Africa University, a United Methodist-related institution, opened in

1993 in Mutare, Zimbabwe. A UMNS file photo by Mike DuBose.

By Kathy L. Gilbert*

Sept. 14, 2009 | NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)

The hardest task for Africa University Vice Chancellor Fanuel Tagwira this fall semester has been facing crying mothers who don’t have the money to send their children back to school.

More than 300 students have not been able to register at Africa University for the 2009-2010 academic year. The school itself has seen its endowment drop $9 million as a result of the international economic downturn, Tagwira reported Sept. 12 at an advisory development committee meeting.

Vice Chancellor Fanuel Tagwira says 300 continuing students have not been able

to afford to return to Africa University

for the 2009-2010 academic year.

A UMNS photo by Kathy L. Gilbert.

The university has been particularly hard hit by rampant inflation in Zimbabwe, where the school is located. Zimbabwe’s economy collapsed in 2008 when the government started printing dollars in the quintillions and inflation soared 500 million percent. Zimbabwean dollars are worthless, and the currency of choice is U.S. dollars.

This year, the university opened with its lowest enrollment in more than a decade. The university expected 1,200 students for the 2009-2010 academic year. As of Sept. 4, 865 students have registered

The stories behind the numbers are painful, Tagwira said.

“When a student is challenged because they cannot pay the fees, it is the parents who are most affected,” he said. “I have had mothers come to my office with their children trying to find a way to help their children continue their education. They break down crying.”

Martha Mutisi, a graduate of Africa University who will be returning as a lecturer in the Institute of Peace, Leadership and Governance, said the situation “breaks my heart.”

“It means some people have toiled for maybe two years or more. Years of labor and sacrifice by their parents and their communities will go to waste if they don’t finish their education,” Mutisi said. “As a student myself, I really empathize with those students because a lot of resources have already been spent.”

Dollars and rand

Prices have stabilized since the government began basing the currency on the U.S. dollar and South African rand.

However, the average Zimbabwean has no access to dollars or rand, school officials said.

The cost for sending a student to Africa University for one year is $5,400, while the average salary for a worker in Zimbabwe is $100 to $200 a month, Mutisi said.

Africa University opened with its lowest enrollment in more than a decade.

A UMNS file photo by

Mike DuBose.

.

The university is trying to help parents keep their children in school by accepting in-kind goods like cattle, food and even fertilizer. Africa

University started a work-for-fees program that allows a few students to earn their fees by working on campus instead of hiring outside staff.

However, the “dollarization” of the economy has meant skyrocketing costs in the day-to-day running of the university. One example is the monthly cost of electricity that went from $500 to more than $10,000. Tagwira said the university may have to consider cutting staff.

Signs of hope

Despite the problems, there are signs of hope for Zimbabwe. For the first time in 10 years the International Monetary Fund is giving the country $500 million to boost its battered economy.

The formation of a unity government between two political powers is also helping the country gain the support of the international community, Tagwira said. Food has returned to the grocery stores, even though most of it is imported, he added.

Tagwira said the quality of life also has improved for students, with the provision of backup power for all the buildings on campus and Internet connections.

The United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry gave $133,000 to purchase four new servers and expand the bandwidth.

James Salley, vice chancellor for institutional advancement, reported that the university’s endowment lost $9 million as a result of the economic downturn in 2008 and early 2009. However, a gift of $500,000 and other contributions helped offset the loss. At the end of July, the endowment balance was $40 million.

United Methodist Communications also reported that giving to the university at 90 percent was the highest paid to any apportioned fund.

Martha Mutisi, a graduate of Africa University who will be returning as a lecturer, said the situation “breaks my heart.” A UMNS photo by Kathy L. Gilbert.

Other bright spots include the North Texas Annual (regional) Conference’s campaign for a student health clinic and scholarships. The building has been completed, and 29 people from the conference attended the dedication in July.

The German Central Conference mission board provided $21,000 to purchase equipment and medicine for the clinic.

An orphan’s story

In his report to the committee, Tagwira told the story of an orphan who came to his office to collect his grades from last semester.

“He came long after everyone else had already come back,” Tagwira explained. He asked the young man why it had taken him so long to come get his results and why he hadn’t registered for the fall semester.

“He said he couldn’t afford the money for the bus fare until now and he could not afford to pay the fees. He said he was living with an uncle who told him he couldn’t help him anymore because he needed to help his own children,” Tagwira said.

