Zimbabwe's whites flown back to United Kingdom

By Zimbabwe Correspondent (author cannot be identified because of Zimbabwe 's press restrictions) | GlobalPost


HARARE -- Hundreds of Zimbabwe 's elderly whites are being flown back to Britain by the same state that shipped them out to what was then Rhodesia in the 1950s.

For more than 50 years they enjoyed the good life and raised families as part of the colonial-era system of white minority rule. They survived the bitter and bloody war to end the Rhodesian regime. After the country moved to majority rule and became Zimbabwe in 1980, they stayed on in the country that had become their home.

Now, with their children gone and their pensions made worthless by stratospheric inflation, many have reluctantly accepted the British government's offer of a free ticket "home" and a social safety net once they get there.

"It breaks my heart to leave," said Len, 75, who refused to give his last name and distinguished himself fighting for Britain in World War II. "But I can no longer afford to live here."

Inflation has now been tamed by the use of the United States dollar. From 1 billion percent a year ago, it is now minus 1 percent. But relief came too late for Len and his generation. With their savings wiped out and no other source of income, many had to accept the British government's offer.

The offer is for British citizens and nationals with the right of abode in the U.K. who are over 70 and are considered vulnerable because of their care needs or medical conditions. It is expected to target households whose members have already registered with the British Embassy in Harare .

"The situation in Zimbabwe continues to make it hard to access food and medical care.
That's why we are offering help to older and vulnerable British people who are unable to support themselves in Zimbabwe and want to resettle in the U.K. ," said British cabinet minister John Healey when the repatriation program was announced in February.

Britain will assist the returnees by paying for travel and helping with financial support and housing following relocation. The government has encouraged Britons in Zimbabwe to consider relocation since 2007 but the latest offer provides an additional incentive.

There are an estimated 12,500 British citizens still in Zimbabwe , of whom 3,000 are over 70. The British government believes that between 500 and 1,500 will be eligible for the scheme, which will run for more than a year.

White colonists first came to this country in 1890. By 1939, they numbered about 50,000. After World War II, the colonial government provided passages for immigrants, some of whom received land if they served in the war. Many members of the Royal Air Force who had been in the Empire Air Training Scheme in Rhodesia were smitten by the country's beauty and returned at the end of the war.

By 1950, the numbers of whites swelled to 80,000 and then 100,000 in 1955. In its heyday in 1965, Rhodesia 's white population numbered 270,000 while the black population was 5 million. In November 1965, white leader Ian Smith proclaimed UDI -- Unilateral Declaration of Independence from British rule to avoid British pressure to move to majority rule.

Far from being ruined by United Nations sanctions, with South Africa 's help, the rebel white minority-ruled country prospered at first, producing chrome, gold and tobacco and developing an infrastructure and industry that was the envy of much of Africa .

But the guerrilla war waged by Robert Mugabe and other African nationalists took a deadly toll and eventually crippled the economy. Many whites left toward the end of the Rhodesian war in the late 1970s and the advent to power of Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party. But others stayed on, as the change to black rule did not alter the good life they enjoyed. Most whites in Harare , the capital, had servants and swimming pools.

The good life became tough when 2000 when Mugabe began seizing white-owned farms and his rhetoric became more anti-white. Mugabe's government started uncontrolled spending to ensure support of the black veterans of the bush war and Zimbabwe 's economy plunged into crisis. The country's middle class -- both white and black -- emigrated in droves leaving behind the remains of a once mighty colonial occupation.

Of the estimated 40,000 whites who remain in Zimbabwe today, some 5,000 are thought eligible for the British government's resettlement scheme.

"What I will miss most is the climate," Len conceded, "but I cannot afford to be ill."
While Zimbabwe has modern health facilities, they are all privately run and benefit only those with expensive insurance. In Britain , the elderly whites will be cared for by the National Health Service which is free.

Zimbabwe 's subtropical climate is reckoned to be among the most pleasant in the world -- "the only thing Mugabe can't ruin," quip Harare wags. At 5,000 feet, Harare 's "champagne air" -- so called because it is dry and sparkling -- is one of the country's great attractions.

Now this forlorn community of pensioners, many in nursing homes, is kept going by remittances from their offspring and surreptitious local generosity.

Phyllis, 84, won't be among those going "home" to Britain . She came out in 1953, married and raised a son who is now 45 and lives in Zimbabwe . She has a small income from investments and lives in a senior citizens home.

