I've been in Zimbabwe for the last 3 weeks, what a cluster****

originally posted by: ufoorbhunter
a reply to: FinallyAwake

Many thanks for that FinallyAwake. Also what we see here in the UK is almost uniquely how the spiralling economy is affecting the poorest in society over there. Can you give us some sort of idea how the wealthier suburbs of Bulawayo are fairing? Are the wealthier people also suffering from the economic downturn or are they still doing ok?

Hi thanks for your post.

Unfortunately even if you are wealthy you are still affected. You can't draw money or buy fuel to get to work, also the Internet blackout affects everyone. So the wealthier people are still a 'little' better off, but what good is money if you can't get to it? So unfortunately the whole country has been affected 😞

originally posted by: NightSkyeB4Dawn
a reply to: Lazarus Short

As we are going to soon find out, when the SHTF.

Always better to go along with TPTB. What is it they say? Can't win if you bring a knife to a gun fight?

Valid point thanks, and the shtf is happening as we speak.

originally posted by: surfer_soul
a reply to: FinallyAwake

I always wondered why Mugabe was left alone all those years while the UN went after lesser despots. I can’t help feeling he had the backing of a greater power and certainly not a benevolent one.

I don't (but should) know enough about it to comment, but it sounds like you have a good point. It's so corrupt over here 😕

a reply to: FinallyAwake

It's just hard to believe what's happened. During my childhood Zimbabwe was noted as the most prosperous country in Africa and loads of Brits actually went out there including my cousin and her family to live the good life Just hard to get an understanding how things have gone tits up but we rely on people like you to get the reality out to the wider world. Thanks

That’s great and all, but has anyone considered teaching the people who live there how to maintain the water systems? None of those 3 million are capable enough? Maybe they need help getting the supplies, but having one person (or a small group) do everything isn’t wise.

a reply to: FinallyAwake

thank you fa.

it seems the country's abundant natural resources/economic model are out of kilter.
would I be correct in saying
these resources are being diverted away from the nations purse?

is this a western foothold or further afield?

f.

I will be that guy

Why doesn’t the 78 year old teach others to do the work he does?

Does he need this to keep him alive?

Can he not find people capable to do what he does

Is it a combination of the two?

a reply to: FinallyAwake

Our trust and complacency is going to be our downfall.

The, "it could never happen to me", belief is deadly.

It is happening all around us. You don't have to look that far. The first waves of a tsunami are gentle and interesting. The next are mesmerizing. They are just the precursors to the final wave.

a reply to: FinallyAwake

Keep up the good work.
Next year they probably will kill you.

a reply to: KezigluBey

I got one of those as a tip working behind a bar, just a note not a bundle, it lives on my desk next to my US $1 with spock on it instead of washington.

a reply to: FinallyAwake


Wow, you are awesome! It must be really hard, to go to a place so cut off from everything. Many of us are so used to having so much stimulation at all times. You go with the intention of helping, and sacrifice a lot. Stay safe, and thanks for sharing.

a reply to: iplay1up2

Zimbabwe is a country. All Zimbabweans don't live in the jungle in huts.

Poorly managed, corrupt governments are more prevalent then is reported.

Even during this event there are people and areas of Zimbabwe that are doing better than some areas in America.

Zimbabwe is just one country in the continent of Africa. It isn't comprised of all poor, illiterate, ignorant, helpless, backward folk.

a reply to: FinallyAwake

That is very kind of you FinallyAwake. Small charity, big charity... what matters is your hearts are in the right place. Always great to see private Citizens and charities lending a helping hand

Hope you get the exposure you are looking for

In one day of this month (January 2019) 130 000 Zimbabweans have crossed the border into South Africa alone.
citizen.co.za...

That is in daily addition to 5 million already here (conservatively counted), competing for scarce resources, since former President Mbeki's "quiet diplomacy", and effectively opening the border to take pressure off former Pres. Mugabe.
Personally I've grown very fond of Zimbabweans for over a decade.
They are are very well educated and spoken, with a great work ethic.
But unfortunately there are criminal gangs, and those involved in farm murders, and we're a drought stricken country (except for a narrow green coastal belt), with limited resources.
And we've already seen violent xenophobia from the local black population against foreigners since 2008.
This doesn't bode well for an already tense local situation.

What this means to us South Africans is daunting, in an already daunting "cluster-doo doo" of our own.

God help white South Africans is all I can say.
I simply don't have the energy anymore to say more.

Just wondering, there's a humanitarian crisis on South Africa's borders.

People ask me, are there United Nations tents, or refugee/transit camps?

Nope.

But then where do all the millions of Zimbabwean refugees go, once in SA?

Some have families here, but yeah, a good question.

Suffice to say the crisis is big enough to warrant outright UN intervention.

You know if there's not some kind of global or local policy change very fast, people are going to start starving.

originally posted by: halfoldman
Suffice to say the crisis is big enough to warrant outright UN intervention.

Fair point halfoldman but at the same time why is this necessary? South Africa has the means to intervene with ease as the major dominant regional economic and military power in your region.

a reply to: ufoorbhunter

Indeed, but that's not saying much.

There were UN camps built for Somalian refugees once in SA.
Not even long ago.
lepageblog.wordpress.com...

And that was a tiny scale of this!

Now they aren't interested.

SA politics are very contradictory.

Just saying, don't wait for any clarification from the SA government before a humanitarian intervention.
Then you will wait forever.

a reply to: halfoldman

Maybe a Trump style wall would do you guys some good? Israel never been so safe since they built theirs.

I fear all your hard work is in vein. If you or him fall ill, there is nobody to replace the filters and they are back to dirty water.