So many Zimbabweans in the diaspora are working hard to support their families they left back home. There are a few who don’t necessarily send any sort of support to their families but feel compelled to because they know things are tough. Those who are supporting their families are finding it harder and harder to do so because of the global credit crunch. They are finding that their cost of living is increasing and they are also having to send more and more money home to meet their families needs.
As already mentioned, people are feeling the pinch as the cost of living rises significantly due to the global credit crunch and after taking care of the all the bills, credits cards, loans and so on that they need to attend to, there isn’t very much if any left over to send home. What is making it even harder now is the dollarization of the Zimbabwe currency. Yes, the dollarization of the currency and the introduction of foliwars (Foreign Exchange Licensed Warehouses and Shops) may have been a God send in that it has made food more readily available if you have the forex. On the other hand, it has pushed the prices of basic commodities and just about everything else meaning larger amounts of hard currency are needed to meet day to day needs.
A short number of years ago, you could manage to do a bit with a couple of hundred pound sterling or U.S. dollars but in this day in age that amount of money does not go very far. The need to send more money means having to work more. Some people are on the clock almost 24 hours a day for days on end doing what it takes to keep themselves and their families alive. Some have literally worked themselves to death – the irony.
When there is food available it is expensive, decent medical attention requires payment in foreign currency, some schools have even started setting their fees in U.S. dollars which after a near collapse of state run schools may put education further out of reach. The Zimbabwe dollar is becoming less of an accepted form of payment and the dollarization has put so much out of reach for so many people and may actually be killing Zimbabwe. The credit crunch isn’t helping diasporans who are trying to support loved ones. Not only Zimbabweans at home are suffering, those abroad are finding it more and more difficult to survive and help their families at the same time. This poses one question: is it really worth it being wherever they are in the world as opposed to being at home and trying to make ends meet there?
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