- Dear Family and Friends,
-
- This week I write with three short anecdotes from small
town Zimbabwe. They are not connected to each other in any way except by
example of life in a country which, by all reasonable accounts, is barely
functioning. These are all true stories, and putting them down in black
and white makes the absurdity, and fragility, of our lives here frighteningly
real.
-
- Milk is like gold in our town, as it is almost all over
the country. When you appreciate that the shops are empty and there is
no food to buy, no protein, no meat or eggs and now not even bread, you
understand that people are desperate for nourishment. A phone call to the
local bulk dairy marketing outlet this week went as follows:
-
-
- Q: Hello, Do you have milk please?
- A: Nothing.
- Q: What about lacto (sour milk)?
- A: Nothing.
- Q: Any cheese?
- A: (Bored) Nothing
- Q: Ice Cream! ?
- A: (Slightly annoyed) No, we have nothing. We are playing
football in the car
- park!
-
- I happened to be waiting for a friend outside a respectable
local restaurant in the town this week. Business inside has come to a virtual
standstill. They have no cold drinks, no alcohol, no bread or rolls, no
sandwiches or snacks to sell. As I waited a decrepit pick up truck, belching
the smoke of paraffin mixed with diesel, shuddered to a noisy halt next
to me. A very well dressed man in dark suit and red tie struggled to open
the battered door and emerged looking harassed. Many eyes watched, intrigued
and eager to see what the strangely shaped bundle in the back was. Covered
with a filthy, tattered piece of black plastic, there was a gasp as red
tie man pulled off the plastic to reveal an enormous rib cage and section
of beef carcass. No refrigeration, no hygenic wrapping, no protection
from dirt and dust, just a great, bloodied chunk of nyama (meat!) Red tie
man looked at the half dozen spectators, sweat beading his forehead and
we all knew that he had probably been through hell to get this meat. Someone
jokingly asked red tie man if he was having a braai (barbecue) and someone
else asked if they could come! "This is for the restaurant,"
red tie man volunteered. "It's come straight from the abbatoir you
know" he said defensively, in answer to our silent but raised eyebrows.
-
- A geyser in my roof burst this week and when the plumbers
got it out the original price was hand written in marker pen on the side
of the tank alongside a dated sticker from the shop where it had been purchased.
The date stamp was from a local hardware store and was machine printed:
"02. 2000" was still legible. The price, written in clear red
letters was one thousand, nine hundred and eighty five dollars. The plumbers
gave me a quote to repair the geyser by welding the numerous leaking joints,
flushing the sludge which had gathered (thanks to our filthy and very intermittent
local water supply) and reinstalling the tank. The quote was for twenty
six million dollars. To replace the geyser with a new one, the plumbers
quote, before labour, was for one hundred and twenty million dollars.
In just seven years the price had gone from under two thousand dollars
to 120 million dollars - which, in reality is actually 120 billion dollars
because 3 zeroes were slashed from our currency a year ago.
-
- And so we stumble into another week wondering what absurdity
awaits. A devaluation of 1200% as announced yesterday by the Minister of
Finance? A supplementary budget of 37 trillion dollars as produced this
week? The leader of the opposition charged for 'disorderly conduct' because
he toured empty shops followed by journalists?
-
-
- Until next week, thanks for reading,
-
-
- love cathy.
-
- Copyright cathy buckle 8 September 2007.
- www.cathybuckle.com
-
-
- 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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