- Dear Family and Friends,
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- Day after day Zimbabwe is on fire. Smoke rises in almost
every direction, the wind carries trails of black debris and every evening
the sky is smudged with ash. Night after night there is a great orange
glow on the horizon and long after the moon and stars are overhead the
fires continue to burn unchecked and out of control.
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- Out on an early morning errand this week I stopped as
a Slender Mongoose ran out into the road. We stared at each other for a
minute or two and it was a breathtaking sight. The dawn sun highlighted
the depth of colour of his rich chestnut fur. The little mammal stood
quite still on the tarmac, his black-tipped tail lifted slighted, ready
to run. Then as suddenly as it had appeared, the mongoose was gone - running
off into the only patch of unburnt vegetation still left in the nearby
grassland. This little African mammal, once a common sight but now rarely
seen, is surviving against all odds.
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- About two hundred metres along the road I passed two
men who were carrying sickles and had catapults hanging round their necks.
They were accompanied by a pack of hunting dogs who trotted all around
them. The intention of their outing was obvious - the sickles to cut grass
used to lay lines of fires, the catapults to kill birds, the dogs to catch
mice and other small animals that flee from the flames. In an hour or two
these men will destroy huge swathes of vegetation, remove essential habitat
for birds and mammals and from the devastation will perhaps get enough
meat for one meal. Their activities go unchecked and when they've had enough
the men and their dogs head home leaving the fires to burn themselves out,
sometimes many kilometres away.
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- Arriving at my destination I sat across the desk from
a smartly dressed woman in her office. As I conducted my business we asked
the questions all Zimbabweans are asking each other: have you got water
today? Is your electricity on this morning? Have you managed to find bread?
All the answers to all the questions were the same from both of us: no!
We agreed that things were now 'very hard' in Zimbabwe but to an outsider
this would undoubtedly be the understatement of all time. We have got
up to find no water in the tap to drink, to bathe or to wash our clothes;
we've got no electricity to cook food and no bread, cereal or milk to give
to our families for breakfast. Despite it all and against all odds, Zimbabweans
are still carrying on: clean, polite, hardworking, dedicated - a credit
to a country so close to the edge.
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- At the end of three days of sixteen hour power cuts this
week I finally heard the news that has given Zimbabwe such a lift. Against
all the odds and with nothing in their favour, Zimbabwe beat Australia
in the 20/20 cricket world cup. Patriotism burns strong, very strong, in
our hearts and gives belief that against all odds, we will emerge from
these darkest of days.
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- Until next week,
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- thanks for reading,
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- love cathy.
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- Copyright cathy buckle.
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- 15 September 2007.
- www.cathybuckle.com
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- My books: "African Tears" and "Beyond
Tears" are available in South Africa
- from: <mailto:books@clarkesbooks.co.za>books@clarkesbooks.co.za
and in the UK from: <mailto:orders@africabookcentre.com>orders@africabookcentre.com
- To subscribe/unsubscribe to this newsletter, please write
to: <mailto:cbuckle@mango.zw>cbuckle@mango.zw
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