At the end of the daylong meeting, committee members started writing checks and making pledges to help students enroll for the fall term.

Waving the checks, Salley told Tagwira, “Go and get that orphan. We have enough here for him to enroll in the fall.”

*Gilbert is a news writer for United Methodist News Service in Nashville, Tenn.

News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

From The Guardian (UK), 10 August

David Smith

Harare – Schools and hospitals returning to life. Food in the supermarkets and queues at the tills. Investors flying in and refugees coming home. Independent newspapers due for launch and international media broadcasting openly. Book fairs, poetry slams and jazz festivals drawing crowds. A president and prime minister laughing together as they call for national healing. This is Zimbabwe in August 2009. Politically motivated beatings turning families against themselves. Villagers bartering chickens in the absence of a new currency. MPs, lawyers, journalists and students under arrest. Corruption rampant and another cholera outbreak predicted. A president rebuilding his tools of oppression and a prime minister said to be in danger of assassination. This, too, is Zimbabwe in August 2009.

Six months after Robert Mugabe and his arch-rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, publicly swallowed their enmity and tried to speak with one voice, southern Africa’s problem country is still a contradictory and confusing place. “We are at a fork [in the road],” said Tendai Biti, Tsvangirai’s most powerful lieutenant. “Going left could be going towards a new Zimbabwe. Going right could be doing a cul-de-sac and going back to square zero.” At the centre of the intrigue is the game of political chess between Mugabe and Tsvangirai, who describes it as “the only game in town” if Zimbabwe is to survive. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader believes there is no alternative to the power sharing agreement salvaged from last year’s general election. Robbed of victory at the ballot box, Tsvangirai was sworn in as prime minister in February in a compromise that allowed Mugabe to extend his 29-year rule.

It has been trench warfare ever since between the MDC, which runs ministries such as education and health, and Mugabe’s Zanu PF, which still controls the army, police and judiciary. “It’s purely a marriage of convenience,” said one Harare residents’ activist. “Don’t expect any babies soon.” The results were summarised by a regional newspaper as the good, the bad and the ugly. Perversely, the unity government was blessed in inheriting a country at a nadir after eight years of degradation, meaning that almost anything it tried would represent improvement. Hyperinflation of 89,7-sextillion percent had killed the Zimbabwean dollar, but the adoption of the US dollar and some prudent policies have since helped stabilise the economy, forecast to grow 3,7% this year. An MDC official said that tax returns to the treasury had risen from $4-million a month in January to $60-70-million now, still some way short of the $120-million needed to run the country. Among foreign donors, Britain alone is providing $100-million of targeted aid this year.

Supermarket shelves that were once bare are stocked high again, though 94% unemployment means many people cannot afford to shop. About 2,8-million pupils are back at school as teachers finally receive a monthly wage, albeit just $100 to $165 to work in crumbling classrooms. Zimbabwe University came back to life last week after six months in darkness. Hospitals and clinics are functioning again, with doctors and nurses back at work. But the revival comes with caveats. About 70% of the population does not have access to clean water and the cholera outbreak that killed more than 4 000 people is widely predicted to return with the rainy season towards the end of the year. The decay of agriculture appears to be slowing but farm invasions continue. Some villagers are forced to barter to survive because the US dollar is so rare.

The law of unintended consequences has brought another threat to Zimbabwe’s streets. Residents of Harare speak of rising crime, particularly armed robberies and carjackings. They blame army deserters, who have training and weapons, or returning refugees who have “learned the tricks” from crime capitals such as Johannesburg. The malaise in the banking system – cash machines are defunct and credit cards useless – forces people to hoard US dollars in their homes. Raymond Majongwe, general secretary of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, said: “Every other day you hear of a robbery and a shoot-out. In South Africa, you can be sure that the victim has a gun and a lot will fire back. Here the victims are not psychologically prepared, so it is a walk in the park. We don’t want to see the violence in South Africa going on in Zimbabwe. We must deal with it decisively once and for all.”

A national “corruption pandemic” is also deepening, according to the watchdog Transparency International Zimbabwe. Mary-Jane Ncube, its executive director, said that bribery was widespread in the police and law courts, MPs of both sides were implicated in corrupt land deals, and payments intended for teachers and nurses were being rerouted via “ghost workers” to Zanu PF militias. “There is no one who is not on the take. The unity government is making no difference.” Nor should the headline victories in the economy and public sector be mistaken for political reform. Last month, Mugabe and Tsvangirai presented a harmonious façade as they called for a South African-style process of national healing and reconciliation. Behind the scenes, however, the fight is ugly and, in the words of one activist, “Mugabe still holds the reins to the right horses”.

