“I lay down, and could not get upâ€
May 5th, 2008
A friend told me this story at the end of last week.
Two weeks after returning to work (after going home to vote) David* was made redundant. The company was already in debt, stock was unavailable, inflation impossible to keep up with and wages had just been increased. The delay in awaiting results and hope for the future was dwindling very fast and there was no way forward.
The company made the decision to shut down immediately. 11 staff members lost their jobs.
David received a retrenchment package. First thing he did was to repay the debt loaned to him for his transport fees – money that he had borrowed to get back to work after he went home to his rural area to vote. He paid the months rent and sent money home to help feed his family.
David then set about looking for work. He was unsuccessful and by now, penniless. He was seen entering his rented room. Three days later the landlady who lives in the same house got concerned as she had not seen David. She banged on his door but there was no response.
Knowing he was inside she acted quickly, called a neighbor, and they broke the door down. David was lying on his bed, unable to get up. He was unable to speak. Unable to call out for help.
Nobody knows when David had last eaten anything.
Friends were contacted and rallied around and David is now home with his family. When asked what had happened, David simply replied “I lay down, and could not get upâ€.
If it were not for his attentive landlady David would have died of starvation, in a rented room, in a house buzzing with activity.
The air of “normality” in the void after elections is frightening. Scratch just beneath the surface and countless horrors emerge.
*Not his real name
May 5th, 2008 17:03
In another post here Scotchcart was trying to encourage us to try and be positive. I try on a daily basis to be positive about Zimbabwe and its future but I must confess today is not a good day. I am safely in the UK so even this seems like self indulgence given what people in Zimbabwe are dealing with on a daily basis. But as I talked to my friend this morning I cried. Not polite tears but a proper scream ndakabata gotsi coz thats how deperate I really felt. I want things to come right for a change. But every single day there is more bad news. I learned today that a group of community men and women  that I had worked with for over nine years are sleeping in the bush. The work that several NGO’s have done with them over the years is being misinterpreted as evidence that they are linked to  the MDC. Most of the community leaders have had to flee their homes. This is in urban Mutare where if anything people should be celebrating their victory . However neighbours are informing on each other and the ZANU PF witch hunting has started in their community in enerst. Three years ago these families lost everything to Murambatvina and had just started to rebuild their lives. I want to be positive I really do. I know in this post the ladylady saved this man’s life, I know with this Mutare community someone rushed to warn them that the ZANU PF thugs were coming for them and I know despite years of violence, economic decline people voted Mugabe out. I just want a day where all the positive things people in Zimbabwe and other places continue to do on a daily can overcome all this evil that has been visited on our country.
May 5th, 2008 17:22
Beth, you must not feel guilty for being sad. It is not self-indulgent to feel the pain of our country and our friends and it is not wrong to express that fear or that pain. We cannot walk around pretending that everything is ok when it is not. Yes, it is good to be positive but sometimes we need to cry too. The last week has been very hard for me because my family are going through a bad time in Zimbabwe and I want to be with them but cannot. I can’t be positive right now but I can cry with you, my sister, and share your sadness, and maybe if we do that as well it can be as important as being positive. God bless you.
May 5th, 2008 18:40
You are all wonderful people and I can sense the pain you feel. I have had a sense of déja vu for the last 4 weeks but somehow, I think this time around things will be okay. Today I went to seem my doctor and poured my heart out. She knows my country is being torn apart but she said we will never know how strong we are until we try; I guess all that’s left is to put a brave face to it and keep trying; ZANU was not cast in iron and even that rusts too; its a matter of time; keep trying
May 5th, 2008 19:58
Depression and despair are all too common.
There are various ways of dealing with them but the ones I have personally found suessful are:
1) Write an angry letter (post it if you cant be identified).
Go on a holiday, even if it is only a day trip to Southend, or a walk about Camden Market.
2) go and learn something new at the local communiy college (they do cheap for those on benefits)
3) DONT GO ANYWHERE NEAR THE NHS PSYCHIATRISTS ETC. THEY ARE ALL BOLLOX.
4) Go and do something artistic.
5) Go and meet other people for support, gossip, and to not be alone.
6) Keep the dream alive for when things get better one day.
7) Dont forget what your Grandparents taught you.
9) Dig ditches if it gets you out of the house and stops you staring at the walls.
10) Start climbing a mountain one step at a time, and start building or changing you life in litle, achievable bits.
In light of all the writing and education Zims have, all over the world, anyone fancy starting a literary/artistic magazine to preserve Zim’s dreams in all the propoganda and begging for relief going on?
May 5th, 2008 22:05
‘Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence.’
Lin Yutang
May 6th, 2008 00:29
YOU WILL NEVER FIND A MORE CARING NATION AND OTHERS PEOPLE JUST DON’T GET IT……It is good to care but when you’re tired you must take a break and let the rest of us take over that is what scotchguard is saying…he knows too well that we are all heading for burn out which is where Mugabe hopes we will all be and just stop careing….So Beth be sad and cry today and know that I will carry the batton today and tomorrow when I can not get out of bed I will know you will be there to carry the batton for me…..Today the Teachers, then Woza each one passes the batton of hope….Tomorrow is another day and we will strive to continue our fight but we are together in our resolve….Guilt is not what we need now…Beating ourselves up because we feel we are not doing enough is not what we need now…..Positively we have to look at what we have done…..
May 6th, 2008 13:43
@ Alisdair Budd “In light of all the writing and education Zims have, all over the world, anyone fancy starting a literary/artistic magazine to preserve Zim’s dreams in all the propoganda and begging for relief going on?”
- Yes, I can be contacted at CCZim@live.com