By Chigumbu Warikandwa
Cyclone Idai has come and gone. But its effects are here to stay. And stay it shall. In fact, Idai has affected every subject of life, rather, every of the ten subjects I learnt at high school are covered in Idai.
Let me start with the unlikely subjects, Shona. My mother tongue made of various dialects includes the extroverted Ndau whose peoples were soaked to death by marauding waters, mud and rains. So ubiquitous is this language on TV, radio and social media as survivors share their anguish with the world.
Geography: the geomorphology of the Chimanimani lands increased the risk quotient of the terrain as boulders found easy traction down slope. The heavy and speedy winds provided easy transportation, lifting boulders that had been in position for a thousand years like dust!
Commerce: Chimanimani is citrus country. Ngangu growth point is a banana haven for both local and export markets. The disaster destroyed the commercial life of this otherwise beautiful countryside. Roads are impassable. It is a struggle to reach this place to put or get money out of this it. Just money. Taking produce out of it is a real headache. Whoever is reaching these people is a real saintly hero. Zanu PF is there with its all terrain vehicles. The relatively new vehicles remain threatened by unfavourable roads. Bridges are gone, they have been washed downstream; roads have been busted by the oversized rains. Some have been closed by the freefalling rocks.
Out of Zimbabwe, the trade-busy port if Beira was swept down and under. No business is happening in Beira. Mozambique is losing revenue, so are a hosts of southern and eastern African countries relying on this port for commercial purposes. The world is finding it difficult to reach south east Africa for business.
Businesses, shops and industries have been destroyed. Tourism has been dealt a deathly blow as the unsafe environment and un-navigable roads are keeping tourists away.
Physics: The 186km/hr winds driven by the vortex of the storm waylaid poorly constructed dwellings. The dwellings went on to cave in, killing some sleeping families instantly while others died agonising deaths trapped and struggling for air under rubble in motion. The inertia of that fateful night is not worth forgetting as 600 litres of water averaged every square metre of land in a single night. Fact is this wasn’t rains but falling clouds. Even the most porous of sands cannot absorb this quantity of liquid per square metre. It means the excess water had to run off, creating a forceful mammoth liquid uprooting trees like grass, boulders like dust and miniature houses like Chinese toys.
History: the history of Zimbabwe cannot be complete without mentioning the ravages of this angry storm. Nowhere in the history of medieval or modern Zimbabwe has a storm so angry ever attacked Zimbabwe. The magnitude of death and missing persons can only be equalled to a full scale war.
Religious studies: chiefs in both Zimbabwe and Mozambique believe this incident has religious questions and answers. While some think the Gods are angry, some think it’s the power of God at display. Some were left rethinking their relationship with their unseen but all powerful God.
Building: yes, I learnt building at school. Some of my readers went further, learning civil engineering and construction economics. Chimanimani is in dire need of reconstruction, from blair toilets to a sophisticated bridge and houses. A whole Government compound at Dzingire is no more. A majority of the occupiers of these houses are yet to be found since the night of 15 March 2019 when they retired to bed in the comfort of their homes.
Mathematics: yesterday the Government of Zimbabwe resolved to conduct a census of the peoples of Chimanimani so as to avail useful statistics necessary for drawing sustainable recovery efforts. So far, there are conflicting casualty details. While such conflicts are bound to emerge under crises, an orderly inquiry is plausible as it will weed out malcontents with rent seeking behaviour seeking to benefit from the confusion brewed by the storm.
Noteworthy also would be that some missing people have not been reported missing. Those with the natural responsibility to report them missing also went missing with them and need to be reported on.
Agriculture: The Chimanimanians are food insecure. Their plantations have been washed away, so are their crops. Some fields lie buried under debris. Reaching them with food is no easy task, thanks to helicopters mobilised by Government through its cooperating partners. Going into the future, these people have to be capacitated back into gainful agriculture. Presently, they do not have grain nor livestock. Some livestock perished in the storm while some ran away to faraway places and can never be retraced and be united with their original owners.
Environmental Science: yesterday Government closed 43 schools in Chimanimani. There is fear of disease outbreak. There is enough trouble in the area already and nobody wants to risk a death on a funeral. The environment in Ngangu is not friendly at all. The gapping gullies, runaway sewerage and gushing waters remain huge risks to the inhabitants there.
And now to politics: Feeling outdone by the goodwill shown by Zanu PF, political enemies are already shouting for order. The situation in Chimanimani calls for more than just food and clothes donations. The materials have to be transported, cared for, and protected from the vagaries of the weather and possible abusers. The material has to be managed and shared equitably on a need basis.
The above means labour is required. There is a lot of work to be done there, a requirement most people are oblivious of. Government alone cannot satisfy the demand for labour in Manicaland. We do not have the deceased and the survivors alone. There are the injured, the sick and the traumatised. Manpower to care for this need is needed and needed urgently. So, why admonish Zanu PF for such goodwill? After all, Chimanimani voted Zanu PF across all electoral stages. So why should the party be attacked for returning banked goodwill?
If anything, Zanu PF must be encouraged to up its game in cooperation with existing reaction structures set up by the Civil Protection Unit there.
Let any party which feels challenged by the Zanu PF goodwill join the relief effort. This brings us to an end of this discussion with this very useful subject of common sense!