Last year, an election year, there were 203 politically inspired murders, according to figures compiled for the MDC. The Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum gives the more conservative estimate of 107. In the first six months of this year, the MDC says, there have been 30 such deaths, most from injuries sustained last year. The forum puts this year’s death toll at one. And yet a steady flow of reports of assaults and intimidation continues. Zanu PF strongholds assert that MDC supporters are not welcome and that the unity government is a Harare phenomenon they do not recognise. There are conflicts within families: Ebba Katiyo, an MDC activist, said she survived an axe attack by a Zanu PF gang led by her own uncle.

Kennedy Mhuri (39) a teacher, was accused of denouncing Mugabe to his pupils at a primary school in the town of Kwekwe in Midlands province. He said that the local Zanu PF leadership planned to break down his door in the middle of the night and abduct him. He fled and has been on the run ever since. “At first I panicked,” he said. “I walked for 20km to avoid public transport so no one would see me. I am now dodging from city to city and constantly looking over my shoulder. I’m sure they won’t stop until they get me. Then I don’t know what they’d do. They’ll torture me until I accept I actually did what they say I did. These people can do anything, including taking people’s lives.” The leadership is not immune. Tendai Biti, the finance minister praised for choking off Zanu PF’s sources of funding, received a live bullet in the post and his gardener was beaten up outside his gate. Many Zimbabweans still find it hard to believe that the March car crash that hurt Tsvangirai and killed his wife was a mere accident, even though Tsvangirai himself has described it as such.

Media reform is also one step forward, one step back. The BBC and CNN have been allowed back into the country and there are slow moves to license two daily independent newspapers. But the state-owned Herald continues to pour bile on the MDC. Eddie Cross, policy co-ordinator for the MDC, said: “We never thought this would be anything but a fight. We’ve certainly not been disappointed.” He rejected the criticism, coming from the MDC’s own ranks, that Tsvangirai has been seduced by office and is firmly under Mugabe’s thumb. “This is an immensely strong man. The loss of his wife and grandson [also killed in an accident] hit him like a poleaxe but he’s picked up the pieces. He has incredible resilience.” But it is 85-year-old Mugabe who has recently taken to reminding the population that he is still “head of state and government”, “commander-in-chief of the Zimbabwe defence forces” and now “supreme leader” of Zanu PF. The hope that he will go quietly appears wishful thinking.

Raymond Majongwe said: “The most important thing Tsvangirai has realised is that Mugabe is part of the solution. Anyone who thinks that the problem can be resolved without Mugabe is a dreamer.” Some observers believe it is in the interests of both protagonists to delay the Constitution making process, and therefore the next election, for as long as possible. Another divisive ballot could plunge the country back into anarchy and reverse the unity government’s fragile gains. “If you were to have an election in the near future, it would be the same disaster as last time,” said one diplomat. “This is bigger than Mugabe now. Zanu PF and the MDC have a common interest in rebuilding the economy. And there’s a lot to be said for the view that there are worse figures than Mugabe in Zanu PF.” Few would dare to predict a winner in the elaborate chess game between Zimbabwe’s rival kings. For now, it seems, the best anyone can hope for is a stalemate.

An on-line wellness letter that is published by Dr. R. Edward Dodge, Jr., the son of the late Bishop Ralph E. Dodge and Mrs. Eunice Dodge. Dr. Dodge is a medical doctor and spent a portion of his formative years in Zimbabwe, then Southern Rhodesia.

He recently had occasion to return to Zimbabwe as a member of a VIM team and to be present for the memorial services held for Bishop Dodge by the Zimbabwe Annual Conference. Dr. Dodge has written an informative, insightful and thoughtful reflection about his recent visit to Zimbabwe that we think you will enjoy.

BE WELL

“Enjoy Vibrant Life and Health”

August 22, 2009

Wellness Letter , Vol.1, No.8

I have just returned from Zimbabwe, and am making it the focus of my letter this month. The first part of the letter is a summary of what our team did and saw in Zimbabwe. The latter part will conclude with some observations about an unexpected, but vitally important lesson about life and health!

Zimbabwe is a country full of contrasts and paradoxes. We visited it in July and August as members of a Volunteer-in-Mission team to help establish a Skills Training Center in a village twelve miles south of Mutare. Being in Zimbabwe was wonderful, even though it made me acutely aware of the many serious problems people face there today.



