`I left in September and have just gone back but it was like I had been away for a year. I think people have hit rock bottom.’
So reflects Dadirai Chikwengo, Tearfund’s policy officer for Zimbabwe, on the rapid pace of decline in her home land.
Forget 90 per cent unemployment and 26,000 per cent inflation statistics, she says the signs of economic meltdown are all around.
Despite the rains, clean drinking water remains in short supply and so does food.
The shops have plenty of nothing but little of anything. Click here to find out more about Tearfund’s response to the food situation.
Life in queues
Queuing, that most civilised of collective actions, has reached epidemic proportions. It is strangling normal life and starkly underlines Zimbabwe’s deterioration.
Access to money is limited. Dadirai tells of her teacher brother having to get up at the unearthly time of 4am to join a queue at a bank. He eventually reached the teller three days later.
A ten million dollar note illustrates Zimbabwe's economic breakdown. Photo: Tearfund
Not that the Zimbabwean dollar is worth much. A month’s salary for a teacher is barely enough to buy five loaves of bread.
Life for Tearfund’s partners is no easier. Funding a workshop means sending someone along to queue for money for an entire month.
Many people survive on remittances sent to them from relatives abroad. Others, particularly in rural areas, get by through by bartering.
Repression
Such is the madness of Zimbabwe where Robert Mugabe’s regime survives through violent political repression of opponents.
Organising dissent is not easy. Any public meeting with five or more people requires police permission.
Police have routinely used the Public Order and Security Act to ban or disrupt gatherings.
Campaign group Action for Southern Africa regularly reports beatings, torture and abductions by security forces.
But the church is currently exempt from such restrictions and enjoys relative freedom allowing it to not only provide practical support for the vulnerable but also to bring people together.
Speaking out
Tearfund partner, the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance (ZCA), is building a network of churches and leaders committed to prayer but also willing to speak out and challenge injustice.
The network has chapters in 10 areas throughout Zimbabwe including Harare, Bulawayo, Victoria Falls, Plumtree and Manicaland.
It promotes prayer and helps keep people informed, bringing together members from a wide range of churches.
For example, it provides speakers to talk about constitutional issues to women’s prayer groups.
This education and advocacy work will play an important role as Zimbabwe prepares for presidential and parliamentary elections at the end of March.
To find out more about the elections, click here.
Click here for an update on the water crisis.