Robert Mugabe - What Happened? (Film review)

When I lived in Malawi in 1990-92, I taught in a national girls secondary school. It was well resourced and staffed, housed in a handsome building with twenty four hour electricity and running water and  Flamboyant trees in the courtyards. The students were made up of the brightest girls in the country, the daughters of the richest people in the country and the daughters of the party faithful. Although being a national school it was better resourced than most, secondary schools across Malawi were relatively well resourced.

Only ten percent of the population in Malawi at that time attended secondary school and many who did had to wait until their late teens to start doing so. Everyone who attended secondary school needed to pay for it.

In nearby Zimbabwe, the secondary schools were basic, mostly lacking running water or electricity. However, Zimbabwe at that time offered free secondary school education to everyone in the country.

In the first 15 or so years in the life of the country from 1980 when minority ruled Rhodesia became majority ruled Zimbabwe , it was in many ways an African success story with universal education and health care and significant investment in farming. Large landowners who owned huge areas of land were encouraged to sell their land to the government to redistribute amongst landless farmers. (It wasn't perfect though, there was, during that time period, civil unrest in the Matabeleland area which lead to massacres).

So what went wrong to make the land of corruption, poverty and violence that is now Zimbabwe?

Robert Mugabe - What Happened? is a sobering portrait of the freedom fighter turned international statesman turned power-crazed tyrant that is Robert Mugabe and the disastrous effect he has ultimately had on the country. It's a very useful guide to the history of the country since its foundation and a heart breaking documentary on how so much potential can be lost through mismanagement, greed and brutality.

It was particularly interesting to follow how the issue of land redistribution, an election promise at the start of majority rule, has dominated so much of the history of the country. At first handled sensitively it was then ignored, then became an issue of international disagreement and ultimately lead to forced evictions and murders of large landowners.

(The soundtrack to this film is wonderful, much of it played on instruments made from recycled materials.)

As ever, coloured text contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.

Just published

I'm delighted that my poem Family Tree is up on Snake Oil Cure today! You can read it here. (Today, that link takes you directly to my poem, but it looks as though, from tomorrow onwards, you may need to scroll down to reach my poem).

I'm also delighted  that two of my haiku are included in the Sketchbook haiku thread on the theme of brides and weddings. More haiku are being added all the time, so be sure to check back or send your own in (details on the Sketchbook website).

Giveaway Winner!

 The winner of the My Memories Digital Software Giveaway is Roadbunner! Could you send me your email address so I can send you your promo code for the software? (For those of you haven't visited Roadbunner's blog, it's well worth checking out if you're a runner or if you like bunnies.)

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway! 

And whether you won or not, in fact even if you didn't enter, My Memories are offering all readers of this blog (even if you never comment!) your very own Share the Memories code giving you a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - $20 value!)

Just use this code  STMMMS4293  in the checkout to claim your discount!

As ever, coloured text contains hyperlinks that t ake you to other websites where you can find out more.

Parliamentary Shadows

I'm not a huge fan of the Scottish Parliament building, I have to admit (the entrance lobby is so dull and gloomy like a cave and many of the meeting rooms have pillars built in front of the windows so there's not enough natural light and what about all those branches of bamboo over the windows, again blocking out the natural light. But anyway, I did notice some nice shadows there today as we walked home from a nice wander round Arthur's Seat (which I'll blog about on Crafty Green Poet tomorrow).

for Shadow Shot Sunday



and don't forget I'm doing a digital scrap-booking giveaway over on Crafty Green Poet!

As ever, coloured text contains hyperlinks that will take you to other webpages where you can find out more!

Digital Scrapbooking Giveaway Now on Crafty Green Poet

If you're into digital scrapbooking, you may be interested in this giveaway on Crafty Green Poet.

And whether you win or not, My Memories are offering all readers of this blog your very own Share the Memories code giving you a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - $20 value!)

 

 Just use this code  STMMMS4293  in the checkout to claim your discount!