"I couldn't face that weather," she said of England . "Looking out at that gray landscape every day would depress me beyond words.

"Anyway, my son is here and I see him every week. I couldn't dump myself on nephews and nieces."

As she spoke, Harare enjoyed another utterly predictable warm and sunny winter's day

Poachers wiping out Zimbabwe's rhinos as demand surges

From The Guardian (UK), 9 June
David Smith in Harare

Zimbabwe's rhinos are being wiped out amid a surge in poaching driven by Chinese demand for the animals' horns, a wildlife conservation group warned today. Around 120 rhinos have been killed since last March to feed the lucrative Chinese black market, said Johnny Rodrigues, chairman of the independent Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force. Since last year economic collapse and the breakdown of law and order have contributed to a rapid escalation in poaching by organised gangs. "In the past 15 months we've lost 120 rhinos, and we're still losing two to four per month," Rodrigues said. "We used to have 1,000 in this country." The exact size of Zimbabwe's current rhino population is debated. Save the Rhino, a British-based charity, puts the total at above 700. Rodrigues says it is about 400. Both agree the situation represents a crisis. Rodrigues said that Zimbabwe's trade links with China, where the rhino horn is highly prized as medicinal, are a driving factor. "We're now down to about 400 rhinos, black and white, since the opening of the Chinese market. Normally the first thing the Chinese ask when they come here is, 'Have you got rhino? Have you got rhino?'" He added: "It's all linked to the top. All those corrupt ministers are trying to cream off as much as possible before the next election. But if the carnage continues over the next two years we'll have nothing left. The devastation taking place is not sustainable."

A rhino horn can sell for thousands of pounds on the black market. Along with Chinese medicine, the horns are used for ornamental dagger handles in some Middle Eastern countries. Rodrigues said gangs were now using a Chinese-made version of a tranquillising agent that can be fired noiselessly from a dartgun to avoid drawing attention. The gangs then chop off the horn and leave the unconscious animal for dead. "They don't reverse the tranquilliser, so the rhino overheats and dies," Rodrigues said. "Anyone who then finds it can't eat the meat – you will die if you do. The removal of the horn is very harsh. They use an axe and disfigure the rhino's face. The humane thing to do is put a bullet through its head and burn the carcass." Rodrigues is preparing to hand a dossier to the prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, in the hope that the country's unity government will take tougher action. Government vets have made attempts to de-horn rhinos so they no longer have value for poachers, but the process must be repeated because the horns regrow.

The army and police have been called in to conservation areas and national parks to defend the animals, but it is alleged that some soldiers turn poachers themselves. Poachers have little to fear. Even those who are caught are usually freed on minimum bail because there is often no fuel to bring them to court. Zimbabwe's Parks and Wildlife Management Authority challenged Rodrigues' claims, but refused to give a figure for the rhino population. "We definitely have more than 400," said Vitalis Chadenga, director of conservation. "But it's true we're facing an upsurge in the poaching of rhinos. This has taken place mostly on private farms, though parks have also suffered losses. He insisted: "The government takes it very seriously. We have de-horned some rhinos and relocated some to safer areas where we can afford them maximum protection … if you come here in 10 years' time you will still see the rhino. They are safe but they are under threat. There is not a soft touch in terms of law enforcement." The Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species has said it will discuss the threat to Zimbabwe's rhinos at its next meeting in July. The government has said tourism is one of its best opportunities for quick economic revival. But Rodrigues warned: "We were the jewel of Africa, but we've gone back 15 or 20 years. The wildlife has been decimated to such a stage that there'll be nothing left for tourists when they come back to the country."

Under Zimbabwe 's skin

From BBC News, 9 June
By Mike Thomson

Zimbabwe - I've travelled to numerous countries throughout Africa and have a good idea of what to expect when I arrive. Zimbabwe was different. The BBC has been banned (the official line is "not welcome") from reporting in the country for a number of years - so getting a clear idea of day-to-day life in the country isn't easy. This was going to be a journey of discovery. Leaving the town of Messina in South Africa , we made the 15km drive towards the Zimbabwean border. Signs of Zimbabwe 's economic collapse were evident before we even entered the country. Lines of four wheel drives packed to the hilt with food and household provisions were streaming north towards Zimbabwe . Going the other way, carrying all their worldly possessions, streams of weary people headed on foot into South Africa . As I stopped for a toilet break on the South African side, signs placed above each lavatory summed up just how far Zimbabwe 's economy had fallen. "Toilet paper only", they read. "No newspaper, no cloth, no Zimbabwe dollars."

