Zimbabwe, My country

My name is Tinacho Chitongo. I am a Junior from Harare, Zimbabwe. I was born and raised there and I only left my country for college. I have had the misfortune of watching my own country experience one of the most spectacular declines of any modern nation. Zimbabwe is a place where people take pride in their identity and history. I was raised to respect my elders and to always give people their due credit. The lack of robust leadership in my country has betrayed the principles that are the foundation of the society. I am still proud of being Zimbabwe, and every day I look to represent my country as best as I can. The crisis in Zimbabwe spurs me on to achieve more and more so that I can be in a position to help make a difference in the lives of those suffering back home. I believe that one day things will change and Zimbabweans will once again have leaders they can be proud off. People in Zimbabwe face each day on a hope similar to this. Without hope there is no reason to continue with the bleak situation in Zimbabwe. People are not going to lie down and accept the circumstances, character has been shown in the face of difficulty!

Crisis breeds opportunity

In times of chaos and disorder there are a number of roles people play as the said calamity engulfs them. There is the majority which suffers from the crisis. It may be a fonancial crises, a political coup, a breakdown in a system or even a natural disaster completley out of our hands. The majority are known as victims. Of course there are different levels of victim: from the individual who is not at all involved in creating the crisis and is taken aback by the sudden turn of events and then there is the person that plays "victim" The latter is crucially someone who has the ability to get through and possibly flourish in the time of crisis, but they choose the easier option of playing the victim. By doing this they feel obliged to complain about their lot and do little or nothing to improve their situation. Instead they look to others to provide them with answers and direction.
My claim is that every crisis breeds opportunity. There is no such thing as a complete disaster that yields no benefit. Of course there are those who take advantage of situations for their own benefit and I do not wish to dwell on this. I feel that in a crisis there is opportunity to really look into the way things are going and possibly change them. Granted one might be changing in reaction to a major catastrophe but one has to remember that more caution will be required making us better planners. Crisis often brings out the very best in people. With our backs against the wall we face up to a problem and fight. The sense of urgency brought about by a predicament sees us stretch higher and further than we can imagine. There is always an opportunity to innovate and do things better than they have ever been done before, crisis brings this out more than anything else!

Zimbabwe: where to next

I recently visited the country of my birth, Zimbabwe. What I saw shocked me and stunned me into silence. There is literally a new challenge for every family each passing day. The government has become increasingly irrelevant and the economy's free- fall is well documented. What surprised me was the ability of people to keep going in the face of excruciatingly difficult conditions. Then again what else could they do? What else could we do? We would rather die on our feet than live on our knees. As bad as things are I hope for a day when we can dream again. The unity government is now in place. Obviously we will need more for things to change for the better. The problems beseting Zimbabwe are huge and there is no qucik easy fix to them. As far as I am concerned the key is in the massive diaspora (there are millions of us). More money goes into the country from diasporans than any other source. i am of course referring to money actually getting to ordinary Zimbabweans. With our dollarized economy visits to Western union and Moneygram outlets has become a daily excursion for Zimbabweans. I wondered though, what about the people in the rural areas? What about those people who have no relatives outside of Zimbabwe, or at least none that they know off? What are they to do? I feel we should take the lead from Muhamed Yunis' Grameen bank and Kiva.com which has branches across Africa. Diasporans can lend small amounts to rural folk with the interest paying for administration costs. This has potential with the right supervision and co-ordination. If people have access to capital they will get to work and paying back the money will not be a problem considering that people will need to borrow again.