Financial Gazette (Harare)

Mavis Makuni
Harare

The economic and political situation in Zimbabwe has resulted in a record number of locals leaving home to seek greener pastures in other countries.

The figure of three million is often quoted as the total number of Zimbabweans believed to be living in the diaspora.

This mass exodus has deprived the country of skilled professionals, most notably in the fields of education and health.

The brain drain resulting from the flight of this much needed professional expertise is evidenced by the general decline in the quality of service delivery in the affected sectors.

Apart from its negative impact at national level, the absence of so many Zimbabweans from home has taken its toll on family, marital and personal relationships.

Stories abound of unusual situations and problems that have arisen as a result of families and spouses being forced to live apart for long periods.

Sordid details of marital infidelities and betrayals are often exposed both back at home and in the foreign cities hosting Zimbabweans abroad.

An example of such incidents is a story I heard this week about a woman who embarked on a love affair with her father-in-law while her husband was away in the United Kingdom.

Bizarrely, so the story goes, she was allegedly encouraged to get involved with her husband’s father by her own father. This resulted in the illicit father-in-law/daughter-in-law union producing a child, who joined four older siblings. Residents in the suburb where this cheating wife lives are said to be waiting on tenterhooks to see what will happen when the cheated husband returns home shortly after six years in Britain.

Similar stories filter back to Zimbabwe about spouses or partners who embark on equally odd love affairs and untoward activities abroad.

Some Zimbabwean boyfriends are said to have stumbled on the pictures and particulars of their girlfriends on the internet. They are said to have become heartbroken and fed up after discovering that their partners were working as prostitutes.

The saddest stories, however, are those involving children entrusted into the care of relatives by parents living and working overseas.

Some of these relatives, it is claimed, convert monies, sent from abroad and earmarked to cater for the children’s needs, to their own use.

Some kids are said to be living like paupers and others are regularly expelled from school for non-payment of school fees. The relatives, friends or neighbours who are supposed to be taking care of the needs of these children are accused of diverting the money for personal needs.

Some are said to have built posh houses for themselves and refurbished existing ones using funds parents in the diaspora have toiled for to afford their children a better life.

However, to prove that every cloud has a silver lining, the fact that an unprecedented number of Zimbabweans are living in the diaspora also has some positive ramifications.

In the past, Zimbabweans wishing to further their education or careers traditionally chose the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, and some Scandinavian countries as destinations.

Now, however, because millions are involved, Zimbabweans are ready to go wherever the opportunities are. As a result, Zimbabweans are now more widely dispersed throughout the world than ever before.

I have heard of Zimbabweans living in Pakistan, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Libya and other countries.

When I attended my nephew’s wedding in the capital sometime ago he had friends flying in from different parts of the world. One of these friends arrived from Kosovo with his Balkan girlfriend in tow.

What this means is that these Zimbabweans are building bridges with people of different colours and cultures all over the world. It’s a positive thing.

As Zimbabweans in the diaspora marry spouses from different countries and cultures, it is inevitable that formerly ordinary local families will become more cosmopolitan.

Diaspora — Three

Many ordinary men and women will be thrust into the role of ’global grand parents’ who will have to open their arms and hearts to welcome back ’rainbow’ family units when their daughters and sons eventually return home after their sojourns in the diaspora.

A friend of mine who has two daughters and two sons living in four different countries says she is increasingly becoming a seasoned globetrotter. She has travelled overseas a number of times to help a daughter or daughter in law after the birth of a grandchild.

All her sons and daughters have found foreign husbands and wives. My friend is proud of her mixed race grandchildren and cannot wait to welcome them home when things change for the better.

Marrying across colour and culture lines is nothing new in Zimbabwe. However, the trend will be witnessed on a greater scale under the prevailing conditions because of the large number of people living in other countries.