I arrived at Beitbridge border station and nervously made my way to the immigration desk, fully expecting a prolonged grilling. After all, arrest and jail awaited me should they discover that I was a BBC reporter. The border guard inspected my British passport, carefully checking my name and photograph. Then he looked up and his eyes narrowed as he muttered: "Mr Thomson, British citizenâ¦" He paused, as if about to announce that he knew what I was up to. Then came the killer question. "Do you know the score from the Champions League match last night?" My fearsome inquisitor was a fellow Manchester United fan. We spoke for five minutes about the form of the team, whether Ryan Giggs was past his best and when Ronaldo might leave for Real Madrid. Before I knew it, my visa cheerfully stamped, I was strolling into Zimbabwe . During the seven hour drive to Harare we were frequently stopped at police checkpoints, but arrived unmolested just as night was falling. One of the first things you notice about the city is how dark much of it is. Few street lamps or traffic lights work and vast areas are swathed in darkness.

The following day we headed out into the city to take a look at the Zimbabwean capital in the daylight. There are lots of shiny buildings, clean(ish) and good roads. Many of the food shops that I was told had bare shelves now seem stocked to the rafters. It could be any European city. We were even caught up in a rush hour of sorts on the first morning. Lots of nice newish looking 4x4s stuck in jams - strangely reminiscent of Hampstead in London . All of which is odd when I'm told unemployment levels fall somewhere between 80% and 94%. Yet while things look polished enough on the surface, scratch a little and the shine quickly disappears. Harare 's water and electricity supply comes and goes. My hotel was without either commodity for nearly two days. Many public sector workers - once the biggest employer - are either not getting paid or are on strike. And the shops are full, but many people - particularly from the slum areas I visited - can't buy a thing. A few months ago there was little to buy. The introduction of foreign currencies like the US dollar and South African Rand has conquered inflation and empty shelves. But given that few people here have access to foreign currency, most can now only window shop.

As we travel out of Harare the true state of the nation becomes clearer than ever. Petrol is expensive and hard to come by, so there are few cars on the roads. Those who can afford wheels are in for a bumpy ride. Many roads are so heavily potholed that even the biggest of trucks have to take care. The number of police road blocks increases as we leave the capital. While we are lucky and usually waved straight through, locals tell me that police often ask drivers for "presents" before letting them pass. The nation's education system - once the pride of Zimbabwe - is literally falling apart. One school I went to in the impoverished north had to cram 700 pupils into just five classrooms because the roofs of the others had collapsed. I was told that they had been eaten by termites. A teacher at the school admitted to me that the classrooms they were using probably were not safe either and staff simply crossed their fingers on a daily basis. Hospitals are not much better. I was left speechless after visiting one. Everything in it, and I mean everything, was in some way broken, missing or collapsed.

At Victoria Falls - one of the seven natural wonders of the world - you can still spot the odd tourist, but they are few and far between. On driving to a school in a town east of the falls I discovered that tourism is being overtaken by prostitution, which is fast becoming the biggest business around. The school's head told me that something like a third to a half of all girls there, some as young as 13, were so desperate for money that they were selling themselves for as little as a packet of biscuits. But while the country is falling apart around them, most Zimbabweans I met have kept both their pride and their sense of humour. At a small health clinic, I had just finished asking a nurse a string of questions about what provisions they had for patients. Did they, I asked, have bandages, food, drugs, ambulances, phones and sheets? All these questions were answered with a resounding "no". I then enquired whether there was anything the clinic did have. The two sisters looked at each other, then fell about the room laughing before the answer finally came - "No!"

Land invasions a giant step backwards

Land invasions a giant step backwards - The Zimbabwe Times
Posted By J. Robertson On April 24, 2009 (1:41 am) In John Robertson

DESPITE the extreme difficulties through which Zimbabwe has gone since the Land Reform Programme was inflicted upon the population, senior Zanu-PF politicians are still defending the policy and insisting that it will remain in place, come what may.

In the firm belief that people will not question an accusation that seems so easy to believe, they repeat claims that Zimbabwe's land redistribution policy is all about righting colonial wrongs. After all, recovering land for the millions who were evicted by invading colonisers sounds the right and proper thing to do. And by insisting that the few thousand whites took all the best land, forcing millions of blacks to be crowded into infertile and valueless areas, Zanu-PF felt certain that it had reinforced the verdict already reached.

