Shortly before your article was written (March of last year) my family had a very nice buffet breakfast on a cruise above Vic Falls on the Zambesi. The food was plentiful and very nice. Unfortunately, our family (four) and one other couple on another boat were the only people on the river that morning (well, at least for the 3 hours we were on it). Our guide, who was college educated, made the equivalent of $40 US/month and considered himself lucky. I traded things like shaving cream, razors, soap, flour, corn meal, etc. which I bought in Botswana before entering Zimbabwe for all sorts of carvings, getting my car washed, etc. Everyone was also desperate for US $. Surely one of the few places on the globe that is still true! At some point, barter replaces the currency.
What was astonishing is that people don't do much to help themselves. The school we had lived at, had a significant farm (orchards, vineyards, etc) but they were in neglect, while later in the year (Sept, Oct??) the school was appealing for international support because they had run out of food supplies. Mugabe had decreed that shops must slash prices sometime earlier (July?) so the stores were cleaned out, and could not replace merchandize. They at least had good rainfall this year (the rainy season is near an end now) so crops were good (last year they were kind of dry, so that hurt). I suspect more hurting will be coming during the winter months ahead. |