Our mission was successful in that we helped erect a brick classroom building that is the nucleus of the center. Consisting of four large classrooms and a kitchen/cafeteria, it will offer a good venue for teaching. Roofing was completed on the last workday – a cause for major celebration! That’s not an over-statement, though it is a simple roof.



The difficulties encountered in the building process say a lot about problems confronting Zimbabwe. The foundation was poured two years ago. The walls were also partially raised, but then the entire project floundered because of the disintegrating economy.



Zimbabwe’s economy began unraveling after the government imposed “Land Reform” on the country’s farmland a few years ago, turning farms over to politically affiliated people who knew little about farming. Agricultural production, once the mainstay of the economy, fell dramatically as the economy spiraled out of control.



With economic chaos prevailing throughout 2007 and 2008, most businesses came to a virtual halt. Basic staples became almost unobtainable and the country’s infrastructure, once among the best in Africa, deteriorated severely. The political situation also became more untenable. Many people fled to neighboring countries to find work, or as refugees.



So, what’s to celebrate in such an environment? The answer is that, in spite of it’s great problems and challenges, hope is still alive in Zimbabwe. Fragile though it is, the unity government established in February has generated cautious optimism. The economy, although still very weak, has stabilized, and runaway inflation is no longer a problem. Business is slowly growing as people are able to actually plan project costs and profits.



However, it’s in the faces of people, especially in rural areas and schools, that one can best see hope personified. We visited a primary school with over one thousand students in a rural area, and the joyous singing with which they greeted us was heart-warming. Similar scenarios took place in various churches that we visited. In spite of poverty and limited opportunities, hope and joy are beautifully expressed through their vibrant songs.



There is reason for cautious hope in Zimbabwe. When the tenuous political situation is eventually resolved, there is good potential for Zimbabwe. Its forested mountains, water resources, and mineral deposits are great natural resources. Its farmlands have been very productive, and can become so again. Above all, its people are talented and hard-working, and if given the chance, will take good advantage of appropriate opportunities.



Clearly, in offering villagers a variety of training skills, the Skills Training Center will be offering a valuable service. Yet, it is more than a place to teach skills, for it has already become a symbol of hope. In a place where great poverty and hardship reign, Zimbabwe taught me this year how powerful hope is as a force for good. That we were welcomed as agents of hope was both humbling and exhilarating!



Is hope really that potent? The answer is an unequivocal “Yes!” Hope is powerful. Zimbabwe itself provides strong evidence of this. In spite of a history of oppression, as well as more recent political and economic devastation, hope is emerging across the land like tender new grass after extensive wildfires.



However, it is not only in a sociological or psychological sense that hope is important. It has also been found to have a major impact on physical health. A number of books by top experts have been written on this subject in recent years. Scientist Dr. Candace Pert has explained most clearly how emotions like hope cause physical change in the body.



“Virtually every cell in the body is studded with thousands of tiny structures called receptors. Like the sense organs, the job of receptors is to pick up signals coming at them… Once the receptors receive a signal, the information is transferred deep within the cell’s interior, where tiny engines roar into action and initiate key processes.



“The signal comes from other cells and is carried by a juice that we call an informational substance… You know these juices as hormones, neurotransmitters, and peptides, and we scientists refer to all three with one word: ligand. This term is from ligare, a Latin word meaning “to bind,” and is used because of the way that the substances latch on so tightly to the cell’s surface receptors.



“Information-carrying ligands are responsible for ninety-eight percent of all data transfer in body and brain. The remaining two percent of communication takes place in the synapse, between brain cells firing and releasing neurotransmitters across a gap to hit receptors on the other side.



“Emotions are the link between the physical and nonphysical states of consciousness, and the receptors on every cell are where this happens! The attracting vibration is the emotion, and the connection – peptide to receptor – is the manifestation of the feeling in the physical world… Our physical bodies [are] changed by the emotions we experience.”





I will conclude this letter with two brief commentaries. First, notice what a small percent of overall communication takes place in the brain: only two percent! That’s a critical two percent, to be sure, but an overwhelming amount of data is handled by the rest of the body. That is why, in fact, trillions of vital ongoing processes can operate in our bodies simultaneously without our conscious awareness or management. If our lives depended on managing all this with our brains consciously, we would not survive. That is also why Candace Pert asserts, “Your body is your subconscious mind.”



