Ideas in Context
"1992 will be a year to remember. Not only is Zimbabwe threatened by drought, but we are rocked by dangerous levels of unemployment, widespread corruption, increasing crime...." (Moto Magazine, April 1992).
And indeed, we witnessed workers losing jobs. Where I lived, a lot of the workers did not understand the economic changes impacting the country and they thought they were losing jobs because of some angry family spirits, or some bewitching enemies. So, of course, trips were made to traditional healers and diviners who told some of them what they needed to do to appease the ancestors. I saw the n'angas becoming richer; chicken and goats were sacrificed along Mukuvisi river in Harare.
The stream that flowed from Willowvale Motor Industries, cutting through Glen View, rushing through Bonongwe forest to deliver its load to Mukuvisi, was crowded by what looked like crazy livestock that had been sacrificed to the spirits. It was a time of change, it was a time of confusion, but soon we realized our resilience when we started pouring into Zambia and South Africa, Botswana, and other places to order goods which we would sell on the streets of Harare. Even if you did not cross the borders, you were somehow affected by the changes, and you found yourself buying the fake leather jackets and the Red Cross second-hand clothes that had been given to the Zambians who in turn barter-traded them to Zimbabweans who brought sugar, biscuits and soap.
I was finishing a stint as a temporary teacher at a school in Glen View, and twice my head master had tried his best to make sure that I didn't get laid off since I was the master of the school's vibrant drama club. No wonder I switched departments from English to Shona to General Science, but at no point in 1992 did I feel a sense of job security.
Fast forward seventeen years later, and I am witnessing California state workers experiencing something similar to what government workers were going through in 1992Zimbabwe. Instead of going to n'angas though, the CA state workers are increasingly finding short day trips to Lake Tahoe, Sonoma, and other two-hour destinations a great solace from the looming uncertainty.
And indeed, we witnessed workers losing jobs. Where I lived, a lot of the workers did not understand the economic changes impacting the country and they thought they were losing jobs because of some angry family spirits, or some bewitching enemies. So, of course, trips were made to traditional healers and diviners who told some of them what they needed to do to appease the ancestors. I saw the n'angas becoming richer; chicken and goats were sacrificed along Mukuvisi river in Harare.
The stream that flowed from Willowvale Motor Industries, cutting through Glen View, rushing through Bonongwe forest to deliver its load to Mukuvisi, was crowded by what looked like crazy livestock that had been sacrificed to the spirits. It was a time of change, it was a time of confusion, but soon we realized our resilience when we started pouring into Zambia and South Africa, Botswana, and other places to order goods which we would sell on the streets of Harare. Even if you did not cross the borders, you were somehow affected by the changes, and you found yourself buying the fake leather jackets and the Red Cross second-hand clothes that had been given to the Zambians who in turn barter-traded them to Zimbabweans who brought sugar, biscuits and soap.
I was finishing a stint as a temporary teacher at a school in Glen View, and twice my head master had tried his best to make sure that I didn't get laid off since I was the master of the school's vibrant drama club. No wonder I switched departments from English to Shona to General Science, but at no point in 1992 did I feel a sense of job security.
Fast forward seventeen years later, and I am witnessing California state workers experiencing something similar to what government workers were going through in 1992Zimbabwe. Instead of going to n'angas though, the CA state workers are increasingly finding short day trips to Lake Tahoe, Sonoma, and other two-hour destinations a great solace from the looming uncertainty.
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