However, each of these emotive and sweeping justifications is seriously flawed. For a start, when the country was first colonised, no millions existed. The first million was reached only in 1913. Even then, the country was sparsely populated and the few thousand colonisers lived peacefully alongside the indigenous people in an area 60 percent bigger than the United Kingdom.

In tropical Zimbabwe, the land preferred by immigrants from Europe tended to be on the higher altitude plateau, but the land preferred by the indigenous population before and after colonisation was in the lower altitude areas where the alluvial soils were better suited to their cultivation methods.

Despite claims to the contrary, very nearly all of them continued farming as before. To help these communities avoid the fate of American Indians and Australian Aboriginals, the colonial government designated their preferred areas as Tribal Trust Lands, protecting them against colonisers' buying power by keeping their land off the market.

Within a few years of winning the colonial race against the Boers from the Transvaal Republic, the Germans and the Portuguese, the British colonial authorities were surveying and selling vacant highveld land to white farmers. The funds helped in developing an infrastructure to serve the areas, and the farmers' title deeds served as collateral for loans to develop their individual properties.

Because funding was available, the land in the hands of white farmers soon began to look better and to produce better crops. But for cultural reasons, the development process proved extremely difficult to transplant into the areas occupied by traditional farmers.

These became the farming areas that are dismissed by Mugabe as barren and overcrowded. For the record, these Tribal Trust Lands came to 42 percent of the total land in Zimbabwe and their areas added up to more than the total area of England. The country is paying a high price now for not insisting on change back then.

As population pressures increased, better land and animal husbandry techniques were needed to protect the soils and to reduce farming risks in Zimbabwe's uncertain climate, but these needed money. Bank loans to individual farmers could have supplied it, but traditional collective land tenure systems were too deeply embedded in the culture. So the title deeds that could have built a bridge between the land and the financial sector never came into being. The land remained isolated from the whole private investment process and inevitably it became eroded, over-grazed and less fertile.

By contrast, the large-scale commercial farms were marketable assets. With the confidence that comes with security of tenure, the farmers could plan imaginative investment schemes and obtain bank loans to fund them. Research, skills training and many other imaginative plans added momentum and the best of the farmers created big business enterprises. Unfortunately, Zanu-PF was able to turn the visible differences into political dynamite.

In 1997, Mugabe announced his intention to take over about one third of all commercial farms. When the farmers challenged this decision in the courts, citing property rights that were protected by the constitution, Mugabe set in motion the process needed to rewrite the constitution. When his proposed new constitution was defeated in a referendum, Mugabe responded by forcing through constitutional amendments that eliminated property owners' rights to challenge government expropriation orders. And he also decided that all commercial farms, homesteads and farm equipment would be acquired by the state.

Having destroyed the concept of individual title, government then gave the land away free, broken up into small plots. The new occupants were given no security of tenure or individual ownership rights, so the land no longer had collateral value that could support bank loans.

Mugabe claimed he has empowered the people by giving them back their own land, but in fact he disempowered them by denying them the most vital of the ingredients needed for successful farming - finance and commitment.

This was clearly not an oversight. Commercial farmers had proved to be an irritating power bloc that had to be neutralised. Government clearly had no intention of allowing a new land-owning class to replace the old one.

Simply put, government broke up the system that was delivering excellent results and imposed on the acquired lands the system that might have performed well enough for a small pastoral population, but was incapable of feeding a much larger industrialising urban population. In political terms, government replaced market mechanisms with a controlled patronage system that extracts loyalty rather than earns it.

Relying on the world's indifference, Mugabe turned Africa's second-most industrialised country into a feudal society that delivered poverty and oppression to all but the ruling class. But we are assured that the injustices, the damage and the hardships being inflicted on the economy are all affordable because they have been carried out to right colonial wrongs.