Secondly, none of this is conjecture, even though it is not yet fully integrated into our standard medical model. As another scientist has stated: “We don’t just believe, we know that thoughts and emotions have a tremendous impact on our health, probably greater than anything else, and that the biochemistry of hope and joy is the biochemistry of health.”



So, dear friends, it is immensely worthwhile to nourish hope in our lives and our communities. For the sake of others, and also for your own well-being, be an agent of hope whenever possible. St. Paul wrote: “Now abides faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love.” True, but hope comes a very close second!



Be Well,

Ed Dodge, MD

Movement for Democratic Change-National Youth Assembly

statement on the commemoration of the Day of the African Child-16 June 2009

Reflecting on the plight of the African Child in Zimbabwe

By Brighton Chiwola

Fellow citizens, fellow Zimbabwean youth and children, June 16 is upon us once again. It is that time of the year when we commemorate the day of the African Child. That time of the year when our brothers and sisters in South Africa mark their national Youth Day. This day was not born out of joy. It is a day which which was born out of anguish, pain, suffering.

On 16 June 1976, in the old township of Soweto it was no joy, but more sadness and suffering. Deodorants were not sprayed, but bullets were sprayed, there were no pools of water, but pools of blood were everywhere. Rivers did not flow, but tears did. The African Child of that day could not chew anymore of the unjust and criminal rule of the now defunct apartheid regime in South Arica. And in droves they took to the streets to say “Enough is enough!”

Today, as Zimbabwe joins the world in commemorating the day of the African Child, let us reflect on the plight of the African Child in Zimbabwe. Let us take some time to listen to our youth. We the youth of Zimbabwe are in agony today. Our cries are loud and clear. We have been robbed! We have been robbed of our chance to be the beacon of hope for our great nation. Our dreams are shattered, our hopes are faint. Our lives have been amased with the oils of poverty, HIV/AIDS, crime, immorality, unemployment, and oppression. We have been forced to migrate across the world, and face societies which despise us, hate us and harm us, away from our beloved home, our true heritage. The icon which leads to basic education, tertiary education and medical care replies, “Access Denied” on every attempt to click on it.

That is our cry today. We may also take to the streets like what those hundreds of youths did 33 years ago. It was a show of spectecular courage inspired by the desire to acquire freedom, but we are also cautious of our approaches, as we know our institutions very well. They resemble no difference to that inhumane force which unleashed terror on an innocent young citizenry, in a bid to silence cries of democracy, the same cries behind our pleas in Zimbabwe today.

To this new infant government in our country today, there is our plea for help. An academically empowered youth with intellectual prowess is a crucial ingedient to the recipe for baking the true Zimbabwean brand. That is what we have always been known for. That is what we will always yearn to be known for. Help us help ourselves. We have so much potential hidden behind all these socio-economic ills which have become part of our daily lives. Accademically, we can still produce more rocket scientists like Arthur Mutambara, on the soccer field we have the potential to usher dozens of Peter Ndlovus, and more Benjans.  Oh yes we have the capacity to usher in more national flag bearers like Kirsty Coventry, Andy Flower and Byron Black. We strive to be like Strive Masiyiwa and Nigel Chanakira. Hear the plight of the African Child in Zimbabwe. A cry for a better Zimbabwe. Yes we can!!

Brighton Chiwola is the National Youth Secretary for Information and Publicity in the MDC Party.                                       

You Touched our Lives – Video of the 2006 Volunteer in Mission team visit to Zimbabwe

Bind us Together – Video showing members of our 2006 Volunteer in Mission team at work in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe Update – Update on conditions in Zimbabwe after our 2007 visit there.

Click here to see videos.

A. Inflation–No longer increasing, but where the total collapse of the Zim$ will lead is still unknown. Everything is now is US$ or similar and there is a great shortage of it. One report said that the 100 trillion dollar note won’t buy a loaf of bread. Stores are again stocked with goods–prices are in US–basics are expensive, while others can be nonsensically exorbitant.

B. Cholera report–April 26 cumulative–97,198 cases and 4,244 deaths. 11 Cases and 0 deaths added today (in comparison with 18 cases and 0 deaths yesterday) Still a critical threat if urban water and sanitation problems aren’t adequately resolved. The WHO is actively involved in this work.

C. Teachers are threatening not to go back to work on May 5 for Term Two unless they are paid in hard currency. [They all got US$100 in February, but apparently still in Zim$ in March and April--the government simply doesn't have the hard currency to pay them.] Most schools that ARE operating are doing it by paying the teachers US$ by charging parents in US$. Clare charged $20 per pupil, Hartzell $50 last term. Everything needed for education is very expensive.

