Zimbabwe Absurdity

There are not many social conditions or behavioural issues that I can think of that cannot be remedied by education, though I suppose quality thereof is also important. It is all pretty much irrelevant in Zimbabwe now.

I was chatting to my senior foreman about the continuous requests for more pay and allowances and he said this is never going to end is it. I replied that it was certainly not going to cease in the foreseeable future. He was obviously feeling more than a bit concerned because he volunteered that his 15 year old son was going to school and doing absolutely nothing – the teachers are on indefinite strike. He is not normally this voluble, I usually have to coax information out of him. My other foreman confirmed this; it seems that the children have to go to school, the register is checked and then they are told to go outside and play. Teachers rotate on a two weekly basis just to keep an eye on things but refuse to teach. Many have found work in South Africa for less than the legal minimum but a lot more than they are getting in Zimbabwe.

Last week the one foreman had to go off to the local hospital as his nephew was hit while crossing a road. Fortunately it was nothing serious but a private doctor had to be called in to see him. The government doctors and nurses just sit around and do nothing, they have no drugs or even gloves. If you are critically injured you are just put in a cubicle, the curtains drawn and left to die. I guess there is not too much hope for those with the chronic illnesses. Just when are they going to do something?