By Trevor Makonyonga
Christmas is synonymous with joy, plenty and love. It is a day when most families get together and round up the year in love and communion. The children get new clothes whilst adults get to drink the day away. Sadly for Zimbabweans, this year’s Christmas has got to be the worst since the birth of Zimbabwe. The mood is so low that it seems like it is just but any other day.
Death of a culture
It is a custom that houses in Zimbabwe are decorated as customary for the day elsewhere. Zimbabwean children expect new clothes and the cuisine of the day is different from every normal day. For this Christmas, the settings are a little different. Second hand clothes, no Christmas trees and NO FOOD. Most households have seen this Christmas as a curse as they cannot afford to enjoy the cultural connotations of Christmas. The exchange of Christmas cards now seems like an elitist culture because most people are wallowing in deep poverty. It will be an insult for any power bearer to wish the people a Merry Christmas because there is nothing merry at all. Beerhalls are empty and the streets are silent because folks cannot afford fire crackers. Some places do not even have electricity. It is that bad!
Who will push the trolley
Pushing a trolley in a supermarket could be mistaken for showing off. This writer witnessed a family separating groceries so that they could fit in. With the serious levels of hunger being witnessed in the urban areas one can only but wonder the extent of lack in the rural areas. Transport to rural areas is very expensive and very few people can afford to go there. Rural folks for years have depended on their urban relatives to enjoy this day. This dependence has transferred to a larger scale where the diasporians do it all for the local urbanites. The queues at Malaicha.co.za by Copa Cabana are proof that people in foreign countries are doing it all for the locals. Christmas in Zimbabwe by Zimbabweans for Zimbabweans as we knew it does not exist anymore as foreigners seems to be striving to make the festive season happy for the locals.
With the way people are broke and broken, it would be insulting to even assume that things are well in the country as what ruling party politicians do. No words can describe this year’s Christmas than hungry and sad. The nation is now torn and needs to be repaired. When food becomes a challenge then a crisis is being experienced. Zimbabweans need rescue!
