Girls, especially, are expected to help their mothers from the time they are about 5 years old. They babysit for younger children in the family, and you often see girls of all ages carrying a baby brother or sister on their backs.

They also help their moms carry things -- usually on their heads! In North America that sounds like a joke or a game, but in Congo, where they often have to walk long distances carrying bundles of one sort or another, it works. It's actually harder to carry something bulky a long ways in your arms than if you know how to balance it on your head. It doesn't hurt your back as much, and it leaves your hands free for other things -- like holding onto the hands of younger children!

Boys help their parents too. They might sweep or go get water from the pump in the village, or go hunting or fishing with their fathers. But mostly, the family considers that the boys' work is to go to school -- and it really is work, especially when they have to walk to another town for it!