If It Wasn't For That Indian, I Would Have Cholera

                                       

My City By Night (Harare)

This is Harare. I live there, about 4 weeks ago the city council cut off water supply in my area. 

So the local residence went to dig a hole in the ground. with pick axes and hoes, they located the underground water pipes and broke them. 

Now the water gushes from a hole in the ground and forms little rainbows in the sun and puddles on the ground.

Everyone goes to that watering hole now.

Little children with yellow bottles.

Mothers with babies strapped to their backs and laundry buckets on their heads.

Adolescent girls, with unconfined breasts jingling with each step.

Local hooligans, with their trousers to their knees and a street wise gait.

And that dirty old man who lives in the little hut by the beer hall.

The local MP knows about it. He does nothing.
The council workers know about it, they do nothing. they sit in the shade of their office verandas with straws poking from their mouths and their hands shading their eyes as they watch us.

"Why won't you fix this?" a matronly woman asks

"Madam you did it yourselves, fix it for yourselves."

That matronly woman purses her lips, and folds her hands over her ample bosom  Sensing a fight, the man from the council gets up and goes into the safe haven of his office.

"Oi get your children down from the fence!" a guard yells as little children bored with watching their mothers collect water from that hole in the ground, climb all over the council fence.

"Mazvi! Taku! get down from there." 

"what did I tell you kids? now look how dirty you have made yourselves."

The Man That Helps Me

 That is the man that gives me water, or at least he looks like that. He is Indian, and believes in karma. Because helps me he says his karma is good.

Every weekend I go to his with hundreds of 2ltr containers and 3 50ltr cans.

And every weekend I go past little girls, boys, men and women heading towards that hole in the ground with their pails, and tins, bottles and buckets . 

And I ask myself,

"When did we sink into this societal recession?"