my african friends

What is the Kubatsirana Project?

Our most successful fundraising campaign ever!

Many thanks to everyone who contributed to our latest holiday fundraising campaign  for our young friends at Kubatsirana Primary School in Zimbabwe. With your support we raised almost $4000, including extremely generous gifts from Benjamin Harris and Debrianna Obara ($1000 each!) as well as Razorfish clients Health Central ($500), Weatherbug ($250), AOL ($200) and Adam Miller ($200). Average individual donations were also up substantially, from $25 last year to $100 this year. You really came through for us!

We'll update you more on the direct impact of your contributions when Peter returns March 1 from his latest visit to Zimbabwe. 

Good news from our last visit to Zimbabwe(and another is coming up!)

It was amazing to see first hand how much your donations have positively affected the school, the teachers and the community as a whole. Thank you all!

More surprising was the dramatic improvement in the country's economic situation. After years of disasterous hyperinflation, the new coalition government has stopped the problem in its tracks by switching from the virtually worthless local currency to the US dollar. This one dramatic change will allow our school efforts to have a much greater impact and allow us to make more ambitious plans for the future!

UPDATE: We're now getting ready for a fresh visit to the school in February. Stay tuned for updates and photos when we get back!

Article: How Mugabe has accidentally united Zimbabweans across racial boundaries

from the New york times OP-ED page

Zimbabwe’s Accidental Triumph

By DOUGLAS ROGERS

Published: April 14, 2010

IN the midst of a wave of post-election political violence in Zimbabwe in 2008, Brian James, a white farmer who had been evicted from his property years earlier during President Robert Mugabe’s seizure of white-owned lands, found himself surrounded by a throng of black Zimbabweans in downtown Mutare, my hometown. The 50-strong crowd danced, sang and chanted political slogans for more than 20 minutes before Mr. James was finally able to raise his hand, thank them for their support and announce that he was honored to have been elected mayor of the country’s third-largest city.

This Sunday is the 30th anniversary of Zimbabwe’s independence from white rule and President Mugabe’s rise to power. Back then, Mr. Mugabe was hailed as a liberator and conciliator. “If yesterday I fought you as an enemy, today you have become a friend,” he told nervous whites at the time. For a long while he was true to his word. By the mid-1990s, Zimbabwe had become one of the most stable and prosperous countries in Africa.

But in 2000, within weeks of losing a constitutional referendum to entrench his power, Mr. Mugabe began the catastrophic land invasions that resulted in the eviction ofalmost all the country’s 4,500 white farmers and the ruin of what was once a model post-colonial African country. Ever since, the narrative of Zimbabwe has been one of race. Rare is the speech in which Mr. Mugabe does not rail against whites, colonialists, imperialists or the West. Members of his ZANU-PF party have spoken of a “Rwandan solution” for Zimbabwe’s whites.

Westerners have simply accepted this narrative of blacks and whites pitted against one another. But, in doing so, they have missed the inspiring story of what has actually been happening in Zimbabwe over the past decade. After years of mass unemployment, mutant inflation, chronic shortages and state violence, Zimbabweans simply don’t care about skin color. In fact, Mr. Mugabe has managed to achieve the exact opposite of what he set out to do in 2000: the forging of a postracial state.

Brian James’s story, taken in full, stands as proof of Mr. Mugabe’s unwitting accomplishment. Mr. James was barely interested in politics before losing his land in 2003 — “I just wanted to farm and play cricket on weekends” — but afterward he joined the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, quickly rose through the ranks and was elected mayor by a virtually all-black constituency.

And Mr. James is not a singular example. One of the most popular politicians in the country is Roy Bennett, another former farmer, known to his legion of black supporters as Pachedu, “one of us.” When Mr. Bennett was arrested on trumped-up treason charges last year, hundreds of black Zimbabweans surrounded the prison so that intelligence agents would not be able to smuggle him out to a more remote location where it was feared he might be tortured.

Then there is the inspiring sight of white farmers, who have been contesting the legality of the land expropriations in a regional human rights tribunal, marching into court arm in arm with their black lawyers, often dynamic women who know the laws and Constitution of the land better than those sitting in judgment. This belies Mr. Mugabe’s image of a country divided by race.

