Zimbabwean people show appreciation for the little things

Courtesy photo/Bishop John C. Wester

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Rebecca, 82, (center) dances and sings in a very rhythmic and captivating melody for Bishop John Ricard (left) and Bishop John C. Wester who visit the resettlement camp and the internally displaced persons.

SALT LAKE CITY — The Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, and The Most. Rev. John H. Ricard of the Diocese of Pensacola were on a delegation sponsored by the United State Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to Zimbabwe and South Africa from Aug. 26-28. They were joined by Cardinal Theodore MCarrick, retired Archbishop of Washington, in South Africa from Aug. 26 to Sept. 6.

The bishops are members of the Subcommittee on Africa. Bishop Wester is the Chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Migration. Bishop Ricard is chairman of the USCCB Subcommittee on Africa. This is the second of several articles on Bishop Wester’s trip to Zimbabwe.

"One of the principle purposes of our visit was to examine the situation of the refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in South Africa," said Bishop Wester. "Since a great majority of the refugees are coming from Zimbabwe now, more than 1.5 million, we are very interested in the situation in Zimbabwe. We want to know who are the Zimbabweans coming into South Africa and why they are coming.

"Even though the United States in now not seen as a durable solution for them, it may be in the future," said Bishop Wester. "Since the USCCB is the largest re-settler of refugees in the country, we would want to know of possible future knowledge – what their needs are, what situations they are encountering, and why they are leaving. This knowledge will help us help them when they get to our shores."

Bishop Wester said also the USCCB advocates for the refugees with our State Department, and perhaps they could get our government to help improve their situation in Zimbabwe.

"With that in mind, we went to Zimbabwe first of all to meet with Leshare de Far of the U.S. State Department, representatives from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, and the Zimbabwean people themselves," said Bishop Wester. "From this observation, things have improved in Zimbabwe to a degree. For example financially, they have stabilized. They have stemmed the hemorrhaging of their economy, which was experiencing incredible inflation. Currently there is about an 86 percent unemployment rate in Zimbabwe.

"Politically they are rewriting their constitution in Zimbabwe," said Bishop Wester. "They are currently governed by the "unity" government, in which Robert Mugabe serves as president and Tsvangirai as Prime Minister.

"In Zimbabwe itself, the people’s circumstances are very dire," said Bishop Wester. "There were hundreds of thousands of IDPs, many of whom lived in the cities, but were forced to move to resettlement camps in the countryside. They were living in poverty prior to the resettlement camps, but the poverty in the resettlement camps is much worse. There is no access to restaurants or running water that they had in the city. They are miles from stores, they have no means to provide for themselves, and they depend on NGOs (non-governmental organizations) serving in Zimbabwe for assistance such as Save the Children, Lawyers for Human Rights, Doctors without Borders, and Catholic Relief Services, for assistance who do a tremendous job serving the people.

"We were in a topography much like Utah - a high desert. The people were living on a fine silt dirt in the camp, and they were living in either grass huts or cinder block huts," said Bishop Wester. "The grass huts were about four feet wide, six feet long, and about five feet high. The cinder block huts may or may not have a roof, or if there was a roof it was only partial."

Bishop Wester said the people would use flour they were given to cook their own bread on fires they built. Their provisions were minimal and their diet was very simple.

"When we did get a chance to visit the resettlement camps, we were greeted by two women, who had just baked bread for us," said Bishop Wester. "They were so pleased to have us visit them. They both held leadership roles in their communities.

"They showed me the latrines that CRS had made available for them," said Bishop Wester. "The new latrines were helping them stem the outbreak of cholera, which had taken the lives of thousands of IDPs. The latrines would be stashed in such a way that when one of the pits was full, they would move the latrine over to an adjacent pit. In the meantime, they would put certain chemicals and ash down the latrine to reduce the smell and the incidence of bacteria that could and had been infecting the people."

Bishop Wester said they also installed soap and jugs of water on the side so people could wash and have proper hygiene to help prevent the spread of cholera and other diseases.

"It was interesting to me, that these are relatively new camps, and yet we saw an incredible number of grave markers," said Bishop Wester. "Provisional cemeteries would almost just pop up over night. Many of the people, of course, have died of HIV/AIDS. But recently many have died of cholera.

"But to see the pride in the people’s faces was incredible," said Bishop Wester. "The woman who was in charge of hygiene and basic education to prevent disease, was so pleased that she was able to help people in something as basic as that, and something that we just take for granted.

"I also met Agnes, a 13-year old girl, who was dressed in very soiled and tattered clothing. She was in a dress that was shredded at the hem with holes. Her shirt was similarly dirty," said Bishop Wester. Agnes was taking care of her two younger sisters and living in this camp. Both of her parents had died. She has a 21-year old brother, who was gone during the day looking for money and piecemeal work, who returned at night to sleep. When he came home, they would have to abandon their little shack so he could sleep. They stayed with a woman down a dirt road.

"Agnes showed us her blue water jug with handles, she rolled rather than carried because it was too heavy," said Bishop Wester. "Again, such a simple thing meant the world to her because she could bring a lot more water a lot more easily to her hut. But here she is 13, moving into womanhood, on her own, no stores to buy hygienic supplies. It was really sad to see her.

"I came home to Utah and the United States and I am grateful that the children here have so much, and thank God they do, and it is a wonderful blessing, but then I close my eyes and I see poor Agnes and her two little sisters," said Bishop Wester. "It is so unfair and so tragic to see them in their situation."

Bishop Wester then met Rebecca who is about 82. She danced and clapped her hands in a rhythmic and captivating melody. She welcomed the bishops. When she saw Bishop Wester’s pectoral cross, she wanted to pray. She was filled with joy and happiness although she lived in dire poverty.

"She is a survivor," said Bishop Wester. "She is durable and does not let life get her down. It makes me embarrassed at the times I’ve complained because my hot water does not work. Here is someone who does not have hardly anything at all and she is happy."

"While these people who live in these kinds of camps have a lot of hardships and do not have a lot material possessions; they do have each other," said Bishop Wester. "They value relationships, family relationships. They stick together and they help one another. They have tremendous faith, they appreciate the littlest of things. The small gesture of kindness means the world to them.

"With all that we have in the United States, for which we thank God, I do sometimes wonder if we appreciate our blessings and if we realize what we do have."