Wednesday, June 06, 2007

We survive by the grace of God

......"This is how I've been surviving," she told me. "My daughters in South Africa send me groceries and 700 rand a month. If it had not been for them I would be dead by now."...

in Zimbabwe today who, with inflation running above 2,000 per cent, can only survive thanks to their family members who have fled Mugabe's rule to find a better life in South Africa, Botswana, Britain, and, of late, Dubai.

Celiwe's next-door neighbour is 55-year-old Memory Khuphe. Memory will also be pleased to see the car, because she knows that Celiwe will share a little of what she has with her. In modern Zimbabwe, beleaguered communities have spontaneously developed their own support systems for those who are desperate.,,,

Her son Mandla occasionally harvests wild berries in the bush, but they are not in season now. Bushmeat was once a source of protein, obtained from a nearby farm. But the farm has been taken over by so-called War Veterans, who have poached every animal on the place.

Europeans who contribute to charities providing food aid to Zimbabwe may wonder why Memory doesn't benefit from it. Sometimes she does.....

Memory's rare hand-out comes thanks to the Christian charity World Vision. It is rare because it is distributed by the Zimbabwe government. And Memory and Celiwe's village is in Gwanda, in Matabeleland South - ...

Mugabe loathes and fears the Matabeleland people.

So he ensures that the food aid trucks make few trips in their direction. And people like Memory suffer the consequences of his hatred...

No comments:

 
Free hit counters
Free hit counters