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Cathy Buckle – This Africa Day in Zimbabwe the price of paradise is all too evident. The three commonest sights in the country graphically expose the real truth of our homeland. The first is the bank queues: lines of hundreds and thousands of people every day; ordinary people trying to withdraw their own money from their own bank accounts.
By Cathy Buckle Dear Family and Friends, On the same day that many thousands of people sat, stood and crowded the pavements outside the banks waiting to try and withdraw a few dollars of their own money, President Mugabe gave his annual State of the Nation Address. It was a hot afternoon in Parliament where […]
By Cathy Buckle There were ten members of the mbira band sitting along the narrow wooden bench: six men and four boys. The band leader, the oldest in the group, addressed the small audience on a sweltering afternoon under a dazzling blue sky. The sun was slowly heading towards the horizon when the band leader […]
By Cathy Buckle Going from a first world to a third world country is always a trip of mixed emotions, culture shock and confusing adjustments. On the last leg of the journey from anywhere to Zimbabwe you know you’re almost home because rules suddenly go out the window. One piece of cabin baggage on the […]
By Cathy Buckle Five days before 91 year old President Mugabe gave his State of the Nation Address to Parliament, a nightmare was underway in a small rural village in Zimbabwe. It wasn’t the sort of event that makes headlines or gets referred to in a State of the Nation address but maybe it should […]
I don’t know how many times I’ve started one of my fourteen years worth of letters with the words: ‘Unbelievable things are happening in Zimbabwe,’ but I unashamedly repeat that phrase today.
When the pilot announces that the plane is entering Zimbabwean air space, your eyes are drawn to the windows. After living through fourteen years of crisis and land take-overs which have left us importing over 80% of the food we eat, you know what you are undoubtedly going to see from the aeroplane window.
The President’s wife has now left us in no doubt that she has political ambitions of her own and has embarked on a country wide ‘meet the people’ tour. Addressing rallies and gatherings that make daily front page headlines, Zimbabwe is open mouthed at some of the things Mrs Mugabe is saying.
Every week in summer and every fortnight in winter we used to round up the cattle and herd them over the road to a neighbouring farm. This was dipping day: hot, dusty, dirty work as over a hundred breeding cows and their calves, along with two temperamental bulls, forced their way into the fenced dip paddock.
We, people of mixed race, want to know and want to know now. If you, black, indigenous people decide that we have no future here, lets us know plain and simple.