Would you send a 10 year old to Zimbabwe?

[nemo]

My best friend`s sister lives for 15 years in Zimbabwe , where she has a little vegetable farm with her husband.
When the general situation there continued to decline my friend`s sister (whom I call Sarah) sent her daughter
(who grew up in Zimb.) to Germany where the 10 year old now lives with her grandmother.
Sarah is strongly identified and committed with their little farm and Zimb. She`s treated torture victims
there and even spent a day in jail after she got caught on an anti-Mugabe demonstration.
Now the daughter wants to visit her parents, whom she misses very much.
Sarah wants her daughter to visit.
In light of recent developments in Zimb. the Granny is afraid to sent the daughter to their parents
(for a 3 week holiday in june - flight has to be booked now). The Granny who nursed her husband until his death
some 2 years ago is clearly overextented with caring for her grandchild. It`s too much for her to accompany her to
Africa as long as the political situation is so unstable. My friend agrees with her mother but Sarah plays down the danger.

My friend doesn`t have the money nor the time to fly with her niece to Zimb.
Sarah shows some clear signs of living in her own very subjective reality. (Offtone Sarah): "Everything is in divine and
perfect order, right now and always." (You know the spin!). The kid is too young to make this decision.
Sarah also dominates her husband, who suffers from panic (heart?) attacks and who therefore won`t be able to help in that regard.
The Granny isn`t strong enough to make the decision. My friend, who has a long history with her older semi-suicidal sister
(there`s been some pill abuse in the past), is at a complete loss as to what she can do to help.

The problem is not the flight, but her safety during her stay there.

I realize the difficulty to come up with constructive suggestions since the above description is very much boiled down.
I´d be very thankful for some different viewpoints.

 

[Erna]

Hi Nemo, you didn't mention where in Zim, and no-one knows a country's situation better than the guys on the ground, ie. your friend's sister. If she says it's safe, it's most likely safe. They might play down the danger situation where they themselves are concerned, but they won't let their child come if it was unsafe.

Just advise her not to participate in any anti-Mugabe demonstrations while her child is there ;) Could you have chosen a worst time to plan this trip?!?!?! If Mugabe steals this election, mayhem will break out. A man is at his most dangerous when he has everything to lose and nothing to gain, and that is the situation Mugabe finds himself in currently.

They also live on a farm you said. Are you aware that the war veterans seized more white farms on Sunday (6 April) under Mugabes instruction? I also take it you are familiar with how these farms are seized. Just let the dust settle, as in, just wait for the run-off presidential election, before you make the call.

 

[Mark]

If there's money for the girl to fly to Zimbabwe then maybe the grandmother can suggest that the mother fly to Germany instead?

 

[nemo]

If she says it's safe, it's most likely safe. They might play down the danger situation where they themselves are concerned,
but they won't let their child come if it was unsafe.

Well, my friend and her mother`n me have our doubts on Sarah`s ability to really assess the situation, esp. since we cannot view future events.

Could you have chosen a worst time to plan this trip?!?!?!.

Ask Sarah She bought the ticket for her daughter.

They also live on a farm you said. Are you aware that the war veterans seized more white farms on Sunday (6 April) under Mugabes instruction?

That`s why we`re worried! They have a small farm in an exclusively blackafrican area near a town. Most farms were seized in more rural areas.
They also seize farms from blackafrican citizens, esp. if they`re anti-Mugabe. Sarah`s also a member of Zimbabwe Women Rise (!).

If there's money for the girl to fly to Zimbabwe then maybe the grandmother can suggest that the mother fly to Germany instead?

That seems to be the ideal solution. After a long and tortuous correspondence Sarah seems ready to do just that. But her option to have her kid travel to Zim
and afterwards accompany her to Germany isn`t off the table yet.
My friend appreciates your sensible suggestions, Erna and mark! They affirm her stance on the matter.
Thanks a lot!

 

[ianvr]

Things aren't looking good in Zimbabwe at the moment, but having said that, chances are fairly good that the 10 year old will be safe. However if it was my kid and there was only a slight possibility of harm coming to him/her, then I will not allow for this to happen. I live south of Zimbabwe and there is no way I would go there now. Things are just to uncertain now. Mugabe and his cronies has to much to loose for stepping down and will do whatever means to remain in control...

 

[nemo]

Things are just to uncertain now. Mugabe and his cronies has to much to loose for stepping down and will do whatever means to remain in control...

That`s exactly the point!
My friend has been worried sick about Sarah and her brother in law but is happy that her niece at least is in a safer environment now. She`s accepted Sarah`s decision
(free will) to stay in Zim even if it means her death and that it would be wrong to judge or intrude in her decisionmaking. I respect and actually understand Sarah`s attitude,
where it not for the daughter, who obviously cannot make such grave decisions yet.

 

[Erna]

A fellow South African! Welcome ianvr! How's the South-Easter treating you in the Mother City?

