Saturday, December 27, 2008

Oh Happy Day!

Boxing Day dawned damp and misty. After a late night spent watching Christmas present DVDs, it took me a few minutes to shake off the mantle of sleep, and become aware that dogs were barking. And the neighbour’s dogs. In fact, all the dogs in the road.

Oh happy day! At 7.30am on Boxing Day, this can only mean one thing – the dump truck has come to collect our rubbish, and of course, to ask for a Christmas bonus. “Dump truck!” I shout at my comatose husband, as I pull on some clothes and rush to the door to take out our bins. I rarely see my husband leap up with such alacrity.

You might think we are being a bit over keen to greet the dump truck, but you'll begin to understand once you learn that our rubbish has not been collected since September.

And because we live in Africa, a continent that has always recycled and re-used everything man-made under the sun, we only have two (admittedly bulging) bin bags of rubbish to throw out, two bags that are ant-ridden and developing a distinctive pong.

My husband suggested we tell the rubbish collectors that we will give them their Christmas bonus next time they come back, to ensure that they do. But I take pity on them. The city council consists of opposition party members, and as a result it has been steadily bankrupted by the ruling elite. Council workers are very poorly paid, and of course, like the rest of us, they can’t even get their salary out of their bank accounts before its value erodes away to nothing. There is no fuel to drive the truck, and the majority of council workers (like everyone) are malnourished, in poor health and suffering.

The least we can do is give them a little handout. A few dollars produces warm, toothy grins. And it ensures that they will come back – probably next year around Christmas.

And me? I feel like a queen. I am the proud owner of two large, sparkling clean, empty bins – what luxury!

A happy day, indeed.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Hello Fambai,

here's a belated Merry Christmas greeting from Singapore.. have just been reading all your entries over breakfast and bookmarked your blog - it's great to hear what's going on from the inside! Please continue with your great work, it's invaluable.

Happy New Year as well - hope that change will finally come your way!

Chris

Zimlover said...

Wishing you a Happy new year!

Am a Zimbabwean, but studying in the US. I can't wait to come back home for a few weeks! It's great to know there are people still enjoying anything in our desperate country.

Wish you all the best!
Manu

benmsg said...

Happy New Year,

I served as an US Embassy Marine in Harare from '92 - '93. It was much different then than what I've been reading since I've left. Even though, Zimbabwe has left a warm spot in my heart. The people were wonderful and the country just beautiful. I hope it can come around. Keep up the great work, I love reading the blogs.

Fambai Zvakanaka said...

Thanks so much for your comments and encouragement.

Happy New Year to you all!

Hope you enjoy reading my new posts.

With best wishes for 2009,

Fambai.