D. Political rights–MDC still being harassed and arrested. Phony charges continue. Farm invasions continue. ZANU and Mugabe fight Tsvangirai over the most basic issues of government. The effort to make the Unity government work continues.

E. “Open Letter to the Editor of the Herald Newspaper”

[Eddie Cross is a White Zimbabwean--economist and MDC Member of Parliament from Bulawayo.]

His web site with bio and all his regular writings http://www.eddiecross.africanherd.com/

“I have not bought a Herald newspaper for at least 10 years. The reasons are 
many but mainly relate to the fact that for as long as I can remember your 
paper has been an apologist for the government and what in the past has been 
called the ‘ruling Party’.


However on Wednesday this week some colleagues said that I had to read an Op 
Ed that appeared in your newspaper that morning. I borrowed a copy and with 
disbelief at first and finally anger, I read what you had written on the 
front page of the paper about the American and the British Ambassadors. An 
article under a pseudonym on the centre page of the paper further compounded 
this.


Firstly, I am disgusted by this blatant example of how your paper, under your 
leadership, continues to flagrantly violate the fundamental tenants of your 
profession and the terms of the Global Political Agreement signed in 
September last year in an attempt to restore some pride and dignity to this 
broken nation.

Secondly, I think this was a cowardly act in that there is no way that either 
of these two men, at the pinnacle of long and distinguished careers can 
respond or defend themselves in any way. You are secure in this knowledge 
and the fact that the corrupt and distorted legal system in this country 
would not allow them to take legal action against you for slander as I am 
sure would be possible in more balanced and just societies.

But my criticism goes way beyond this in our present situation. Both men are 
due for reassignment and in the case of the US Ambassador, retirement after 
his term in office. They are therefore our guests, honoured guests, 
representing at the highest level, their countries and their own people in 
Zimbabwe. As guests, our own culture demands that we respect them and make 
them welcome, even if their views differ from our own. In fact, when you 
insult Mr. McGee, you insult the President of the United States of America, 
Mr. Obama and that is a stupid thing to do.

On purely political grounds, these Ambassadors speak, not for themselves, 
but for their Governments, when they demand that we adhere to the principles 
and values that guided the liberation movements and the world community in 
the struggle for justice and freedom in Zimbabwe. I defy you to defend, in 
public, the continued denial of these freedoms and rights to the people of 
Zimbabwe by the Zimbabwe government.

On Wednesday I sat next to the new Director of the World Food Programme in 
Zimbabwe. He told me that from January to March 2009, Zimbabwe had the 
largest food aid programme in the world. In fact, over those three months – 
the hunger months in our country, the international community, without 
fanfare or publicity, fed an astonishing 7.1 million people. Nobody was more 
responsible for this amazing feat than the two men you now slander at the 
end of their tenure.

Both Ambassadors have overseen a doubling of official development assistance 
and humanitarian aid to Zimbabwe during their terms of office. Only this 
week I was informed that Britain will double its aid again this year and I 
am informed that the US has agreed to a massive increase in assistance to 
help get our small scale farmers producing food for themselves next summer. 
Last year Zimbabwe received the equivalent of 15 per cent of our Gross 
Domestic Product in aid; this is among the highest ratios of official 
development assistance and humanitarian aid in the world.

Nobody, nobody was more responsible for this than the two Ambassadors who 
worked tirelessly to persuade a sceptical watching world that we were worth 
the effort. I would like to take you (the Editor) to any part of Zimbabwe 
and introduce you to hundreds of people who would tell you that they owe 
their lives to the aid agencies. Then I would take you to the offices of the 
agencies doing this amazing work and we would ask them who was funding them. 
In half these cases you would be told it is American Aid. Between Britain 
and the USA they provide over two thirds of all aid reaching this country.

I would like to take you to a clinic in my constituency where I would show 
you a clinic, which 6 months ago was derelict and overgrown, with few staff 
on duty and no drugs. Now you would find it spotless – cleaned by staff who 
are suddenly able to come to work. You would see lines of people receiving 
health services, much of it free. Ask them what has made the difference and 
they will tell you it is the allowances they are receiving from an 
organisation funded by DIFID – the aid arm of the British Government. The 
Ambassador is personally responsible for this initiative where they are 
trying to help us retain staff in the medical field. I spoke to the CEO of 
the Bank that handles these payments and they did not even know that the 
millions of dollars they were handling came mainly from the UK.

