Election fever has hit Zimbabwe in a big way this week!
Although it has probably been like this most of the month but I’ve been out and
about in the sticks so it hasn’t been as obvious. For those that don’t know
this is the first vote since the removal of Robert Mugabe last November.
Things are tense here in the capital, tempers are flaring but nothing has
boiled over just yet, although it’s still early!
It’s been pretty amazing to be here in Harare to witness it
all, campaigners out in huge groups – singing, dancing and blaring tunes from
the back of trucks while blasting vuvuzelas! A bit different to what we’re used
to at home! Dorothy, one of my hosts this week (as well as the lovely Jackie,
who helped me navigate the crazy minibuses!), wanted to bring me to a rally last
night on our way home – one of the specific events Western governments tell you
to avoid if you’re here during election time but little things like that
wouldn’t stop Dorothy (if you met her, you’d get it)!
We didn’t stay long after
being told that if we weren’t Zanu PF, our car would be picked clean because we
were on their turf and especially due to having me (a white person) with her.
If you’re white you’re rich (if only they knew, they are more than welcome to
my Vaseline, plastic sun glasses and 10 year old iPod which hasn’t had a new
song on it since 2007 if they do rob me) and fair game in certain areas around
the city. Needless to say, we didn't stick around!😅 Tensions are understandably high. Zimbabwe’s economy is in tatters,
I’ve never seen unemployment like it. Hundreds of people just sitting on the
side of the street daily because it’s better than sitting in their crowded
apartment - there can be 10-12 people all sleeping in one room. There are no repairs or upkeep of the roads. They say here that if
you see someone driving in a straight line then you should be worried as
zig-zagging to avoid the worst potholes is the norm. There are huge queues
outside of banks everyday to try to get some Zim dollars as there is still a
huge shortage. Investment in health care is non-existent. You can feel the need
for change in the air. Hundreds of Zimbabweans, including Dorothy who is a
nurse and lived in the UK for 20 years, have come home. They fled in the 90’s
when things were starting to get really bad and this is the first opportunity
for real change there has been in almost 30 years so they have moved home,
registered to vote and are ready for whatever challenges the result of this
election brings.
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| With Jackie & her mam who I stayed with for part of this week |
Rigging, coups, intimidation and dictatorships are issues
seen in a lot of African countries. Most of these problems stem from
colonialism. When white Europeans got wind of the wildfire of rebellions,
revolutions and demands for independence (starting gradually after WW2 &
gaining in the 1960s) most decided to get out before things got too violent
and cut their losses. That’s fine but they literally just got up and left. So
you have a country that one day was ruled by whites, with curfews and no go
areas for poor, black people and the next day with no hand over, no transfer, no
nothing, seats of absolute power, luxury and wealth became available. So, of
course, whatever prominent tribe or clan leader who had support (who could
become soldiers and protection) slotted directly into those seats. He and his
family went from not knowing where their next meal was coming from to having unimaginable
wealth. This tends to go to people’s heads. Greed, self-interest, corruption
and bribery soon followed.
Africa is a continent that has been ravaged by Europeans. During
The Scramble for Africa in the late 1800s it was divided up (without consent
or often knowledge of the natives) by Britain, France and Germany, among
others, picked clean (of minerals, diamonds, crops, people) and devastated and
they are still desperately trying to recover from the effects even now. One of
the other issues is that boundary lines were redrawn by these same powers often
throwing together already existing kingdoms and tribes who were fierce rivals
and now forced to live and work together by a foreign power. The uneasiness
between these different tribes is still very much evident today. Obviously there is so much more to it than
what I have mentioned above but this is what I’ve learned from speaking to
people here (and the odd book or 2) during my stay around Zimbabwe.
With all of this going on it hasn’t been the best or easiest
week for hospital visits! You often have to get permission from a government
official here before a visit which has been almost impossible leading up to the election and they are also suspicious of foreigners at the
moment in case I have come in undercover and am actually writing about the
elections or corruption etc.
Saying all that, I did visit St. Albert’s Mission Hospital
in the Centenary District. Apparently it was only an hours drive away which is
nothing here. 5 hours later and almost in bloody Mozambique (I am not joking, I
was tempted to go to the border and just get the stamp seeing as we’d come that
far) we arrived. I can’t imagine what the Matron thought of my sweaty, annoyed
face but she was lovely and showed me around. There was another “Waiting
mothers shelter” here because of people living so far from the hospital and it
was amazing as it could house up to 200 women! There were 187 there when I
visited, all cooking, chatting, washing clothes – just their normal daily
routine but in this huge communal area! Tomorrow I will visit the largest
hospital in Harare to end my stay here so we will see what that brings!
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| Popped by a local school after one of our visits! |
My first trip to Africa has been an experience I will never forget and my abiding memory will be the kindness, generosity and overwhelming welcome from the people here. The less they had, the more they tried to give me and that is the mark of the people here. It’s no wonder there are so many nurses from Zambia and Zim if that is the culture of caring and generosity they have come from!
And now to await the election results and hope to God there
isn’t another coup while I’m here!🙈
Slán go foill
Kate
