Zimbabwe Trip 4 - Part N

Monday - May 29, 2006

Today was Memorial Day in the US, but I had to come in to work. It's OK, because I will earn credit hours for having worked a holiday. I forgot to bring my office key with me, so I was locked out of my office here. I had to sit in Yinka's office for the day. It was fine, because it was quiet. I finally finished linking and reconciling some of these spreadsheets in anticipation of meeting with Balcha at 3pm. That meeting didn't happen, which doesn't bother me.

One good thing about being in Yinka's office is that I could use Paola's computer (I was at her desk) to recharge my Ipod since recharging on my laptop is hit and miss. My cold is still lingering, and it's trying to go into my chest. I have a sporadic dry cough which is bothering me now. But I'm not as stuffed up, which is good. Man, I just want to get home where there are real medicines like cough suppressants. I don't think this is bacterial or I'd start the Cipro that CDC gave me for the trip.

I heard an interesting conversation in the WHO van between some of the local Zimbabwean workers. Luckily, they spoke in English and not Shona, which meant I could understand. One woman in the front seat of the van looked back at one time with a look of disapproval on her face as if such things shouldn't be talked about in front of non-Zimbabweans. The topic was a string of robberies and rapes that have been occuring here. The paper has a story every day of some poor woman or girl getting raped and her family beaten and robbed. The man who brought this up argued that it wasn't the fault of the rapists because the "Troubles" that Zimbabwe currently has cause people to feel less than human. Therefore, they can't control themselves because they have no self-worth. The women, thankfully, were having none of that. They argued that you can always control yourself, no matter how badly you might feel about yourself because of economic circumstances. They said it was one thing to rob and pillage due to poverty but quite another to rape. One woman seemed to take the man's side by saying that bad times can make people do things they normally would never do. She used the example of people who are not cannibals but become cannibals due to starvation. I suppose she felt that maybe rapists aren't really rapists but are driven to it by bad times? I hope that's not the case, but we arrived at the office at this point and the conversation ended.

The paper here also had a story yesterday about how the government was giving each member of Parliament (House and Senate) a vehicle. They were making $50,000 US available for each legislator to buy high end trucks and SUVs. Then today, they had an article about power cuts that are bedeviling Zimbabwe. The infrastructure has never been updated since Independence (way to take care of basic needs Mugabe...)and is crumbling. It also cannot meet the demand for electricity. So Zimbabwe has these rolling blackouts all day long. So far, WHO and the Meikles have been spared. WHO has its own generators, but I'm sure the Meikles is spared due to its value as an economic engine. Still, at a time that a basic need such as electricity and upgrading the infrastructure is being unmet, the government is wasting what little foreign currency it has in buying its legislators (over 2/3 of whom are Zanu-PF, Mugabe's party) expensive, brand new vehicles. Is it just me, or does it seem the priorities are a bit skewed?

I had a bit of an early dinner, watched some of BBC Food, and then watched the movie "A Separate Peace". I read this book in middle school, and it was quite moving then. The movie was pretty good, and it made me want to reread the book. I took a lukewarm shower to have pity on my poor burnt face and torso. I still had a hell of a time cooling off after the shower, although I did get the aloe lotion on. I could have used a nice fan, but all I had was a folder to fan myself. After the movie, I was sleepy enough that I just fell asleep.