By slandering and abusing these men you are failing in your duty as Editor 
of the largest daily in Zimbabwe to tell the truth and to work for the 
people who pay your salary. But more than that, you fail to recognise their 
unsung efforts for our country and our people. You make it more difficult 
for the dedicated men and women who work for these diplomatic missions and 
who are trying to do their best to support us as a nation.


You must know that key decision makers in many capitals will have read this 
piece of writing in your newspaper. It will have been read by Susan Rice at 
the United Nations, by the new Under Secretary of State for Africa – himself 
a former Ambassador to Harare and a black American like James McGee. It 
makes Tendai Biti’s job in Washington this week that much more difficult. It 
makes Elton Mangoma’s task in Holland less achievable this weekend.


Donors from foreign lands are today spending US$3 million a DAY in Zimbabwe. 
In January, the total tax receipts of the Zimbabwe government were US$4 
million. In 2009 foreign donors, led by dedicated Ambassadors like Jim McGee 
and Andrew Pocock, will match every dollar we pay in tax with a dollar 
raised from taxpayers in their own counties. Your actions in writing what 
you did last Wednesday put all of that in jeopardy. If I had been the Prime 
Minister on Wednesday morning, I would have called your Chairman and asked 
for your head. You owe your liberty to the fact that the Prime Minister is 
trying to make this thing work but believe me you are on borrowed time.”

Eddie Cross
24th April 2009

Crynos Mufombori, “My heart bleeds for the school children”

from “Zimbabwe Situation”

March 2009 (IRIN)

When teachers taught

HARARE, Crynos Mufombori, 44, is a senior teacher at a rural secondary school in Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland Central Province, in the north of the country. He has made the 190km trip to the ministry of education in the capital, Harare, looking for help, as his school failed to reopen at the beginning of the academic year in January 2009.

“The ministry has made me the caretaker headmaster of the school, because the one who held that position and his deputy last reported for duty in early December last year [2008] and we don’t know where they are. They did not tender their resignations and the headmaster even went away with the keys to his office.

“I have been a teacher for close to 20 years and never before have I been in such a quandary as the one I am facing right now. Since schools officially opened, only five teachers have reported for duty. As soon as they discovered that they were the only ones present, they went back to their homes, leaving me virtually on my own.

“I have tried to trace the others, and the ones I have talked to told me that they were no longer interested in teaching. They are saying they are afraid to return to the schools after being harassed by [ruling party] militias during elections last year.

“Some of them fled the political violence after being accused of being supporters of the opposition, leaving their belongings behind. I have tried to explain to them that the political situation has changed following the formation of an inclusive [power-sharing] government [in February 2009], but they are having none of that.

“I have also received reports that a substantial number of the teachers that used to work at the school have crossed the borders to South Africa and Botswana, where they are now employed or are seeking employment.

“Even when the minister of education set deadlines for absconding teachers to reapply, there have been no responses, leaving me with the only option of scouting for untrained teachers. The provincial education offices and our headquarters used to be inundated with unqualified people seeking temporary employment in the education sector in the past; it seems teaching is being totally shunned now.

“The US$100 vouchers that the government introduced as allowances are failing to attract temporary teachers because they regard it as too low and unsustainable. Worse still, today’s youths are not interested in working in rural areas because of the difficult working conditions.

“Even if I could get all the teachers I want, I don’t think it would be easy to start teaching. Thieves have been capitalizing on the absence of staff at the school, stealing books, stationery and furniture.

“The ministry has told me that there is hardly anything that it can do to rebuild the school because the government has no money for that. To make matters worse, no donors are forthcoming, and parents cannot contribute because they don’t have money and are busy tending their fields.

“My heart bleeds for the hundreds of school children who cannot receive an education now. They have been forced to become farm labourers and, since their parents are too poor, they cannot be transferred to urban or boarding schools where a semblance of learning is taking place. Other schools in the district are experiencing the same problems as mine, meaning that the pupils have no choices at all.”

Ann’s note: We are thankful that Hartzell Primary School is one of the schools that is functioning.

We saw Rev. Lloyd Nyarota beginning the distribution of the first of these supplies when were there in February.

Supplies Arrive in Zimbabwe

February 24, 2009 —Containers of lifesaving medicine and other supplies from United Methodists have arrived in Zimbabwe. The shipment is part of the United Methodist Committee on Relief’s (UMCOR) ongoing work to provide assistance to Zimbabwe in response to an ever-widening cholera and financial crises.

