While many people in Harare are still waking up and getting ready for office jobs, another group of workers is already busy on the streets. Armed with nothing but plastic buckets, cleaning cloths, and hard work, informal car washers take up their spots in the city centre and the Avenues, ready to earn a living.

People often look down on them, thinking they are just street kids or unemployed youths looking for quick money. But the truth is very different. Many of these car washers have done this work for decades. It has become a lifelong job that allows them to support their families, pay for school fees, and even build their own houses.

Every morning before 6:00 AM, they leave their homes and head to the parking spaces they call their offices. The work is tiring and you never know how much you will make, but it keeps hundreds of families alive.

One car washer, who is known on the streets as Maskati, works on Fife Avenue between Second Street and Third Avenue. He has been washing cars in this exact spot for the past 20 years.

"It's been 20 years working here at Fife Avenue. I have taken care of all my five children working here as a car washer, so this is where I call my workplace," said Maskati.

The money he makes from the roadside has helped him achieve big goals that many people would not expect from an informal job.

"I even built a house in Masvingo where I come from using the money I have earned working here," he added.

Car washers in the city rarely work alone. Most of them form small teams, called syndicates, of two or three people. This helps them wash cars much faster and share the money equally. On slow days when there are very few cars, working as a team ensures that everyone takes something home.

"Working together as a syndicate makes the work easier. We can wash a car in a few minutes and move on to another one, then share the money equally," said Maskati.

The money they make changes depending on the day and the season. Another car washer, Andrew, explained that weekdays are the best because that is when people drive into the city for work.

"From Monday to Friday are usually busy days for us because many customers come to work. Weekends are quieter and we mostly depend on regular customers," he said.

They usually charge US$5 to wash a car, but they give discounts to loyal customers they have known for a long time.

"We have regular customers whom we wash cars for at US$3. Some pay on the same day while others pay the following day. Doing work for regular customers even when they don't have cash immediately doesn't hurt us because they also support us when times are tough," Andrew explained.

The business grows because city parking fees are high. Many drivers park their cars in the Avenues, just outside the main city centre, to avoid paying parking fees all day. This creates a perfect opportunity for the car washers.

"Some people leave their cars here and even ask us to wash them while they are at work. They pay when they come back to collect their vehicles," said Andrew.

However, this also brings problems. When cars stay parked in one spot all day, the washers lose space to wash other vehicles. They also worry about being blamed if a car gets damaged or broken into.

"Some people just park their cars and leave. That affects us because we lose space to work. If something goes wrong with the car, the owner may point fingers at us because we are here every day," said another car washer.

"It is better when someone tells us they are leaving their car here. That way there is understanding. Problems come when a person disappears and later blames us for anything that happened to the vehicle."

The biggest challenge these men face is how people view them. Many residents assume that roadside car washers are involved in crime, alcohol, and drug abuse.

Maskati admits that some workers do have problems with drugs, but says it is unfair to judge everyone by the actions of a few.

"Some people who work here use their money wisely. However, some misuse it on alcohol and drugs, which has also made people not take us seriously," he said.

On a good day, a car washer can take home between US10andUS20. On a bad day, they might wait for hours and leave with just US$3.