Colonialism might be considered wrong everywhere, even though it also proved inevitable. But how wrong was it for Zimbabwe? Consider these numbers: in the century from 1900 to 1999, world population increased 3.6-fold to 5.9 billion and Africa's population increased 5,7-fold to 767 million. But in that time, Zimbabwe's population increased 20-fold to 10 million people. That doesn't make colonisation right,but perhaps it will permit a redefinition of "wrong".

ids.push(15690); Article taken from The Zimbabwe Times -http://www..thezimbabwetimes.comURL to article: http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=15690

A powerful poem

And Mugabe awoke with a hoof on his throat and he struggled and howled to be free, tripped on the racks of his English shoes and clawed at his English suits,
And crashed down the unlit corridors where his wife has collected her loot,
Screaming "You may not condemn me - there are by-laws and statutes and fines"
But the Devil replied "God's law trumps that, and by his law you're mine."
Come, see what you've done to your people, see what you've done to your land, And then I'll haul you back into the light, and see if you understand. Then the Devil seized him by his neck and dragged him up into the night And Bob hung limp, for one against one was not his idea of a fight.
They spiralled down to a wasteland, and Mugabe sprawled on his face,"Spare me, spare me" he whimpered, "spare me this terrible place", For he saw charred beams and scattered bricks, filth and ruin and weeds, And through the dawn came children, sifting the dust for seeds.
"Eight years ago" said the Devil, "this place was heavy with maize, There was fruit on the trees and crops in the earth and grass for the cows to graze;
It was farmed by those who loved the soil, who knew it and tended it well, And now it's farmed by Cellphone, from the Monomotapa hotel." "Racist" screamed Mugabe, "Imperialist, Colonist, Queer! These people are free, that's down to me and that's why I rule here!" "Free to do what?" asked the Devil, "to cower and cringe to survive? The farms are going, the work is gone, now only your thugs can thrive, Preying on women and children, feeding on horror and fear, Flying flags of hate and despair that had no business here; Look at your mindless militias, look in each alien face, Condemned by their own insanity, exiled for life from the race, Watch them go into action, cheer as they take up the fight,
Beating up Zimbabweans for the crime of being white, Red-eyed from drink, thick-tongued from drugs, watch them go off on a spree
Burning the homes of Africans who dared to be honestly free.
"Mugabe licked his lips and whispered, "All freedom comes at a price,"
"Indeed?" said the Devil "And for the record - what was your sacrifice? Did you give blood to the struggle? How many times were you mortared? Or did you play politics in a hotel, and wait till your rivals were slaughtered? If ever you tasted honour or pain those tastes were long since forgotten, Eclipsed by the flavours of power and greed, the aromas of all that is rotten.
"Come, Mugabe" and up they flew and soared over country and town
And each time they swooped, hunger and horror reached up to pull them down,
And the souls of children streamed past them, and on and up in to the light
And Mugabe whimpered and twisted, to shield his eyes from the sight
"Sons of despair," said the Devil "and daughters of desolate selves, It's the West that gives food to your people, while your cronies are stuffing themselves. The West you despise and prosecute is the innocent's sponsor and friend. But when your young 'veterans' seize the supplies, these fragile lives have to end;"
"I did not know," croaked Mugabe and the Devil applauded with glee:
Save your lies for Mbeki, they make no impression on me.
Now, look at the shuttered factories, look at the overnight queues."
"Blame the British," Bob stammered, "the whites, the Norwegians, the Jews."
But the streets sent up a whisper, a whisper as loud as a roar: "The old man who stole three elections - it's time that we showed him the door!"
A scream rose up from the city, a scream rose up from a cell,
And the Devil plunged them into the earth and to a cameo from hell
Of shadowed figures with smiling lips that shone with delight and disdain,
Of a body convulsing and wrenching, shaking apart from the pain;
"Applaud your police," said the Devil, "corrupted beyond repair; And caress the electrodes, the batons and guns, and the innocent tied to the chair."
But as Mugabe stretched out his hand the scene was gone in a flash,
And he stared instead at a drive full of Mercs and a house full of money and trash,
And then at the gloom of an upstairs room, heavy with malice and lies,
Where fat men sat and talked poison, avoiding each others' eyes: "Here are your generals," the Devil hissed, "your ministers, judges and hacks,They have fortunes and forex and farms they can't farm, it's only a future they lack, Do they flee for Malaysia, Libya , France with their women and all they can pack? Or do they just turn and remove you, and claim dispensation for that? Look at the wealth that seeps from them, and then hold your nose at the stench Of the paltry crew that cleave to you, the cowards, the fools, the Chinese and the French; See them plotting and scheming; hear your folly despised, Even your reptiles want you gone - you made them, are you surprised? Now do you know what you are Mugabe, now do you understand?You're the Lord of the bloated thousand, and King of an empty land. What gave you most pleasure Mugabe? Which wickedness tasted most sweet? The mass murder of the Ndebele? The children with nothing to eat? The whites you had casually butchered? The election results that you changed? Or the war that you fought in the Congo, for diamond commissions arranged? The perversion of the system? The enrichment of those you despise? The limos, money and power? The lies and the lies and the lies? I ought to admire you Mugabe; you've certainly earned your hellfire, And all for small motives; self interest and fear, that aspect I have to admire;
Better by far that you never had lived Robert Gabriel!
The world will heal the wounds you've left, but I cannot heal you in hell!
"Then the Devil's right hand grabbed Mugabe, and Mugabe screamed in his fright,
And he scrabbled and pleaded and whimpered and begged
And awoke to an African night,
And sweated and panted and shuddered, calling his aides to his side.
Reconstituting his ego, his vanity, his evil and pride.
But then he screamed again, recoiling from that he could not bear to see:
The slogans burning his eyes from the walls and the words we want to be free!
Enough is enough!
Zvakwana!!
Sokwanele!!
The Devil meandered down Second Ave, strolled up Samora Machel Blvd,
"The brave will inherit," he murmured, "when I have Mugabe in hell and the dawn will return to Zimbabwe , and children will learn how to smile,
Zimbabwe is one of God's countries but at least it was mine for a while...

