Dave Houghton Head Coach

[Googly]

Ya it's sad. Our country has had a massive brain drain. The nurse thing is a sure way of getting into the UK but I think a portion of folk just use that window to get in and then go and do something else.
Salaries are ridiculously low here and the cost of living is just outrageous. Supermarket stuff is just beyond scary. You can probably fill a trolley in the UK for $100 and here it will be $400 plus. (Bear in mind most people get about $200 a month and transport eats half of that). I mean just think about that for a second and let it sink in. Most people have a dollar a day for food.
It's almost double the cost of SA as basically we're a retail outlet for them. The product has to make the journey, get taxed to hell at the border and then marked up here. Plus the supermarkets will mark it up iniquitously because they charge in local currency which is devaluing daily so they have to guess what it will be in 30-60 days time when they sell the good and then have to convert the local money into a hard currency to resupply. And they have to wait for that money from the Reserve bank or get it black market. They err on the side of caution and basically mark everything up about 100%. We are starting to spiral into hyper-inflation all over again. The government partly continues to fail to understand what causes it, continues to believe their kindergarten communist counter measures will curtail it and of course a lot of them benefit massively from it. They continue to believe you can control market forces. This is an endlessly repeating cycle for us.
This sudden dip in the economy has come at a very bad time for them as elections are next year. If there's a drought this coming season its going to massively compound their problem. Of course its who counts the votes that ultimately decides the outcome and the opposition are clueless beyond measure and just as corrupt and greedy. Maybe more so actually. Their only solution to date has been insisting the nation prays fervently, the problem is Zanu are praying just as hard. They all pray together and for the same thing, maybe God can't work out who's who.
Its basically an ongoing disaster and the yellow tide grows with each passing day. In fact I predict a massive bail-out from China is on the cards to save the day.

There has been a fascinating and disheartening ongoing social media fight, initiated by Zanu because pre-election they remind the population that were it not for them the people would still be subjugated, but now the opposition have started taunting them with pictures of Smith and with the caption "Smith was better." It really has caused a shit storm at the highest level.
We just want to be left out of it. We're sick of being the bad guys, I think that ship sailed a long time ago. One day if the dust ever settles on our cursed and tragic land we want to be treated, not as equals, but as Indians, about half way to being equal.

[CholeZimbo]

Ya it's sad. Our country has had a massive brain drain. The nurse thing is a sure way of getting into the UK but I think a portion of folk just use that window to get in and then go and do something else.
Salaries are ridiculously low here and the cost of living is just outrageous. Supermarket stuff is just beyond scary. You can probably fill a trolley in the UK for $100 and here it will be $400 plus. (Bear in mind most people get about $200 a month and transport eats half of that). I mean just think about that for a second and let it sink in. Most people have a dollar a day for food.
It's almost double the cost of SA as basically we're a retail outlet for them. The product has to make the journey, get taxed to hell at the border and then marked up here. Plus the supermarkets will mark it up iniquitously because they charge in local currency which is devaluing daily so they have to guess what it will be in 30-60 days time when they sell the good and then have to convert the local money into a hard currency to resupply. And they have to wait for that money from the Reserve bank or get it black market. They err on the side of caution and basically mark everything up about 100%. We are starting to spiral into hyper-inflation all over again. The government partly continues to fail to understand what causes it, continues to believe their kindergarten communist counter measures will curtail it and of course a lot of them benefit massively from it. They continue to believe you can control market forces. This is an endlessly repeating cycle for us.
This sudden dip in the economy has come at a very bad time for them as elections are next year. If there's a drought this coming season its going to massively compound their problem. Of course its who counts the votes that ultimately decides the outcome and the opposition are clueless beyond measure and just as corrupt and greedy. Maybe more so actually. Their only solution to date has been insisting the nation prays fervently, the problem is Zanu are praying just as hard. They all pray together and for the same thing, maybe God can't work out who's who.
Its basically an ongoing disaster and the yellow tide grows with each passing day. In fact I predict a massive bail-out from China is on the cards to save the day.

There has been a fascinating and disheartening ongoing social media fight, initiated by Zanu because pre-election they remind the population that were it not for them the people would still be subjugated, but now the opposition have started taunting them with pictures of Smith and with the caption "Smith was better." It really has caused a shit storm at the highest level.
We just want to be left out of it. We're sick of being the bad guys, I think that ship sailed a long time ago. One day if the dust ever settles on our cursed and tragic land we want to be treated, not as equals, but as Indians, about half way to being equal.

