Posted on 03/13/2010 11:17:48 AM PST by greyfoxx39
Ten years to practice
Saturday 13th March 2010
Dear Family and Friends,
As we come towards the end of our rainy season we hear the news that one in four Zimbabweans are in urgent need of food aid.
We are not surprised.
Since the start of the season 6 months ago, everyone has been commenting on the dramatic absence of crops on farms. Travel in any direction, towards any of our country's borders and you see grass, weeds and derelict farms. The best crops are those planted on roadsides and little squares of vacant land in urban areas. There has been so little growing on our farms this season that even before Christmas the farming organisations were warning that this year was going to be the worst ever recorded. Now we know that they were right.
The Red Cross are quoted as saying that the hunger situation in some parts of the country is as bad as they have ever seen it.
Erratic rain, too little rain and too much rain are the three reasons being publicly given by the Red Cross. They do not, perhaps dare not, say anything about the fact that on the few farms that were growing food this season, continuous invasions by Zanu PF officials and army personnel destroyed what little production was going on. The few people who were actually trying to grow food were stopped because their skin is white. They were harassed, intimidated, threatened, evicted and even arrested. In one shocking case the Chipinge Magistrate ordering the eviction of farmers was himself lined up to be a beneficiary of the seized farm. It is almost beyond belief that for 10 years in a row this has been going on. The greed of a very few highly placed and already rich people, continues to result in the suffering of so many.
The continuing lawless situation on the farms is one of many issues that has not changed or been tackled by the unity government running Zimbabwe. Every year that it continues, it is getting harder and harder for anyone to produce anything. Men and women who used to crowd at the farm gates for jobs have gone. They are scared to work on farms knowing that at any time an arbitrary bod with a fancy government double cab or an army uniform might come down the driveway and evict them all. Others won't work on farms because the wages they receive amount to less than 50 US dollars a month. Even being given a free house, water and food rations simply isn't enough because there are school fees to pay, clothes to buy and the basic needs of everyday life. And then there are the people who don't even try and work but rather wait to be given handouts.
The beneficiaries of Zimbabwe's land seizures have had ten years to practice how to grow food. They've had free land, free buildings and infrastructure, free seed and fertilizer, free tractors and diesel and yet one in 4 people in the country are hungry. No one is fooled anymore, not even the most radical of radicals whose silence is leaving people going to bed hungry tonight.
Until next week, thanks for reading,
love cathy
You have been added.
Heh, Cathy Buckle. The ultimate “D’oh!”
That has been suggested, however no one has provided any source for the statement. I can't see where it makes any difference at this point. We have a bunch of folks in the US who supported Obama who are now regretting it.
She obviously doesn't support him now, and I invite anyone who has a better source of on-the-ground happenings in Zimbabwe to please post it on this thread with updates.
If one has the time, there are letters at the site going all the way back to February 2005.
Yep. She and her father, as well as her husband, were liberal activists who, 30+ years ago, worked to throw the evil white imperialists out of prosperous Rhodesia and turn the former "breadbasket of Africa" over to its "rightful owners".
Congratulations to her.
At least she has remained in that toilet to reap what she helped sow, I'll give her that.
The Amish.
That’s what I thought, but the only “confirmation” I could google was from a white supremacist/jew-bashing site. Got a link handy? (Please don’t spend any time on it, but if someone has a credible one handy, would be nice.)
Do you have a source for your post? I haven't been able to find anything regarding that.
Buckle’s father was an activist lawyer in Rhodesia. Frankly, I don’t remember where I first read about Buckle’s background (it’s been many years) but Clive may know more about it than I do. He posted Cathy’s letters for several years here.
Please see post #29.
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