My parents, owners of a backpacker resort, are part of this new Zimbabwe. Like most whites, they once steered clear of politics. But in 2002, when their home came under siege, my father joined the M.D.C. By 2005, their lodge had become a meeting place for black political dissidents who would disguise themselves as priests to avoid detection by Mr. Mugabe’s militia.

In 2008, the lodge became a safe house for three black activists, Pishai Muchauraya, Prosper Mutseyami and Misheck Kagurabadza, who had won seats in Mugabe strongholds and were now on the run from government death squads. My mother, as tough-as-nails a white African as any, still gets emotional when she talks of the courage of her three “fugitives,” all of whom are now friends and in Parliament, part of the fractious national unity government set up between Mr. Mugabe and the M.D.C. in 2009.

Mr. Mugabe knows exactly what he is doing in constantly invoking race-based rhetoric. By framing the crisis in Zimbabwe as a struggle against the West — against the white world — he escapes censure from other postcolonial African leaders who understand their own countries’ histories in the same way. And when the West allows Mr. Mugabe’s narrative to go unchallenged, it plays right into his hands.

Overlooked in the racial invective are some basic and important facts. Mr. Mugabe has accused white farmers of being colonial-era “settlers,” but about 70 percent of them actually purchased their land after independence, with signed permission from Mr. Mugabe himself. And far from owning 70 percent of the land in the country, as was widely believed, those white farmers owned only half of our commercial land — just 14 percent of Zimbabwe’s total land. With that land, however, they used to produce more than 60 percent of all agricultural crops, and 50 percent of all foreign earnings. One only has to look at the decline in food production and collapse of the economy since 2000 to appreciate how vital white farmers were to the well-being of the nation.

All but ignored was the other major target of the land grabs: black farm workers. Some 300,000 blacks were employed on white farms up until 2000 — two million people, if one counts their dependents — and they overwhelmingly supported the M.D.C. By destroying white farms, Mr. Mugabe wiped out a major base of black opposition. It is hardly surprising, then, that black workers often stood with white employers to resist Mr. Mugabe’s violent invaders. When has that ever happened in post-colonial Africa?

I am often asked by friends in the United States if there is any hope for Zimbabwe, and I always answer yes. Then I tell them a story about a funeral.

Not long before he was elected mayor, Brian James lost his wife, Sheelagh, in a car crash in Mutare. Her funeral was held on the lawns of the local golf club and 300 mourners turned up, among them white farmers, black friends and an M.D.C. choir. The day before the funeral, my father was with Pishai Muchauraya, the former M.D.C. fugitive and soon-to-be member of Parliament, when he received a phone call from the leader of the choir. They had a problem, they told Mr. Muchauraya: they had never been to the funeral of a white woman before and did not know what to sing.

“What’s that got to do with it?” Mr. Muchauraya snapped. “Mrs. James was an African just like you. Sing what you normally sing.” When he turned to apologize for the interruption, he saw my father had tears in his eyes.

Douglas Rogers is the author of “The Last Resort: A Memoir of Zimbabwe.”

A version of this article appeared in print on April 15, 2010, on page A27 of the New York edition.

Economy lifts Zimbabwe spirits

Nicely balanced reporting about Zimbabwe from an unexpected source: Al Jazeera's English service.

Economy lifts Zimbabwe spirits

Last year, residents of Zimbabwe were suffering with the highest rate of inflation in the world, and a chronic shortage of even the most basic goods. But 12 months later, goods are back on the shelves of local grocers, due in part to the government's decision to replace the Zimbabwe dollar with the South African rand and the US dollar. The improved economy has lifted spirits across the country in time for Christmas. But as Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa reports, more than 85 per cent of the population is still unemployed, despite the improvements.

Source: Al Jazeera (http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2009/12/20091225135612319104.html)

Good news from our most recent visit to Zimbabwe

It was amazing to see first hand how much the donations have positively affected the school, the teachers and the community as a whole. Thank you all!

More surprising was the dramatic improvement in the country's economic situation. After years of disasterous hyperinflation, the new coalition government has stopped the problem in its tracks by switching from the virtually worthless local currency to the US dollar. This one dramatic change will allow our school efforts to have a much greater impact and allow us to make more ambitious plans for the future!