Nemo, after keeping an eye on the news today, I think it would be reckless if you send the kid now:

War vets evict 60+ Zim farmers

Mugabe militants 'target' whites

'Mugabe planned to seize mines'

Zanu-PF 'leads' apartheid drive

Mugabe plays race card

Zim 'is on a razor's edge'

New farm invasions in Zim

Zanu-PF 'preparing for war'

They have a small farm in an exclusively blackafrican area near a town.

Metropolitan areas are MDC strongholds and rural areas are Zanu-PF strongholds. This reminds me of the Mozambique war with Frelimo and Renamo, where Frelimo were mostly metropolitan and Renamo mostly rural...or was it the other way around.

Oh, and one more thing, I was studying Mugabe’s face today, and noticed the peculiar little Hitler moustache. Is there like a Dictator’s handbook with a fashion section – Dictator’s Manual 101: Physical Appearance

 

[Peam]

If there's money for the girl to fly to Zimbabwe then maybe the grandmother can suggest that the mother fly to Germany instead?

That seems to be the ideal solution. After a long and tortuous correspondence Sarah seems ready to do just that. But her option to have her kid travel to Zim
and afterwards accompany her to Germany isn`t off the table yet.
My friend appreciates your sensible suggestions, Erna and mark! They affirm her stance on the matter.
Thanks a lot!

What you say here throws up a red flag for me. It just seems as though Sarah is desparate to get her daughter to Zimbabwe to be with her at this time for some reason, and given your "tortuous correspondence" as you put it, to get her to agree to come back with her, What's to say that once in Zimbabwe, Sarah has any intention of letting the girl go back?
But then it's her daughter, so I don't know what else to say.
But I'm only going on what you've said, and I don't know the full situation and relationships dynamics of the people involved.

 

[nemo]

Erna, thanks for further illustrating the seriousness of the situation in Zim! I`ll send the links/posts to my friend.

What you say here throws up a red flag for me....What's to say
that once in Zimbabwe, Sarah has any intention of letting the girl go back?

Good point. Not a possibility I would exclude.

But then it's her daughter, so I don't know what else to say.
But I'm only going on what you've said, and I don't know the full situation and relationships dynamics of the people involved.

In terms of respecting free will, it can get somewhat tricky to discern properly.
To convey the particular psychodynamics and biographical backgrounds is hardly possible, without becoming excessively wordy, that is.
I think it`s pretty important to not only have an inkling of one`s own machineness, but also to have some objective understanding of the
way one`s family "ticks" in order to help them in a positive way.

 

[Erna]

Beautiful, beautifil Zimbabwe, the 'bread basket' of Africa - a country that once fed much of southern Africa, and lost the means to feed itself.

 

[nemo]

Wow! The Victoria Falls! I actually stood there pathetically trying to capture this natural wonder in my sketchbook during my only Africa trip.
One can actually see Zambia and Zimbabwe in your pictures.
But which is which? Did you also had a coffee in the Victoria Falls hotel just to get a few glimpses of the interieurs?

Beautiful, beautifil Zimbabwe, the 'bread basket' of Africa - a country that once fed much of southern Africa, and lost the means to feed itself.

What an excellent description!

 

[ianvr]

Hello Erna, yes the South Easter has finally left us, meaning your winter will start and our rain season will be upon us in the Cape. I love this time of year in CPT, perfect weather, not to hot during the day and cool at night. I do miss your summer thunder storms though...

Another Zim story: http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/Zimbabwe/0,,2-11-1662_2301665,00.html

I once wrote in my blog about Zim being a possible test run. To see how far a dictator can go to control his population. I wonder if Mugabe will do the Bush thing and call for a re-count and win with fewer votes. I mean if bush can do it and get away with it...then surely Mugabe can, its democracy after all, lol...

 

[Erna]

I once wrote in my blog about Zim being a possible test run. To see how far a dictator can go to control his population. I wonder if Mugabe will do the Bush thing and call for a re-count and win with fewer votes. I mean if bush can do it and get away with it...then surely Mugabe can, its democracy after all, lol...

I don't have words anymore, following the news really leaves me speechless. On the one hand I want the people to stand up and fight for what is theirs, but then I remember who has the weaponry...

The stolen elections (US & Zim) are about the only thing these two regions have in common IMO

The one is the debris left behind by a senile imbecile with a lust for revence, power, bloodshed and suffering. His narsicistic nature causes him to believe that the whole world is glued to their television screens and holding their breaths, even though the world doesn't give a damn, cause it's Africa baby. No real threat to the planet, just a convenient self-imposed population reduction for the PTB.

The stolen US election on the other hand, is one calculated move in a deeply sinister chess game that might topple all our kings...

I do miss your summer thunder storms though...

And I miss sitting at La Med in the late afternoon with a Mojito clamped between my fingers watching paragliders touch down.

What an excellent description!

...and tragic!

 

[thorbiorn]

In beautiful SA these days, just South of Erna's location. There among others I have some friends from Zimbabwe. One lady is from the North, from the town of Bulawayo. She told me that when she was visiting her family last December, there was a period of one week with no water in town, people were getting from boreholes walking distances with 20 liter canisters on the head. Big shopping stores in Bulawayo COMPLETELY empty, but added that Pr. Mugabe does look better after Harare, the capitol of the country.

