President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has certainly managed to
get things working in the tiny little town of Victoria Falls situated just
beneath the falls and close to the border with Zambia. The streets are clean
and lined with slick coffee shops, African-themed restaurants and an endless
assortment of curio and craft shops catering exclusively to the tourist market.
Over the past few weeks I have had to deal with six
different currencies and I had to brush up on my algebra to make sense of the
value of these currencies. For instance, in Tanzania where 10000 Tanzanian
Shillings is equivalent to about 60 South African Rands, a loaf of bread works
out to about R6. At the local OK supermarket in Vic Falls, prices are quoted in
US Dollars and a loaf of bread is $1.85. In Dar es Sallam I bought some shorts
which cost me around R40, but at the Jet clothing store in Zim, a shorts costs
$25.
My dilemma here is twofold. Firstly, how does the average
unemployed Zimbabwean survive? And secondly, what’s up with using the American
currency while making headlines for a hard core stance on colonial interests
and imperialism?
At the massive outdoor craft markets there are hundreds of
stall owners who are for the most part trying to earn a buck selling variations
of the same carved animals and masks. There are always one or two real artists
at these markets whose work makes one stop and take notice; but it saddens me
to think that someone like Baino Nyamhondoro has to haggle with dumb-ass
foreigners to earn a fraction of what his work is worth. When I visited him he
even offered to trade me something for old clothes or food.
And as I said, Victoria Falls is one of the success stories
of the current Zimbabwean reality.
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