The Unbelievable (Inflation) Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe since 2007 experience a massive pressure on their economic field. Imagine how can the statistic told that the inflation is up about tens thousand percent per month. I can describe it this way, if on Monday you bought a bowl of Pangsit Noodle worth Rp. 3.000, and forgot to pay, tomorrow it will cost you Rp. 3.500, the day after tomorrow it will become Rp. 4.500, don’t wait until the end of the month, cause the “Abang Pangsit” will charge you ten times more expensive!!!

Zimbabwe currency is Zim Dollar, officially the government set the rate of ZIM$ 30.000 per US$ 1. But do you know how much is one loaf of bread cost in maket, it’s ZIM$ 1.000.000, which means that not so yummy bread is equivalent with US$ 33,3, if you times with Rp. 9.450 per US$ you will find that just for a loaf of bread you have to pay Rp. 314.685! Shocking! Before I left Indonesia on the last week of October, I noticed that one loaf of sweet bread only cost Rp. 6.000, I will have 52 loaf with that kind of exchange rate. But no worries, in the black market, US$ 1 is worth ZIM$ 1.000.000 (this is on the 1st month I’m in Harare, nowadays it has increase to 1,9 million ZIM$). One Problem solved! Never think that way, when you are in Zimbabwe (or even Africa). Yes, you do had the money, but you wont get what you need. The supermarket –and for your information there is no small shop (warung or asongan) in harare– is empty! How come??? Let me tell you…

Once upon a time in Zimbabwe, when the prices was going mad, the government going wild. They applied a cruel policy (for the sellers), that is price cut on June. They enter the shop, see the price label, call the manager and simply just said “cut this price into half of it” (i think if you are selling whit Chinese method, you will still be ok), and then the official wandering, “hmm..if I just cut this item for half its price then I don’t have enough money to buy another things that I want” so they will say “ok, if you don’t want to get jail, make the price of this item…..(they just say what they wanted to be…)” Shocking is it?

There was also a story about an Indian car dealer. Someday a bunch of government officials come to his showroom, you supposed to be think that the car dealer is happy because lot of costumer come. At the beginning maybe he was happy when the officials ask how much the car worth. Presume this way, one Avanza is worth US$ 10.000 (Avanza do exist in Zimbabwe), this dealer have 10 Avanza left to sell, and the officials said they will buy all of it. What a happy day, but suddenly when the officials start saying “ok…US$ 100.000 times 30.000 equal three billion ZIM$” WHAT! Counted your self. (hmm..lazy reader, ok I will count it for you that’s means the poor car seller only receive US$ 3.000, not enough if he just wants to buy 1 Avanza for himself back home in Bombay)

No one here is dare to against the Government, the President Robert Gabriel Mugabe, the ruling party ZANU-PF, and of course the army. At the time of independence struggle, they all fight for minority rule of white people’s, they demand black’s majority rule. They do rule now, but without (as long as my understanding) rule of law. I don’t know how this peoples can last this kind of condition, some one or in fact everyone must wake-up. As Harper Lee (the author of to kill a Mockingbird) once said the one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.

That’s the negative side, but in every story you will find two sides that contrasting. For instance is my need (even basic need) to be in touch with my family (my lovely Marisha). The first two week was horrible because Telecommunication Corporation in Zimbabwe doesn’t make SIM card no more. So you can only find that SIM card on the Black Market, and it cost US$ 60. Crab! In Jakarta with that amount of money I will get 60 SIM Card! But anyway, finally I get this lousy SIM Card, and I don’t care how much it cost as long as I can hear my mom, dad, sisters and my girlfriend voice. Every night I called, at first it just for 30 minutes or an hour, but when I received the bill for this first month…. Hey, why do I hold back! After that I called every time I wanted, one hour, two hours, even all night long, that’s fine to me. (do you anxious why…or how much that bill showed?? One time I ask my girl to guest, how much my bill? She said “ok, hun, from now on you don’t have to called me, just email me”, I ask again, “just guest how much?” “a thousand dollar, ok I will pay half of it”, that’s why she is my dream girl, so sweet and caring. Well it only US$ 60, that is a lot amount of money when you consider it with Jakarta’s standard, but my wages that I earned as junior diplomat is more than enough for that.)

Though. That’s a perfect word to describe how life in Zimbabwe is right now. Food scarce, power cuts, fuel shortages, long queuing for cash, bread, milk, HIV/AIDS problem, brain drain, you mentioned it. So don’t say that you have a though life when you don’t experienced any of this. Just don’t. Sometimes when you get too comfee (comfortable), you’ll find yourself a bit of spoiled, as I do. Moreover if you are in the perfect surrounding that nothing seems goes wrong. I don’t want to believe what Simone de Beauvoir said about “What is an adult? A child blown up by age.” Child do not know responsibility, and as far as I consider my self an adult, I will take responsibility. I’ll help my self to help others. Like the Secretary of the Embassy of Indonesia in Harare, Zimbabwe often said.. "How can i help you sir/mam?"