Every month she buys some food in SA like oil, rice, flour, beans, and pasta to send up to her family with whom she is in touch via the cellphone that she also sent up; but they can not call her easily, the line gets cut, is noisy or breaks up, whereas strangely enough she can call them, which she does twice a week. She told me there is much suffering and also fear that Zim could become like Kenya.

the world doesn't give a damn, cause it's Africa baby.

Not only because of Africa. 13 million people out of the world's population is not so much after all. So why should they. And not all 13 million are equally afflicted. Mugabe's clique are probably alright.

Only 13 million but nobody is a nobody. The trouble in Zim puts pressure on SA. Many people, 3 million one source wrote, have migrated into SA upsetting the local blacks by competing with them for jobs and energy. And could the 'dis-ease' of Zim spread?

People in neighboring countries have food in the shops, but a growing number can no longer afford it as easily as before, with what they earn, due to increased energy prices which again are due to increased world consumption, caused by a growing world population, economic growth in former poor countries and restricted energy supply combined with salaries that have not increased proportionately. Now if somebody can not afford what they need for living but is available. How much better is he or she off than the one who can't see it like in Bulawayo? And what could the consequences be? Some told me a demonstration is planned in SA soon. In Maputo on February 5th all roads in the whole town were blocked with burning cars and tires. One could not get to the airport. Few people died but about a hundred were wounded. Some shops were looted and neither teargas or rubber bullets had much effect.

If one reviews the past many people died in the civil wars in Angola and Mozambique, so far much less in Zimbabwe. Although many are suffering in Zim, they are not yet dying as badly. About 800000 died in the civil war of Mozambique!

And in spite of the hardships in Zimbabwe one has to admire the people, because how civilized was Yugoslavia during the nineties, how civilized was the invasion of Afghanistan or Iraq, or how would people in Europe or America adjust if the planet got a little push or went into a cosmic dust cloud and as a result cooled down a bit for couple of years resulting in food shortages. One may think of how the New Orleans flood put civilization there to a different level. Would poor Africans have handled it worse? I do not think so. Those who are used to hardships, which may include Sarah, know better how to manage them, at least I have learned very much from being with people in Mozambique and South Africa, who have tried and survived difficult times. It does not mean though, that I believe one should seek them out or stay in them at all costs, no.

Some links about Zimbabwe:
_http://www.gta.gov.zw/ the official site where you have a pictures of the main people including of course The President, His Excellency Robert G. Mugabe
_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwe
_http://www.zimbabwetourism.co.zw/

Back to the main issue, Sarah and the ten year old daughter:
I looked at the Internet possibilities in Zim: _http://www.goafrica.co.za/africa/zimbabwe.stm which describes several Zimbabwean sites. It says the Internet is quite developed. Would mother and daughter be able to Skype together? And if not, then if the daughter is ten years, very regular letters with photos are better than nothing. Also the situation in Zimbabwe may improve after some time, maybe soon, like in a week or two; after all Mugabe IS an old man, he will not live for ever, he may prefer a comfortable retirement in Zim.

More Zim headlines are on _http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/Zimbabwe/Home/

And why not try some genuine Zimbabwean sites.
_http://www.sundaynews.co.zw/index.aspx
_http://www.chronicle.co.zw/
_http://www.zimbabwepost.com/
_http://www.herald.co.zw/
_http://africantears.netfirms.com/
_http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
If the ten year old is a Cyber-whiz in the making, she can surf and see for herself, and if not fluent in English put them through a translation machine.

Survival is important. Evolution is important, Love is also important. There are risks anywhere. One may have to weigh these factors.

Good luck

 

[nemo]

Back to the main issue, Sarah and the ten year old daughter:
I looked at the Internet possibilities in Zim: _http://www.goafrica.co.za/africa/zimbabwe.stm which describes several Zimbabwean sites.
It says the Internet is quite developed. Would mother and daughter be able to Skype together? And if not, then if the daughter is ten years,
very regular letters with photos are better than nothing.

This has already been suggested to Sarah. Their internet/phone connection seems to weak to allow to skype. In spite of my friend`s suggestions
she hasn`t so far used internet cafes or the nearby Bulawayo Airport. But there`s also some serious fuel shortage. They do of course phone with
each other and email. The links you gave are familiar, since Sarah`s quite up to date on the political going ons. Well let`s hope for Sarah and her
mother to make the right decision (my friend can only offer constructive suggestions - it`s not her decision to make) and for a positive turn of
events in Zim!
Thanks again for your posts. I`ll post on this thread again should events take a more dramatic turn, which I hope won`t happen!!

PS: Sarah`s daughter who grew up in Zim and is fluent in english (much more so than german) witnessed some stuff a kid her age shouldn`t be prone to.
S`far`s I can tell she has a good notion of what`s up there - and she`s not stupid.