Pay taxes, not bribes. This is the T-shirt the immigration officer wears on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia.
A sign in the office requires all vehicles entering Zim to have Zimbabwean insurance. Guess where you buy it? Classic.
A man has a stack of Zimbabwe money that he is selling. The currency is no longer valid after Zim’s hyper-inflation. In 2008 the inflation was approximately 89.7 sextillion percent. Despite my hardest efforts, I still have a hard time grasping these figures. Zim now uses the USD as its official currency and the old currency is invalid. I purchase a Fifty Trillion Dollar bill, 50000000000000, for $2, a souvenir. Because of the rapid inflation, by the time these new bills were printed, such as a 10 Trillion Dollar, it had lost its value and one could not even buy a loaf of bread with it.
Harare, the capital. Put aside the fact that Mugabe has been President here for 23 years, and that Zimbabwe’s record inflation killed the country, this city is lovely. The streets are wide and lined with magnificent trees. The homes are quaint, colonial homes with serene gardens and great open space. You can picture a vibrant, cultural city.
It is required in most African countries that the picture of the President hangs in your hotel lobby, office and/or store. That said I am still taken aback when we enter the lobby of our hotel in Harare and there is Mugabe, staring down at us. This man symbolizes so much around the world.
After meetings in the city, we drive north to the Zambezi River, where Zimbabwe meets Zambia and Mozambique. The landscape is breathtaking. It is lush after the rains and rolling, with massive rivers and impressive mountain ranges. Vast fields lay fallow, but you can easily picture the farm industry that once made Zimbabwe the bread basket of Africa. The infamous land grabs, Mugabe ordering the seizure of all white owned farms, lead to the demise. What most people do not realize is that the whites only owned about 13% of the country, yet their farm production resulted in about 60% of the GDP. Now the Zimbabweans, who have been given that land, are leasing it back to the whites to farm. A clever move to make money. Mugabe is not pleased and has recently stated that he will seize land that is not being used by Zimbabweans. Tragic how one man has not only killed a country, this has happened in other places such as Taylor in Liberia, yet, Mugabe has truly tainted Africa’s reputation.
The narrow dirt road heading towards the River is blocked at one point by two lovely female lions. One ran off when we approached, but the other held her ground.
We met with Zimbabwean and Zambian fishing and farming communities to whom we have provided support. These communities are extremely remote. In one meeting, a nurse who was about 65 years old shared that he is the only nurse in the entire district. He wore a white button down shirt and he had safety pinned a patch of blue material with gold stars on his shoulders, making him look like an admiral in the navy. He looked great. He said in his district only one person is open about their HIV status. He asked earnestly “How can I help people if I do not know they are sick.” An ambulance had been given to the district; however, it was swallowed up by the Ministry of Health. He asked “Do you know how horrible it is to have people die in your arms because you cannot transport them?” What do you say?
Two teachers from the primary school presented their needs for education. They were dressed in button down shirts and ties. These are the people we should be commending and the people who should be in the news. These tireless teachers who are trying to give hope to young children living in dire straits.
Children. Adorable children throughout villages. You smile, wave, and then wonder how many are Aids orphans.
We travel by boat across the Zambezi River to Zambia to sleep for the night. We cross as the sun is setting and the glow on the river is glorious. It is peaceful and serene this massive river at dusk. Crocs and hippos hug the shoreline. The Zambian shore is bustling with fisherman. They are wrapping fish in grass bales and loading them onto trucks to go to Lusaka and Congo.
Some of my colleagues are Zimbabwean. One colleague was a strong advocate for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). MDC is the party now in a power sharing agreement with Mugabe’s party, Zanu PF, since his party would not relinquish power despite their loss. My colleague had MDC t-shirts stored in his house His wife urged them to leave the country for fear of retribution from Zanu PF. “We cannot leave, this is our country. How could we?” he asked. Another colleague is 25 years old. He just received a Masters Degree and is working for us in the field. He is the emerging generation, the hope for the country. This country has suffered years of violence and suppression under the current regime and I ask him what it is like living here and seeing his country spiral. He said “Hectic. People just want to get on with their lives.” Makes one wonder what life will be like for him when he turns 35.