Article: How Zimbabwe Slew the Dragon of Hyperinflation

BY GEOFFREY YORK
Globe and Mail Reporter
Monday, March 23, 2009

HARARE — Zimbabwe's wily street hawkers have finally found a use for the worthless 100-trillion-dollar banknotes that were issued here in January. They sell the bizarre banknotes as souvenirs to foreign tourists for $2 each.

The currency with the never-ending string of zeroes is quickly fading into history, just two months after the latest notes were printed by the inexhaustible central bank. Also disappearing is Zimbabwe's phenomenal level of hyperinflation, which last year reached a stunning 89.7 sextillion per cent (a number expressed with 21 zeroes), making it the most extreme hyperinflation crisis of any country in modern times.

Zimbabwe's new coalition government has cracked both problems with an absurdly simple solution: It has abruptly switched to foreign currencies, allowing customers to pay for products with U.S. dollars or South African rand or Botswana pula.

The entire economy, almost overnight, has switched to a unique system of multiple foreign currencies.

Equally swiftly, hundreds of Zimbabwe's long-closed shops and groceries have reopened, retail licence fees have been slashed, and the new competition has reduced prices to stable levels.

The dollarization (and rand-ization and pula-ization) of the Zimbabwean economy has finally slain the dragon of hyperinflation, providing the first fragile signs of hope for a devastated country. While the junking of the Zimbabwean dollar was a blow to the ego and power of Zimbabwe's bloated central bank, the radical move to adopt foreign currencies is still one of the fastest ways to kick-start any economy that is ruined by inflation and money-printing excesses.

Empty shelves have been filled. Prices of staples such as milk and eggs are still twice as expensive as in neighbouring South Africa, but they are half as expensive as they were in January. People are shopping again, and merchants are stocking their inventories again.

Those goods are still unaffordable for many people, of course. The unemployment rate is estimated at 94 per cent, wages are often unpaid, and the vast majority of people are dependent on donated food rations.

Not surprisingly, there is a severe shortage of the foreign money. Shops don't have enough foreign cash to provide change to customers, so they issue "credit notes" on little bits of paper - or persuade their customers to accept change in candies.

Investors, including Canadians, are watching closely. Toronto-based Caledonia Mining Corp., which suspended production at its Blanket gold mine in Zimbabwe last October, is considering a reopening of the mine within the next few weeks because the new government is promising that producers can export a much higher percentage of their production. The mine could produce up to 40,000 ounces per year.

"We welcome the new government policies, and we're working to get the necessary approvals," said a spokesman for the Canadian company. "We remain cautious and skeptical. But it would be a shame to miss this opportunity."

The first twitches of economic recovery can already be seen on Harare's streets. In the industrial district, dozens of men and women are waiting at the gates of the factories, having heard that a few people are actually being hired on occasion.

"Before, there wasn't any hope at all," says Coffee Musiya, 37, an unemployed man who has joined a crowd of about 50 job-seekers outside the gates of the National Foods factory in Harare. The crowd has been waiting for weeks, and a few have gotten temporary jobs at the factory. "It's a little bit improved now," he says. "Maybe four or five people might get a day job."

Many factories are still operating at less than 10 per cent of capacity, despite the political agreement that led to the coalition government between President Robert Mugabe and his foes last month. The total market capitalization of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange has dropped by more than 50 per cent in the past month, to less than $1.3-billion (U.S.), and volumes are so low that the exchange is open for only an hour per day.

But at least the stock exchange is open now. Until Feb. 19, it had been closed for three months.

As recently as the early 1990s, Zimbabwe was one of Africa's leading economies. Its decaying infrastructure could be still be revived, especially if the government is able to halt the invasions of the dwindling white-owned commercial farms that have plagued the agricultural sector for the past nine years.

One study has predicted that the country could be self-sufficient in agriculture within a year if the invasions were reversed.

The new government is seeking $5-billion (U.S.) in financing from foreign lenders to forestall another collapse in the economy. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are in the midst of a mission to Zimbabwe - their first since 2006 - to decide whether they might offer financing.

Western lenders have been insisting that Zimbabwe must fire the central bank governor, Gideon Gono - the man who printed all those $100-trillion (Zimbabwe) banknotes, and reputedly the personal paymaster to Mr. Mugabe himself.

