Memories of slavery can be important sources for highlighting an emic perspective on domestic labour. Although not defined as domestic labour the work of children and girls is often mentioned in interviews on memories of slavery. Either as workers whose labour could be given in exchange for a debt, or as children who would not follow the orders of the parents and were not worth having at home, or as children who would be given to other relatives with no offspring to provide them with help, girls and children have been involved in exchanges needed to provide domestic and care work. Also being kidnapped was one of the possible destiny of girls at the end of the nineteenth century to become a wife in a group which was not their original one and to take care of the offspring. This paper will analyse some memories of slavery gathered in the Northern Mozambique in order to put up some reflections on the cruciality of life cycle in thinking about domestic work in Africa at the beginning of the Twentieth century and onwards.
