LAST week was pretty hectic in my household — this horrible flu bug caught up with us. All four of us struggled with the flu. Do you know what dear reader?
When one is struggling with a physical ailment, life never ceases! You still have responsibilities and they have to be met. Like honestly, do you think bills stop coming because one is sick?
No, one has to do what one has to do. But look, this is not an article about flu remedies or sharing in gruesome details what this horrible flu bug is about.
As I ran from one emergency room to the next in pursuit of healing for my loved ones, it got me thinking — how sick is our nation, Zimbabwe? You know the inspiration always, always comes from our daily life experiences.
The ailment Have you recently had this flu bug knock at your door? It hits in many waves you cannot even begin to fathom. Your mind wonders and even you doubt your own sanity.
It is almost like one is being pierced continuously with needles that you cannot stop. It hurts — you huddle as a family thinking of the worst and just as it came — the bug leaves the body and the road to healing begins.
Sort of like the Zimbabwean situation. The waves of insanity hit you from various angles and at a rate one cannot fathom. Fuel goes up and as one is trying to figure that out, prices of basic commodities shoot up and health workers go on strike.
The list goes on and on. It is almost like being hit from all angles with no idea what to address first. It is like that flu — the headache, the running tummy, the running nose, the weak joints, the chills and before you know it, you feel like you are losing the very core of your being to some demon you cannot even exorcise.
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But guess what? Life does not stop because health workers are striking and prices are shooting up at a rate that boggles the mind.
No. The honeymooners still make love, monetary statements which confuse the citizens even further are announced, the Alex Magaisas are buried, politicians still continue doing whatever they do in whatever spaces they deem critical.
And what happens to the Zimbabweans? Well, they continue to run from one emergency room to the other in search of healing and any way they can get support to come to grasp with their much confusing lived realities.
Oh and did I mention that the looters still continue to loot and fatten their stomachs? This is such a hard life to crack. Have you ever thought how the general status of Zimbabwe is like this dreaded flu, we keep chasing dreams, young people continue to perpetuate the same narrative with a rather dim light at the end of the tunnel, it is exhausting, it is draining?
Almost like the whole country has taken some Benylin 4-for-flu and is in dire need of sleep! Did you hear the powers that be announce the “changes” around the economy this past week?
Hmmmm, like how do we keep doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result? My young brother always says, “usanyepedzere kupenga” (don’t pretend to be mad), maybe we should just accept that we are intoxicated by some medication we have overdosed on as we attempt to seek physical healing.
Oh what a drag — what is becoming of us as a people?
There is definitely hope if we choose to make this country work! The question is do we even care to want to make things work at all?
The healing So as you enter the various emergency rooms and pharmacies in search of a remedy, you tend to see other people who are seeking treatment or solutions to their own ailments.
Stories are shared and solidarity is clear as the different strangers exchange experiences of what each one is facing. Some even offer some wisdom in order to support each other to overcome the dreaded flu.
Zimbabwe and its leaders are not isolated or an island. People can come together and share the “Tsunami” (the little green magical liquid that has become frenzy in treating this current flu).
What is my point? This insanity we are choosing over solidarity will not get us anywhere. Now is the time to come together and share ideas on how to make life work for each one of us as a people. Zimbabwe is beyond politicians; the signs are super clear for all of us to see. Zimbabwe needs healing like the body with flu.
You and I can make our contribution in whatever small way we deem possible. Let us continue to lead ourselves well and others too. Question the status quo and make life work for you and others from whatever corner you find yourself. We will be healed. We shall be healed.
Zimbabwe will once again become the breadbasket of Africa. Until then, we live, laugh and love in a bid to show the world that we were here, becoming better, making our mark, leaving our footprint as we make the world a better place!
- Grace Chirenje
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