Zimbabwe Faces Hospital Shut-Downs

[Guest guest]

I post this because this man risked his life to get this story out and

that should be respected.

Zimbabwe Faces Hospital, School Shut-Downs

by Ontibile Kababongwe, OneWorld UK Fri Mar 14, 11:35 AM ET

HARARE, Mar 14 (OneWorld) - Members of once esteemed professions in

Zimbabwe -- teachers, nurses, and doctors -- have gone on strike over

the paltry purchasing power of their wages.

They are earning between US$15 and US$25 per month and this is not

enough for transport to and from work.

They are seeking the equivalent of US$50 per month to go back to work.

In some schools, parents have resorted to contributing a little

something towards teachers' livelihoods -- soap, sugar, salt, or money

so that teachers can try to keep above the poverty data line.

Before the strike one would regularly see a bee line of nurses, easy

to notice because of their white uniforms, walking to and from work.

Teachers also walk long distances to work. Many commuter bus

conductors make fun of these professionals who have invested more in

education yet they cannot afford transportation to work.

" They haven't deposited anything in my bank account and I have no

money to go work. I do not know what the children who intend to sit

for examinations in June will write as we did not have much time to

teach them, " said a teacher who would rather remain anonymous.

Children are not going to school and most have learned almost nothing

this term. Unlike previous years, ordinary level results are not yet

out almost at the end of the first term. Most teachers have lost

interest in grading the examinations because of the very low

allowances paid for grading.

Some teachers are going to South Africa during holidays to work as

casual laborers on farms there. They join about 3.5 million fellow

Zimbabweans who have left Zimbabwe for other countries.

" It really hurts to see a life you could have saved die because there

is no medication -- something as simple as an antibiotic. Over 700

patients have died this year alone at one of the major hospitals in

Harare. It is as if patients come here to die, " said a nurse who also

chose to stay anonymous.

There is practically no medication in hospitals. There is a shortage

of anesthetic and medical specialists at Parirenyatwa hospital, the

largest medical center in Zimbabwe, and so surgeries have become a

thing of the past. Medical drug suppliers and pharmacies have hiked

prices by more than 1,000 percent.

These strikes come on the heels of a strike by city workers in the

capital, Harare.

* Ontibile Kababongwe is the volunteer editor for the OneWorld Guide

on Zimbabwe. He writes under a pseudonym because of the danger faced

by Zimbabwean journalists.

http://news./s/oneworld/20080314/wl_oneworld/45361588501205512584