(Author Unknown)

THE GRIEF OF ALL ZIMBABWEANS WHO HAD TO LEAVE THEIR BELOVED COUNTRY

I grieve for the deep grip Zimbabwe has on my heart. For the life we had, beautiful farm, children living a wholesome healthy life, the green wheat fields, cotton fields, labourers picking the cotton counting cotton bales, tractors stuck in the muddy lands, motorbike rides round the farm every afternoon, dogs and all trailing after us. Visits from next door farmers, parties on the farm, the feeling of complete happiness, safeness and planning a forever life on the farm, hoping that maybe one of our daughters will marry a farmer and take over the farm. And we would build a house on the farm and live our old age out. The trips to Harare to get supplies and catching up with friends in other towns, visits to Kariba with friends having a complete gas on a house boat or at a local Harare restaurant, even meeting at a tobacco sale. I miss that wholesome feeling of feeling so complete in my life. I miss knowing that my girls will be educated at a good secure school, school runs with my friends to Barwick, chatting to all the parents, fetching my child from school on a Friday knowing the weekend would be filled with horse riding swimming, good meals, good friends and loving parents.

I grieve for all the farm workers we had to leave behind destitute andsent off the farm.

I grieve for my maid who brought up my two girls.

I grieve for my otter, duikers and birds I had to give away when we left.

I grieve for my cattle, horses and wonderful old house we had to leave.

I grieve for all the material memories we had to leave photos etc.

I grieve for the separation of a family and friends split up due to leaving Zimbabwe not only for the fact that my husband had to work in another country whilst we had to move to another country to educate our girls.

I grieve for the immense change my girls had to endure, the crying to go back home the missing their father and friends.

I grieve for my poor husband who had to make an alternative plan to make money for us to live.

I grieve for all the stress we had to take on especially my husband who eventually died of cancer.

I grieve for the strength he tried to endure to conquer his disease, his desperateness at leaving us in a country foreign to us with no family.

I grieve for his complete feeling of being betrayed by the only country he knew.

I grieve for the struggle we have now to survive without a husband, a farm and a once secure life.

I cry often at how wonderful our life was and what we have gone through. Ioften ask why and guess we will never know.

I still deep in my heart have a slight sparkle to one day return to the country of our birth right and oh how I pray.

I left my husband ashes in Kariba knowing how he loved that place.

Have you ever felt like everything has been taken away from you and you are left so vulnerable trying so hard to keep strong for two growing girls who need you to be strong, yes I know every Zimbabwean who has been displaced feels like me. I just needed to get it out. God be with us all and maybe one day we will all reunite back home.

Sharon Barton

Zimbabwe Ruins - The Plight of Elderly Whites in Zimbabwe

Elderly white people are starving to death in Zimbabwe. In a recent return trip to Zimbabwe prior to the recent elections Catherine Sargant made a short documentary on the phlight of the elderly white people there. Their only problem is they are the wrong color to get help in Africa.



If you feel compelled to help this worthy cause contact:

byohelp@netconnect.co.zw or southcom@netconnect.co.zw
Phone/fax: 263 965383
263 9281340
263 11630204