- Dear Family and Friends,
-
- Most days when I watch the main evening news on television,
I wonder if the news writers live in the same country as me. The Zimbabwe
that they describe is worlds apart from the country that I wake up in every
morning. For the last couple of weeks we have been bombarded with propaganda
which tells us that the country is booming, the economy is on the mend,
a bumper harvest is being reaped and inflation is plummeting. The Zimbabwe
government's figures say that inflation dropped by 78% in the last month.
In the same week as they made that announcement, there was an article in
the State run Herald newspaper which said that prices of all sorts of goods
and services were surging upwards.
-
- The Herald went on to list old and new prices of meat,
toothpaste, eggs, chicken, soap and cooking oil. The price of both bread
and public transport went up by 50% in the same month that inflation apparently
plummeted. Announcements were also made that the wage for a domestic employee
had been increased from twelve thousand to eighty three thousand dollars
a month and that the poverty datum line is now pegged at nine hundred and
eighty eight thousand dollars a month. I don't know how the numbers and
statistics are juggled but as an ordinary housewife I can't understand
how inflation goes down when wages, food and transport prices have gone
up. In the last few months electricity and water bills have more than trebled,
the telephone bill has quadrupled and medical expenses are worse than a
nightmare.
-
- As I write this, I can hardly believe how casually we
all talk in millions these days, how it came to this and why a country
with almost twelve million people sat back and watched this happen. I ask
myself the same question every day of my life: What IS wrong with us.
-
- The simple answer, I suppose, is fear. Regardless of
our age, sex or race, we are scared of our leaders. We are scared of their
guns and soldiers, their militia and power. In four years we have watched
the price of a single loaf of bread go from ten to three thousand dollars
and yet we are too scared to do anything about it. Things that we used
to throw into the shopping basket without a thought have become luxuries;
things like milk, cheese, bread, eggs, fruit, jam and peanut butter.
-
- Asked by a journalist how an air crash survivor had found
the courage to do what he did to save himself and a few others, the man
said that his courage had come from fear. To me his real courage was his
leadership because in the end we are all just sheep and wait for someone
brave enough to lead the flock.
-
- Until next week,
-
- with love, cathy.
-
- Copyright cathy buckle 22nd May 2004. http://africantears.netfirms.com
My books on the Zimbabwean crisis, "African Tears" and "Beyond
Tears" are available outside Africa from: orders@africabookcentre.com
; www.africabookcentre.com ; www.amazon.co.uk ; in Australia and New Zealand:
johnmreed@johnreedbooks.com.au ; Africa: www.kalahari.net www.exclusivebooks.com
|
