Time spent in greener pastures makes one realize just how brown and sparse one’s own can be. After a two-month working trip to South Africa, my perspective on the suffering of Zimbabweans underwent much correction.
I was carrying back various basic food items. It is unthinkable to travel to Zimbabwe without such things: mealie-meal (maize-meal), sugar, rice, cooking oil and so on. I was not in a good mood because I had missed the buses and that meant paying about 400 South African rand (about $43) extra for my luggage in a minivan. The buses are more generous – they allow the first 50 kilos of luggage for free. Plus there was the daunting thought of an 18-hour journey in an 18-seater death trap. Better that, though, than letting the people back home starve.
