I got home in Harare back from AWID Forum in Cape Town to even more distressing situation with prices of basic commodities beyond skyrocketing, cholera out of control while officialdom claims everything is under control. In the meantime NGOs are doing business as usual – trying to finish the pennies they were pinching during the year – they need to finish them before the end of the year. So, we are in a mad rush of workshops in hotels, while many are dying. So, why won’t donors allow NGOs to redirect money to humanitarian crises? Do NGOs ever request this redirection to more worthy causes on their doorsteps? Our so-called leaders are also engaged in the never ending talks while we suffer.
Meanwhile, I am also distressed by the latest information we have received on Lynde Francis’ condition. While we were in Cape Town for the AWID Forum, we were assured that everything to do with her treatment was being taken care of. Apparently, this is not quite correct. While she is now at home, she still needs a lot of medication that is quite costly, and she is getting intensive physiotherapy that comes at high cost as well. Surely, all those big feminist minds that came together in Cape Town can surely do better in coming up with strategies that prevent our icons and role models going through such distress.