I have written many times in the past few months about actual events on the ground in Zimbabwe, and I have watched for the past 10 years (whilst I have been living in the United Kingdom) the situation in that country decline to levels below our simple comprehension.

And whilst I write of the activities of the politicians, the activists and all their relevant support base, I thought to myself – where does this leave the ordinary Zimbabwean? Specifically those who have left the homeland and tried to find a niche in the wider world…

There are those who treat the departure of Zimbabwe as a clean break – and have very little to do with that country, or have limited interest in event there. And I, for one, cannot blame them. Many are parents of children who need the security of a stable economy – and a decent education. Others are so shell shocked with their new life that the memory of the old country fades very quickly.

Others – and I class myself within this category – keep a watchful eye on proceedings and long for the day that we can return. I am painfully aware that, in reality, when that day dawns, I will either not be able to afford it, will be too old, or will not be needed in a new, democratic Zimbabwe.

I’ll cross that bridge when I – or rather, we - get there.

Which leaves the situation of the people in Zimbabwe to resolve.

There are millions of people in Zimbabwe who live daily on their wits alone. They live, quite literally, on a wing and a prayer.

Eighty percent-plus of the workforce is out of work – which has led to a fall in lifestyle standards as the breadwinner is unable to raise anything remotely resembling a liveable wage.

An estimate I read just last week, would indicate that a five member family would have to find ZW$5 billion a week just to break even! (Consider this – on the black market in Zimbabwe, £1 will fetch ZW$350 billion! Since I wrote that about an hour ago, I see the rate is now ZW$400 billion!)

Even if Zimbabweans have a job and therefore have money, many of the salaries that people take home are not worth the paper that Gideon Gono has had the bearer cheques printed upon.

A friend in Zimbabwe gave up a pretty good job recently, because the take home salary bought just 3 litres of petrol! In a regular newsletter written in Zimbabwe, a writer explains how the assistant manager of their local supermarket does not clear enough money in their salary for the month to buy one butternut squash!

I haven’t even spoken yet about transport to and from work – for those lucky enough to hold down jobs.

What about the medical requirements of the ill and infirm? What of the medical needs of the young and infant? The medical support for those involved in accidents?

What of the education of tomorrow’s leaders? How can the present crowd in charge serious even consider handing anything over to the younger generation if their own procedures have precluded those younger than themselves from a decent education? (I was educated in Zimbabwe – well, it was Zimbabwe the last year I spent at school) and I can tell you all, hand on heart, that the education I received was of a very high standard… I left school with “M” levels at the age of 17.

The people of Zimbabwe, unless they are politically connected and well-heeled, are being denied the right to live a decent standard of life, denied access to running water and electricity, health and education.

Just when was the rest of the world going to recognise this as a collective crime against humanity perpetrated by the Mugabe regime? Or do they class the Zimbabwean lives of lesser standing than those in Darfur, Iraq or Afghanistan?

Robb WJ Ellis
The Bearded Man