18 September
Springtime in Zimbabwe
Spring has arrived in Zimbabwe. The sky is a deep blue and the sun now rises early, its warmth caressing our faces as we trudge along to work every morning, brightly coloured birds sit on the window ledges and in trees, singing sweet songs.
The arrival of spring is one of the few good things we can still celebrate and savour in Zimbabwe.
All around us there are scenes of depression; supermarkets closing down without notice, mothers with babies strapped on their backs and the elderly queuing at banks trying to get their hard-earned money that’s now only enough to buy a loaf of bread.
It makes me feel sick in the stomach.
This year’s crop has failed and there are reports of serious malnutrition, particularly among young children.
People who were displaced because of the election violence are still trying to pick up the pieces of their lives – returning home to live with their neighbours, the very people who had raped, beat and burnt them and their houses.
Are these people able to forgive and forget?
And still the government prevents aid agencies access to these communities - access to that would help feed the hungry and heal rifts in the community.
And so Zimbabwe continues to slip further into despair. Young people risk their lives trying to escape to South Africa. And every day South African trucks bring back thousands of Zimbabwe deportees.
As Zimbabwe’s future hangs in the balance I begin to ask myself if I should join the millions of people who have already left the country.
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