Cathy Buckle's Weekly Letter From Zimbabwe !

TOUGH LUCK !

Dear Family and Friends,

Watching MDC and Zanu PF leaders signing an agreement to talk, and then actually shaking hands on Monday the 21st of July, was something of a miracle. It would be naive to say that this signals the end of the crisis but it is a single step forward and it cannot have come soon enough.

That's the good news, the bad news is that everything else seems to have been put on hold while talks begin. It's a paralysis having a devastating effect and most people simply don't know how to cope from one day to the next.

The Governor of the Reserve Bank continues to limit daily withdrawals from banks to 100 billion dollars - this is currently worth less than 20UK pence or 40 US cents or 2 South African Rand. It is a criminally cruel policy which is causing extreme suffering. The daily maximum withdrawal is not enough to buy even a single scone which this week cost 140 billion dollars. A single scone, made with imported flour is the height of luxury for the vast majority of people and entails standing in a bank queue for two days to buy just one and by the time you have the money in your hand the price has gone up.

When I got sick a few days ago I stood open mouthed in the pharmacy when I was told the common penicillin based antibiotic would cost 2 trillion dollars. They would not accept a cheque and were not interested in discussing the matter -it was just tough luck! The 2 trillion dollar price tag represented 20 working days in a bank queue. I phoned another pharmacy and was told that their price was 1.6 trillion dollars. When I arrived there an hour later they said the price had gone up and was now 3 trillion dollars.

My own experience is being encountered by people from all walks of life across the country - and I cannot believe that people are not dying because they simply cannot access even basic medicines. Everywhere there are stories of such suffering from people who can't get enough of their own money out of the bank to buy food, medicines, life preserving drugs and the means of everyday survival.

The inevitable result is that people that can are pouring out of the country in their thousands in order to survive. A South African Department of Home Affairs spokesperson said the number of people arriving at a Refugee reception area in Johannesburg had gone from 800 a day to more than 5 000 a day in the past month alone.

Those left at home have this week suddenly found themselves in a strange place where everything is being charged in US dollars or South African Rand. A woman outside a medical office in Harare selling bread at 10 Rand a loaf. Rooms in high density suburbs being rented out for 100 rand a month. Adverts for cottages to lease at 200 US a month. Meat in a local butchery where only US dollars are accepted. The agreement between Zanu PF and the MDC to talk is all very well butwhile they do we have no food, no medicines and aren't allowed to draw our own money out. It feels like slow genocide without bullets and bombs.I am taking a short break so until next time, thanks for reading, love cathy

Copyright cathy buckle 26 July 2008