[CholeZimbo]

What we need here is more locally based forumites. Unfortunately they all steer well clear. Many would be defenders of an imploded system blaming sanctions and they'd get torn a new one.

Trending today is educated people holding down normally well paid jobs trying to get nursing diplomas so they can go and get jobs in the colonial heartland and yet the bosses spin that we are an economic powerhouse. It would be an option for our cricketers- 12 months of wiping old white arses and 4 months of club cricket. £1000 a month for Saturday cricket x 4 months plus £2500 a month x 12 months for cleaning up shit and vomit and feeding someone. No financial stress, no late payments and empty promises. That's $45000 a year and could probably save 20k of it. Enough to buy an illegal stand here sold to you by an unscrupulous MP or Councillor.
I have a few friends, and a couple of male friends that have gone the bum wiping route. You do what u gotta do. I'd prefer to be on a building site with the Poles, but hey, each to their own.

Your articulation is unrivalled mate, love it . The country really is fucked. I've got a mate, smart as they can be, straight A's and many points. A doc for about 5 years now and is now about to head off to the UK for exactly this. Sad.

[secretzimbo]

Ya. My Mrs knows a doctor who left about 4-5 months ago to work as a care workers in an old folks home in England wiping asses and feeding people.... With long shifts and overtime he's picking up about £2,500 a month after tax and like mentioned the cost of living is half there what it is here.

Pretty worrying times in general for the country. I am not looking forward to the elections at all. It's going to be absolutely brutal even by our standards and who knows what the aftermath will be.

As ever, could also have a knock-on effect on our cricket scene too.

[sloandog]

Ya. My Mrs knows a doctor who left about 4-5 months ago to work as a care workers in an old folks home in England wiping asses and feeding people.... With long shifts and overtime he's picking up about £2,500 a month after tax and like mentioned the cost of living is half there what it is here.

Pretty worrying times in general for the country. I am not looking forward to the elections at all. It's going to be absolutely brutal even by our standards and who knows what the aftermath will be.

As ever, could also have a knock-on effect on our cricket scene too.

So how are you boys surviving? That's a genuine question. How can the local Zimbabwean even afford to buy a point at the Centurian on match days?
Each time i've been to Zim i've been amazed at the resoluteness of the people in the face of adversity. Everybody is so nice and welcoming yet they haven't got a proverbial pot to piss in

[sloandog]

Pint*

[Googly]

The couple of hundred guys you see at The Centurion as a fact are the better off blokes that can get scudded at a normal pub. It's honestly why if you charge a nominal $5 entrance fee it makes a lot of people reconsider attending.
The middle and upper income guys are ok. Putting a number on that is not easy. A couple of hundred thousand perhaps, maybe half a million tops. Of whom maybe about 2% have more than a very casual interest in cricket. It's honestly that bad.
Whats deceiving is the number of cars on the road. Its jam packed. Driving anywhere in Harare is an absolute mission.
A lot of people own cars that can't afford them, if that makes sense. There's a massive informal sector of the economy that trade in various commodities that are a step above the poverty line, but not enough to qualify as middle income. I guess you'd call them lower income?
It's Africa- millions of people milling around, unemployed, reasonably well dressed, a smile on their faces, a mobile phone in their pocket and you just wonder how the hell they get by. But then you get a huge percentage of folk that you can see are really struggling.
They did a study in SA on what people spent their disposable income on and a massive percentage of it is on mobile phones and data.

[sloandog]

Ya. My Mrs knows a doctor who left about 4-5 months ago to work as a care workers in an old folks home in England wiping asses and feeding people.... With long shifts and overtime he's picking up about £2,500 a month after tax and like mentioned the cost of living is half there what it is here.

Pretty worrying times in general for the country. I am not looking forward to the elections at all. It's going to be absolutely brutal even by our standards and who knows what the aftermath will be.

As ever, could also have a knock-on effect on our cricket scene too.

Have you got that right? I'm a primary school teacher of 4 years on 37k and my net take home pay is £2,100 a month. Care home workers aren't on anything like that type of salary

[sloandog]

But yea, @googly, I get you mate. When ever I've been to down to Harare everyone is just happy, seems to be getting on with their lives and appear to be doing okay. I always found it incredible that most of these people probably can't afford the basics.

I have a friend who lives in one of the suburbs of Harare (stunning house and pool etc) and I stayed there in 2019 for a few weeks with him. I asked how he afforded it and he said his dad made some very savvy investments in the 90's which have bore fruit. He said they're very lucky.

[sloandog]

By the way, can you still get Zambezi lager in the shops? I've tried so hard to get it this side of tje world and it just isn't happening.