A Look at Zimbabwe: A Visit and Subsequent Thoughts

"The Tourist"
"It is no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society." --Krishnamurti

A Look at Zimbabwe: A Visit and Subsequent Thoughts

Original essay (2003)
Immediate reaction (below)
First reply to reaction
More reaction
Second (and final) reply to reaction
Racism and Chauvinism
"The Tourist" Returns (2005)
Contact the author
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Immediate Reaction:

Debbie Jeans wrote at http://www.zimbabwesituation.com/jan1_2004.html#link10:

Re: A Look at Zimbabwe: A Visit and Subsequent Thoughts - published at http://www.zimbabwesituation.com/dec30_2003.html#link9

A reply:

To the person who was obviously hell-bent on justifying why he is no longer living here in Zim and whose advice to all of us is to "Jump!" ..... if we don't stay here and we all jump, who is going to make the change or rebuild the future????? Stay in your comfortable world my friend, be sure not to call yourself an ex-Zimbabwean because you have absolutely no capacity to see the wood for the negative trees.

Ours is a Zimbabwe which is fundamentally home in every sense of the word. I ask, if your football team is losing do you walk off the pitch with five minutes to go? No, you stay with the team and give it your everything until the whistle blows .... no matter the outcome. One of the worst feelings in the world is to look back on your life and know that you could have made a difference ... I and so, so many of us (black, white ... across the board) have dug our heels in and decided that a man should die where he is born (Nelson Mandela) .... until God himself decides that I need to "Jump" ... I will be here contributing, struggling on a daily basis but with my friends, my family and my country men around me and we are an awesome team.

I am sorry I never met you during your stay .... we could have spoken and seen a different Zimbabwe! I suggest you dedicate the same amount of energy and time to analysing the society within which you live now .... I'm certain it's not a pretty picture .... because the lens through which it is being seen is distorted. This is my reality - that one day Zimbabwe will flourish once again ... perhaps I won't get to see it in my lifetime ... but I am busy planting the seeds so that one day my children will be able to have the wonderful, fulfilled and happy foundation to life that I had.

Now, get an attitude and in so doing, get a life. You don't live here .... send me your analysis of where you're living now and I'll send you my "perception"!

Proudly Zimbabwean
Debbie Jeans