- Dear Family and Friends,
-
- In the main supermarket in my home town this weekend
there were too many empty shelves to count. In the fortnight since Mr
Mugabe was sworn in as President for his sixth term, everyday life has
gone from struggle to complete crisis. No one is coping now and in the
last two weeks virtually all foodstuffs, toiletries and household
goods have completely disappeared from stores. On what should have
been a busy weekend morning in our once thriving town, the car park
was virtually empty and the only things to buy in the cavernous
supermarket were cabbages, butternut squash, lemons, fizzy drinks and
a few packets of meat.
-
- "Where are all your goods?" I asked one shop
attendant. "There is nothing," he said, "the suppliers say they have
nothing to deliver." I stood while he weighed the butternut squash I
had chosen and exclaimed in shock at the 30 billion dollar price
sticker he fixed to the vegetable.
-
- "Can I show you something?" the man said and before
I could answer he took his most recent pay slip out of his pocket. For
an entire month the shop assistant had earned just 28 billion dollars
- not even enough to buy one single butternut squash. Eight hours a
day, five and half days a week and his entire salary was not enough to
provide even one single meal. He told me he had a wife and a child to
support and said with remorse and shame in his voice: "I am failing
them and if I do not jump the border to look for work this month then
they are surely going to die."
-
- They are simple words stating a simple fact - people
are surely going to die here in Zimbabwe if this situation continues
for much longer. Despite their desperate determination to stay in
power and retain their 28 years of leadership of the country, Zanu PF
have so far not even acknowledged the critical shortage of foodstuffs
and basic medicines let alone done anything about resolving it.
-
- Everywhere people have stories of such deprivation
and suffering to recount and we are a nation in a permanent state of
shock. Shock that our lives have been reduced to this. Shock that yet
again the UN have been unable to find a common voice. Shocked that the
violence and brutality continues and shocked that yet again we are
hearing of talks about talks about talks. On the 29th March the MDC
won a parliamentary majority, It is long past time for them to be
sworn in and take up the reigns and lead Zimbabwe out of this
hell.
-
-
- Until next week, thanks for reading,
-
-
- love, cathy.
-
-
- Copyright cathy buckle .12 July 2008.
www.cathybuckle.com
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