When will this stop

I was hoping to write a cheerful note or two today but these plans have been changed by some horrific news.

A friend has just been on the line to me to tell me that her next door neighbour's gardener's wife has died of cholera. she is very worried as she was helping get her into an ambulance when the woman was sick all over her. She lives in the Marlborough area of Harare - a well known and well heeled suburb not far from the city centre. The woman came in from the rural areas last week bring with her two small children one of whom is now suffering with a runny stomach and being sick.

My friend, who I will call, LL has had to have her property and house sprayed by the Health department and she is taking drugs and hoping the cholera will not hit her household.

This means that the city and suburbs are now very much at risk. With no water and rubbish piling up everywhere we can expect cholera to spread into even the most wealthy suburbs.

Malaria is also around - no spraying is being done and stagnant pools of water are everywhere creating an ideal breeding ground. Amazing - no water - but water leaks are everywhere.

Another friend of mine who employs a husband and wife team was helpless while their young child was taken from hospital to hospital to try and get treatment for an undisclosed ailment without any luck. Finally they found a hospital with some staff and the child was put on a drip. the child died later that night as no one had changed the drip! there was no staff on duty!

This is a daily occurrence - something needs to be done to put this country back into a state where it is liveable.

We no longer buy fresh vegetables but live off what we have in the garden.

We have no bills to tell us what we owe on our services - we have little money to pay for those either.

Another day in Zimbabwe? Another day in limbo.