Thirty-five Medicine Boxes, medical books and a microscope provide hope and help for people caught up in the continuing tragedy of a society in chaos. The 14,112 school kits, give children basic supplies as schools prepare to reopen after being shuttered for months.

Each Medicine Box contains basic medical supplies to provide for a community of 1,000 people for three months. The sterile bandages, vitamins, antibiotics and more in these boxes will assist 35,000 people over the next three months. Health care and supplies are precious commodities in Zimbabwe today.

Water Filters Support UMCOR’s Efforts

Muslim Aid, an UMCOR partner and UK-based relief agency, is providing further medical support. Its shipment brings one million tablets of Fluconazole, a drug used to treat fungal infections in AIDS patients and others to United Methodist hospitals. Muslim Aid is also sending 100 Aquaboxes and 300 personal Lifestraw filters to be distributed to local communities to help stem the cholera outbreak that has so far sickened 83,000 people in the country.

Each Aquabox contains 30 filters. One filter provides nearly 300 gallons of clean drinking water. Altogether, the 100 Aquaboxes will deliver some 900,000 gallons of safe water for Zimbabwe communities—a precious commodity in cholera-ridden times. In addition to the filters, the Aquaboxes contain chlorine to treat other water sources. The 300 Lifestraws will provide an additional 200 gallons of clean water for each personal drinking straw.

The Zimbabwe Annual Conference is working with UMCOR staff on the ground in Zimbabwe to ensure these lifesaving supplies are delivered to United Methodist hospitals and cholera-affected communities.

16,000 Families to Receive Food

In addition to the medical supplies, UMCOR is also delivering 400 metric tons of milled maize throughout 12 United Methodist districts in Zimbabwe. The shipment is scheduled to be delivered throughout the month of March.

The most vulnerable families, selected by community leaders, including United Methodist district superintendents, receive 55-pound bags of grain to supplement their meager diets. Approximately 16,000 families will receive this important food staple.

Crisis Continues

The situation in Zimbabwe remains dire despite reports of improvement in recent days. More than 3,000 people have died in the cholera epidemic that has swept the country for months. Hyperinflation has led to economic collapse. UMCOR and the United Methodist Church in Zimbabwe are working together to provide health care and food and water in the most difficult situations.

You can support UMCOR’s efforts to give relief to the people of Zimbabwe by giving toUMCOR Advance #199456, Zimbabwe Emergency. 

Primary students getting porridge at break time.

Food in the grocery stores now is sold in American dollars.

The garden at White Horse Inn is as lovely as ever!

We are finally home, having stopped off in Namibia on the way to look for animals and birds. Zimbabwe is in transition, but only time will tell to what.  The sharing of governmental power by the two parties has finally begun, but it the long ruling ZANU-PF still acts like it owns the country. Inflation was so bad [ hextillions % per year !] that almost everything is now being charged in US$–which most people don’t have.  Moreover, those US$ prices are unrealistically high–one store wanted $40 for a jar of rubber cement!  Fees, uniforms, school supplies, food–almost everything–costs us much more than we were paying the bills in Zimbabwean money. We were able to use our buying power in exchanges for quite a number of extra ways to help.  That is now ended as our US$ costs for basics have increased by as much as 10 to 40 times.

There was no way we could pay the new fee of $50 per term for each of the 400 Hartzell Primary School children we have supported for a number of years.  This would have amounted to $60,000 for the year.  We bargained for an arrangement whereby we are keeping 120 in school for the year at a cost of $10,000. This is twice as much as we have been paying for the 400.  Our resources are stretched and there won’t be money left for the extra uniforms and supplies we have been helping with.

Whereas we have been running the High School sponsors program on $200 a year, including fees, uniforms, and supplies, tuition for just this Term is now $160 with clothes and supplies adding another$50+ with two more terms in the year to go.  It looks like we will need double sponsors for each of the 26 we have in the program this year.  Some of them had their homes destroyed in election violence last spring and have been put in boarding–at extra costs.

Past generosity has enabled us to expand the helping programs and give relief to some who had been burned out by ZANU thugs.  For this we are very thankful.  We have noticed however, that we are not being asked for many new or return presentations.  Our crafts projects have hit a number of problems–breakage, much higher costs, and lower sales–so they aren’t providing the support they once did.

In short–keeping the kids fed, clothed and in school is a major financial challenge! We are not despairing, but we could use help.