Zimbabwe: Queues of Despair

If a Martian landed in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital today, he would certainly be taken aback by the length and number of human queues.

Like garden worms, the human queues twist and turn throughout the city, blocking traffic as people wait to get a chance to get money from their bank accounts.

The queues start early in the morning and last well into the night. As long as people think there is a faint chance to get a hold of their cash, they remain huddled in the queue.

If anything, human queues have become an additional indicator of the collapse of the Zimbabwean nation state, in particular, the financial system.

Due to a multi-billion percent inflation, the Zimbabwean government is no longer able to meet the paper money needs of its citizenry. Read more

Joy cometh in the Morgan

October 1, 2008 · Posted in Economy, Pictures and postcards, Zimbabwean diaries · Comment 

When I saw this photo of Morgan Tsvangirai visiting banks in Harare on Friday to assess the cash shortages I couldn’t help but smile at the sheer joy of the faces and body language captured. Zimbabweans are so pregnant with hope that perhaps this time, just perhaps this one time, the rock will move from the political entrance and let in the light of day.

“Joy cometh in the morning”
- Psalms 30:5

Original photo from NewZimbabwe.com
See the story here