School children

January is a time of new beginnings. For the adults - new year resolutions, for the children - new schools, new teachers, new classrooms and new friends. But in Zimbabwe January brings the same old problem: where to find money for school fees, for uniforms, for books. The only difference is that it gets worse every year. In 2005, not less than $400,000 will be required for each child to begin the school year, to pay fees, levy, buy a pair of shoes, one dress or shirt and shorts, socks and jersey. But new books are needed too - at least $600,000 for a set if they are new, perhaps $300,000 if you are lucky to get them second-hand.

Malnourished child

Zimbabwe's crisis is not only political and economic; the signs of social disintegration are everywhere. Nightly, street children as young as five or six seek the "protection" of older children who act as pimps; cold, hungry and homeless farm workers huddle against each other on the roadside where they have been dumped like a pile of rubbish; a young girl of sixteen with a blank stare cuddles her baby, conceived when she was raped in a youth militia camp; an adult rushes her dying parent to the hospital, because it is cheaper to transport the living than the dead; she will not return when the parent dies, because she cannot afford to bury her; an elderly grandmother weeps when told that a foreign donor will no longer supply food aid - her thirteen grandchildren whom she is keeping have nothing else to eat. These are mere glimpses of the social chaos affecting every corner of the country.

Bulawayo's Fire and Ambulance Services are battling to stop a continued exodus of its personnel who are in demand locally and abroad because of their unmatched experience and qualifications. The city's fire fighters are considered some of the best recruits produced by the National Training Centre in Bulawayo, one of two training facilities in Zimbabwe.