Zimbabwe

It was shorter than I anticipated but it was educational. Don and Evan talked about the country as a whole from past, present and future in correlation to development, and changes to better living conditions and the AIDS epidemic. The country has been considered to have come from a colonial era to what some are expecting it to become a diamond in the rough. Its population is about 12 million people, the capitol city is Harare and the country was under British Colonial rule until the 1980's. The local language is called "Mosi-oa-Tunya" which means "The Smoke that Thunders". As a nation of mostly black people during their rule they were not allowed to vote, own land, shop, nor have any associations with whites.

Since the land was returned to the people in the 1980's the country has been attempting land re-distribution but its efforts have been thorted by people feeling that they can take whatever they feel is their right. Evan had lost her father to an incident of people just coming to take their home and killing her father. Besides this the country is infected with the AIDS epidemic and is injecting policies of government aid and subsidiaries to combat this, as in this culture the males are regarded as higher status than the females. They are teaching the females how to take care of them selves. The average life expectancy is 35 years old when it used to be 75.

When the two girls attended school I saw blue uniforms just like that of the British children in Britain. They said the social structure for them was based on what they called their "Core Team" which is their families support for their education and being. I also noticed that all the people wore similar clothing or dress which was of imported styles from America or the U.K. (e.g. Sweaters, slacks, trousers, and shoes).

I consider Zimbabwe a country in turmoil, but they are starting to install general social and political structures. They have