Zimbabwean Coal Miner; Onward to Zambia

Before we left Zimbabwe, we met with a coal miner who told us some sobering stories about the exploitation of the local workers. For a number of years, the workers weren’t receiving cash salaries—just housing and food parcels that weren’t enough for a large family. Now that Chinese investors have taken over the mines, meager salaries have returned, but safety and living conditions are no better. The miners do not have the financial means to access adequate food, medical care, and education (which is not free) for their families. The miners fear reprisal or loss of employment if they try to fight for better wages. With unemployment in the country in excess of 80%, they can’t just find other work; plus they’d have to find and pay for new housing.

The Zimbabwean government does nothing to help—with such rampant corruption, the ministers and regulators are in lockstep with the new Chinese mine owners and benefiting financially. These talks are what OAT calls “controversial topics,’ meant to take visitors out of their comfort zone and teach us about things the government (or the world) may not want to talk about.

On a more upbeat note, we got a quick drive-by visit to one of the primary schools the OAT foundation is supporting. A portion of our trip fees, along with private donations, provides books, computer and technical equipment, some teacher salaries and one free meal a day for needy students. On a less upbeat note, OAT has had to find a workaround to deal with the corrupt Zimbabwean government. For a while, the government was pocketing the donations of school funds. Now donations of school supplies go through Rotary International.

Two 8-seater planes took our group to Kafue National Park in Zambia. Already, we could see that the land was a bit less dry. Our new camp, Lufupa River Camp, is located on the Kafue River. All of our tent cabins and the open-air dining room face the river. We can see hippos and the occasional croc in the river, and vervet monkeys live in the trees. We had a nice, musical greeting from all of the staff (see video).Read more