Zimbabwe: Emergency aid and food for the hungry and needy in the archdiocese of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Archdiocese of Bulawayo, Father Alex Thomas presents the food benefited by ACN.
Archdiocese of Bulawayo, Father Alex Thomas presents the food benefited by ACN.

Zimbabwe in Africa is a country in a state of permanent crisis. Millions are suffering from hunger and food shortages and some are actually dying of starvation. It is impossible for the Church and the local missionaries to organise food aid on an adequate scale, and indeed it was not until the political compromise, negotiated in 2008 between President Mugabe and the MDC opposition movement that many NGOs were even permitted to supply food aid in this ravaged country. In October 2007 one company had promised the archdiocese a delivery of 85,000 kg of maize flour, but in fact the diocese received no more than four deliveries, since food is generally in very short supply and very difficult to obtain. And for each of these deliveries the archdiocese was obliged to pay €40,000.

With the help of a list, the archdiocese distributed the flour to those most in need in each of the 25 districts of the town - a total of 1,200 families, plus two mission hospitals and five primary schools. The then apostolic administrator of Bulawayo, Bishop Martin Schupp, had asked ACN for help in the spring of 2008, but such is the corruption in the country that he at the same time requested the charity not to send any money directly to Zimbabwe but rather to make the payment via an outside country in order to be sure that the funds actually arrived. In June 2008 ACN was notified of a need for medicines as well. This was at a time when the president of the country, the dictator Robert Mugabe had actually taken himself out of the country in order to take part in the UN world food summit in Rome - a cynical manoeuvre, given that it was Mugabe himself who has plunged the once wealthy nation of Zimbabwe - formerly often described as the "breadbasket of Africa" - into such hunger and destitution. Today Zimbabwe is the country with the lowest life expectancy in the world, with a mortality rate among women averaging 37 and among men 34 years of age.

The situation in the country is devastating. 2008 saw rampant hyperinflation, and a healthcare system that had totally collapsed. People were dying, not only of hunger, but also from Aids and from a widespread cholera epidemic that began in August 2008 and led in December of the same year to the declaration of a state of emergency. Mass unemployment (at around 85%) and mass emigration, above all to South Africa and Britain, were another consequence.

One of the few institutions that still function in the country is the Catholic Church, often working quietly, behind the scenes. Her fearless criticism of the situation in the country has often made her the target of government attacks in the past and many priests were forced to lie low after they had read out a letter protesting at the electoral corruption by Mugabe. But despite this, the Catholic Church in Zimbabwe has never flagged in helping and supporting her people. Catholic clinics, schools and emergency food centres have provided immediate, practical help, often with outside support. For example, St Mary's secondary School in Chikanga charges lower school fees than others in the country. Foreign benefactors helped by paying the costs the children's parents cannot afford.
Many pupils make great efforts to get to school in order to learn. For example, one pupil told how he walked around 5 miles each day in order to get to school. "When I get to school I'm exhausted", he said. "It's a real challenge for me to be able to learn well. Some days I feel ill on the long journey I have to make. Hunger is an important factor, which affects my studies". His parents were some of the few who could still manage to pay the fees, but for how much longer is anybody's guess. And it is no use if the school fees are paid but there are no teachers left to teach them. For many teachers are now leaving the country, while others cannot even get to school, because the low pay means they don't even have the money to pay for their travel. And so the schools are running short of teachers.

Sister Mary Emanuel Mati- Mati described the situation: „In one of the three Catholic schools in our region there are just two teachers left out of 15; another has just three out of an original 15 and the third school has just one teacher left out of 12." Dorothy Chirara, the headmistress of the school, could not even buy shoes for her son out of her salary. „A pair of shoes for my son cost 150 million Zimbabwean dollars", she said. "I cannot afford them. My salary isn't enough to buy my son a pair of shoes. It is hard, so hard."

People are afraid. Many are traumatised, because they have witnessed with their own eyes someone being killed. And they are hungry; above all this. There is nothing to eat in the country. Even the farmers are going hungry. Many of them have been driven off their property by government supporters and have lost everything. So the last hope for the food industry has been destroyed; the new occupants have no idea how to farm and so everything has gone to rack and ruin and there are no more crops to harvest. Since the government controls all the machinery of the state, food has become a political issue. The shops are empty, and anyone who wants to be able to purchase anything has to have very good contacts, above all with the ruling party members. A priest can find it very difficult, for he is generally a marked man. But despite the terrible situation in the country, the Church is growing here and, thanks to the help of ACN, the diocese is able to get hold of some food. In this way she is able to help thousands of families every month. There are a great many vocations, and before long the Church in Zimbabwe will be able to fully take charge of her own affairs. For the archdiocese of Bulawayo this is a source of great joy and hope that outweighs all the suffering.

In February 2009 Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition MDC party was finally elected as Prime Minister of the country, and since then there has been more hope for Zimbabwe. Nonetheless, it remains to be seen just how much influence he can exert on Mugabe.
In October 2009 Mugabe called for a "co-operative relationship" with the West, stating as a condition that the "illegal sanctions" against Zimbabwe must be lifted. To what extent this proposal of co-operation is credible is something the international community must decide.

To know about this and many other similar projects in favour of the pastoral needs of the suffering Church, please contact our national offices.