land of desperation

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Zimbabwe was hard. As sson as we crossed the border, planted fields and grazing gave way to abandoned, dusty plots; seed was too expensive this year. I was followed for blocks by able bodied young men whose only income is crafts and hounded by carvers desperate to trade for my used clothes and shoes. The government pays police to escort tourists to Victoria Falls past these illicit hawkers. Zimbabwe is a closed, collapsing economy, imploding under its own restrictions, with unimaginably drastic impacts on its citizens. I had that old time China feeling; no one will talk publicly about the government or the economy; too many are watching, listening. Mixing with ordinary citizens in shops and eateries is nearly impossible. But beyond the desperation and the police state the citizens are warm and hospitable. Unofficial art and music is a main source of contact. Wanting ice cream, we waited on line in a local grocer behind a woman who paid for her 5 items with a plastic bag of Zimbabwe currency, but the teen in back of us was happy to chat with our daughter. The shop owner was afraid to serve us or take or exchange foreign currency; he whispered, come back when the shop is empty and maybe he could sell to us, then waved his hand generally toward his staff as if to suggest there are spies everywhere. The government forces visitors to pay in foreign currency. Official guest houses, restaurants and tourist shops must register every transaction and turn the funds over to the government, which then returns their meager share, after taxes, in nearly worthless local money. I met an artist in an official tourist shop and bought a graceful stone carving from him; we made the deal was made in back of the store, out of sight of the register, and the package was wrapped and delivered after I left. The black market rate during our visit was 40,000 to one US dollar; now, barely 6 weeks later, it is 250,000 to one. Keeping our money out of the hands of the government became a game, with high stakes for the locals. Sadly, until recent years Zimbabwe citizens, while poor by American standards, were better off than many southern Africans, and this former British colony was once the breadbasket of southern Africa.

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