Back again in Zimbabwe

Post date: Oct 02, 2011 8:44:41 AM

15.7.11

Back again in Zimbabwe - not a very cheerful return. Certain aspects of life here seem to have deteriorated markedly in the short time I have been away. For instance, we never really had water problems in the part of Harare where I live but we have not had water since early Monday morning. There is no electricity on Tuesdays, Thursdays and I should imagine Saturdays as well as almost all evenings. Corruption seems to have penetrated to the deepest fibres of the society. For instance, there are police on the roads who are not policing. They are simply running a sort of police protection racket as taxi drivers have to pay a sort of unofficial toll each day to ply their route. All is not made more cheerful by the bitterly cold, unusually cold, weather and the gloomy overcast afternoons.

However in the house all is human warmth, helped along at night after a late supper in front of a roaring wood fire. Nokuthula arrived from South Africa a day earlier than expected and is well into the swing of things, accompanying the young CHIPAWO Programmes Officer, Ms Deon Picardo, to centres as the build-up to the long-awaited End-of-Year Concerts gathers steam This year there will be one in Bindura on 16th and the other in Harare on 23rd - great days of children's power and enthusiasm when every child gets a chance to show their parents, friends and other children in CHIPAWO what they can do.