News from
ETAS Teacher-to-Teacher project 2007-8,
It was with a keen sense of anticipation that I awaited news of the election results in
The first reports even seemed encouraging, but my cautious optimism soon began to fade as events unfolded, taking bewildering and terrifying twists and turns as days went by without an official announcement. My mood shifted from dismay to despair.
Due to deadline constraints I am writing this update of the Teacher-to-Teacher project at
Here are some current facts and figures about
- Half the population of
- The unemployment figure is 80%; even those lucky few who still have jobs are paid a miserable wage.
- Electricity and water supplies are unreliable, telephone connections are intermittent, open sewers are widespread, and the number of Aids orphans is multiplying daily.
- Dealing with cash is “like a torrid game of pass the parcel…Everyone wants it but then unloads it as quickly as possible in exchange for something worth having…” For example, a street hawker sells cooking oil, (5 tablespoons at a time), then gets rid of the money as soon as she can by buying two eggs.
- The death rate for children under five has almost doubled over the past decade; so has the number of women dying in childbirth because so many women are giving birth at home as they can no longer afford hospital charges. Medicines and doctors are simply unavailable for most people.
- The current regime’s “land reform” has led to massive drops in production, sparking the collapse of the country’s agriculture-based economy. Farms are lying idle in the hands of corrupt politicians.
- The GDP has shrunk annually and is now 40% lower than in 1999.
- Serious food shortages have led to starvation and a third of the 13 million population now need food aid (which is controlled by the government). Malnutrition kills thousands every month.
- Inflation cannot be seriously measured any longer—the current figure is 150,000%. A newly-issued 500 million dollar bill will do nothing to correct this.
If an election run-off does take place, there are serious doubts about how fair it would be, as Mr Mugabe will postpone it as long as he can in order to “give his party time to flex its muscle and re-establish control over voters, especially in the countryside…heavy-handed violence or massive fraud look like the only things that could now keep Mr Mugabe in power.”
An article from The Zimbabwe Independent, “Mugabe’s government gives Education a Bad Name”, details how bad things have become in the country’s education system, which was once the best in sub-Saharan
From Patson Mpofu I also heard that “things are bad in schools as teachers are on strike and not at work…schools have become meeting places for the kids since teachers are not there…(but at) Matopo we are at work and our focus is to help the pupils though things are tough and the regime clings on to power…”
I think it would not be exaggerating to say that
In February this year ETAS funded 62 boys uniforms and bought a further 200 text books. Planned now is to buy cement to finish the toilets, and a “good-bye” gift for Mr Moyo, who after 30 years as a teacher at Matopo Primary School will be retiring this year. Further ideas include paying school fees for the neediest pupils as well as more refurbishment for the most dilapidated school rooms.
Illya Arnet-Clark, our Learning Technologies SIG Co-ordinator, and
The SIG Day on September 20th in Baden will be another chance to find out more about the Teacher-to-Teacher project in
It all doesn’t really sound like much, by our standards. But these “small improvements” mean a great deal to the children, families and teachers at Matopo. They show, first of all, that somebody out there cares enough to give them a chance to help themselves. Thank you, ETAS members.
Cindy Hauert
