good but for faster and more effective results try Pretty White,” said the vendor. “Besides, they both cost $5 each.”
About the author
Daisy Jeremani
Daisy Jeremani is an award-winning freelance journalist based in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. She worked for The Chronicle, one of the leading local dailies for 15 years and has been freelancing for local and international outlets for the past seven. Her work has appeared in Al Jazeera Impact, Railway Gazette International, Tobacco Reporter, Poultry Site, Cigar Journal, and Topia Magazine among others.
