Zimbabwe Today -6th September 2018
Our monthly talk was given by Lindsey Brown on the subject of “Zimbabwe Today”. Lindsey is an active member of the United Reform Church and she is involved in a programme of charity work linked to the URC of South Africa. Her talk came with display photographs showing school buildings erected in Harare which her charity had provided; the work continues and clearly needs to as poverty is rife and particularly harsh.
She recounted the origins of Rhodesia, set up by Cecil Rhodes aged 22 while he was seeking mineral rights in return for assistance from Britain via membership of the Empire. After hesitation by the British Government an intervention by Queen Victoria led to agreement and Rhodesia came into being. It prospered, became the food basket for East Africa and in more recent times – following UDI – was taken over by Robert Mugabe in 1981. At that time two currency units were worth £1. Over the years it lost value and when it reached 50 million units per pound it was cancelled and replaced by the US dollar. In recent weeks Robert Mugabe has been replaced but the future continues to look bleak.
It was an impressive talk which prompted a variety of probing questions. Hopefully Lindsey will return with an update on her work including an improvement in Zimbabwe’s fortunes.
