I've been reading a book about the 1970's and 80's in Zimbabwe...the civil war that ended in "black rule". Basically it talks about whites killing blacks and blacks killing blacks (or in other words, a tribal war). Anyway, everyone felt that they were better off because a leader of one of the tribes was made president while the leader of the other tribe (Shona and Matabele, in case you are wondering), was made Vice President.
Well, here we are nearly 30 years later, under the same "rule" and Zimbabwe is failing miserably. I read on the Internet the other day that unemployment is 80%. People are starving because the price of mealie meal (the staple of their diet) has gone from 21 cents an 11 pound bag to $1.65. Since the average person only makes $45 a month, that's a big deal.
The worst thing about it is that over the past 30 years, Robert Mugabe, who has been the president the entire time, has turned his presidency into more of a dictatorship. Anyone who opposes him turns up either dead or nearly dead. When I was there, the Vice President, who was the leader of the opposing tribe passed away, leaving Mr. Mugabe virtually unchecked.
Having lived in Zimbabwe, all be it for a short amount of time, I can't help but feel unbelievably angry about all of this. I wonder about all of the people that I met. I wonder if they have "gotten out" or if they're still there, fighting for their lives.
I guess that national news like this never makes an impact unless you have been there and lived it. And even then, I guess that I will never fully understand it. I wish to high heaven that there was something I could do. However, I don't think that rich and famous people raising money while also draped in diamonds is the way to go. I think that most of the money that they've raised ends up in the wrong hands or is squandered on things that aren't helping anything. So, what do we do?
I'm going to make a plan to save the world in my free time today. Suggestions would be appreciated.
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