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Zimbabwe: Faces of the crisis and a cry for help

Categories: Sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Citizen Media, Economics & Business, Food, Governance, Health, Politics
Civicus.org [1]

Civicus.org

The CIVICUS World Alliance for Citizen Participation [2]organization has published Time 2 Act, an online video [3] in which people in Zimbabwe present the various ways in which the crisis the country is going through is decimating the population and the quality of life of the survivors. In the following 3 part video, citizens discuss how the mega devaluation the currency is going through affects their ability to eat and clothe themselves, speak about violence and plead for help from mediators such as the South African Development Community.

Part 1 of the video [4] starts with a young student speaking how Zimbabweans are not free: they are not free to eat, to clothe themselves, to nourish themselves, to learn from teachers paid decent wages, or free to seek aid from hospitals in case of disease, or to purchase things due to the usage of other currency: Rands instead of Zimbabwean dollars. The situation has worsened, to such extent that people believe the system has collapsed in many levels: health, safety, economy and government. Health-wise, ill people arrive at hospitals and die there, due to lack of attention. Even then, there is no respect for the dead: families have to pay extraordinary sums just for morgues to take the bodies.

Here is the Second part [5] of the video, on how the new economic downturn is affecting the community: salaries paid in Zimbabwean dollars have to be converted into the more stable currency, the South African Rand, and it isn't enough even to buy basic necessities. Another topic discussed are the human rights violations and the limitations on free speech the country has been facing:

The third and last part [6]of the video is a cry out for help and support from the Mediating bodies, the South African Development Community and the South African Government. They wish for them to take the plight seriously and help out the former Bread Basket of Africa, which they now are calling Africa's basket case.