Cathy Buckle's Weekly Letter from Zimbabwe !

Dear Family and Friends,

Life is strange, almost surreal, in Zimbabwe this winter 2009. A week
into June and the weather still can't quite decide if its winter or
not. Mosquitoes, usually long gone by now, continue to emerge at dusk
and come into our houses, sitting on ceilings and roofs waiting for
victims. The weather isn't the only thing that's weird at the moment.

Deputy Prime Minister Mutambara came to our town this week. One port
of call was the local government hospital which has been in a state of
near collapse for a couple of years. Gaping potholes that littered the
road leading to the hospital were hastily filled before the Deputy
PM's visit but the patching stopped a couple of metres past the main
entrance gate. You fall into the holes on this main road just a corner
away. The mentality of making things look good just for the leaders
and only when VIP's visit, continues to haunt us and the rights and
needs of ratepayers and members of the community remains elusive.

There's a notable increase in the amount of big 4x4 vehicles
belonging to international charities on our roads. UN departments,
food programmes, medical organizations, religious charities. We hear
this week that the ICRC are feeding our prisoners, providing inmates
with blankets, soap and clothing. Unicef are drilling boreholes at the
University and our supermarkets are filled with South African goods.

'Zimbabwe for Zimbabweans,' the much quoted Mugabe mantra, is never
more hollow than now.

So destroyed is our agricultural foundation and so collapsed

our production at home, that imported South African goods are cheaper
than home grown food. Imported frozen chickens continue to be 2 US
dollars (20 SA Rand) cheaper than birds grown in our back yards. Its a
surreal situation not likely to improve any time soon as farm grabs by
senior political and security men continue unashamedly even as we try
to put the country back together again.

Perhaps the most surreal and frightening thing of all is that 4
months into Zimbabwe's unity government, truth, justice and
accountability is simply not featuring. The very men and women who led
us to this diabolical state; the ones who stole, beat, burnt and
killed are walking amongst us untouched - as if nothing happened.
Zimbabwe cannot be allowed to move on without truth, justice and
accountability.

Until next week, thanks for reading, love cathy.