So far Mr. Gono has managed to keep his job. But the new government has eliminated or reduced a host of taxes and retail licence fees that were previously funnelled to the central bank - including heavy taxes on retail turnover and export revenue.

Government elites had profited from preferential rates on foreign exchange, allowing them to obtain U.S. dollars at rates far below the street value. The dollarization of the economy has wiped out those perks as well. And the new government is working hard to separate Mr. Gono and Mr. Mugabe from their traditional control of the money flow.

"The process of change is irreversible," said John Robertson, an independent economist in Harare. "The wedge will be driven harder and harder."

© The Globe and Mail

Other Schools Finally Return to Regular Classes

Ever wonder what happens to other schools in Zimbabwe that don't have such generous supporters?

Zimbabwe gets back on track with education goals
By Gabrielle Wade

2 March 2009 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Zimbabwe teachers are expected to return to school today after almost a year of being on strike. Presently, the Zimbabwean dollar is so weak due to hyperinflation that teachers are demanding to be paid in a foreign currency because, on their current salaries, they are unable to afford basic costs of living or, for some, transportation to and from work.

The end of the strike has been postponed numerous times; schools were expected to open in mid-January, for example, but this never happened. Negotiations were in progress at the time, but no deals had been made yet, so teachers continued to strike. According to the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), teachers were demanding an average salary of $2,500 a month.

The yearlong strike has caused huge problems in the Zimbabwe education system, with school attendance down to about 20 percent from approximately 80 percent at the beginning of 2008, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The problems are even more serious in rural areas, where 94 percent of schools are closed and children are unable to make it to the few open schools in urban areas. The schools that remained in operation over the year in urban areas have done so with the help from wealthy parents willing to pay teachers’ salaries.

Updates, an apology and many thanks - all long overdue!

A Humble Apology

To all of you who have been so kind in supporting Kubatsirana Primary School and its students, I owe you a BIG apology. Back in July of 2008 I moved back to Philadelphia to start a new job that has kept me insanely busy since then. During that time I neglected just about everything else in my life, regretably including updates to this site. This neglect included my failure to post the names of our most recent donors including the many kind people and institutions who contributed over the last few months (now italicized in the list on the right side of the page). For these failures of mine I want to offer all of you my sincerest apologies; I hope you can forgive me. 

Donations Update: Thank You All!!

Long overdue thanks to everyone who, despite your own financial challenges, made this past holiday season a great one for Kubatsirana's students and teachers. Your generous offerings are the reason our school continues to be the only one in Zimbabwe that has continued to improve and expand despite the awful economic environment in the rest of that country. And though every donation of any size is greatly appreciated, we want to especially thank Google's Lisa Duncan for her second $1000 donation in as many years; you are once again Kubatsirana's MVP and guardian angel. Thank you to Lisa and everyone else who helps us make a difference in the lives of so many children.   

Coming Soon! 

In March, Debrianna and I will be travelling back to Zimbabwe to see the school's most recent improvements and its students' progress as well as hand-delivering the latest donations. When we return, we'll bring much more news, photos and more on how your donations are being put to use. So check back with us by mid-April and beyond for much more. See you then!

Peter

Excellent video about Zimbabwe's current situation

From George Soros' pro-democracy Open Society Institute: "Zimbabwe: The Fight to Free a Country (9 min.) combines footage from inside Mugabe's police state with testimony from torture survivors, activists, and lawyers who witnessed the regime's repression first hand in a brutal crackdown on March 11, 2007. As the humanitarian situation deteriorates, they call on the international community to assist Zimbabwe's people in their struggle to free the country from a dictator's rule." 9 minutes.

This and lots more information, including an interactive timeline, on the Eyes on Zimbabwe mini-site.

Debrianna's Presentation for Corporate Donors

Slides from Deb's PowerPoint presentation for prospective corporate donors have now been updated for 2008. If you would like make arrangements for her to present it to your organization, please email your request to director(at)myafricanfriends.org.

You can also view the slideshow online here.

Learn more about Zimbabwe

Sokwanele, a blog about Zimbabwean life, has a concise and wonderful primer describing the country and its history - About Zimbabwe.

MSN Encarta has an exceptionally thorough entry for Zimbabwe including great historical and political summaries.

The New York Times has an excellent information center about Zimbabwe including links to recent articles.