Postcards from Zimbabwe

Jul 2 2008 by Hilarie Stelfox, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A supermarket with nothing but bare shelves and a worthless banknote - snapshots of life in Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe. HILARIE STELFOX met Huddersfield businesswoman Lesley Robinson (pictured with children at the Ethendweni orphanage) who has been a frequent visitor to the country over the past decade and has witnessed first-hand the suffering and hardship caused by Mugabe’s disastrous and inhumane leadership

WHEN Lesley Robinson first visited Zimbabwe nearly a decade ago with her husband Glyn, she was deeply impressed by the beauty of the country and the friendliness of its people.

“It was a very buoyant country back then. The economy was in good shape and they had a fantastic tourist industry, with tourists from all over the world coming to stay in the lodges and going on safari,’’ says Lesley, who recently returned from her 10th trip to the Hwange and Matopos region of the country.

That first trip proved to be a life-changing event for the businesswoman from Holmfirth, who subsequently founded a company selling African herbal remedies.

Over the years, the couple have made repeated visits to Zimbabwe, forging many friendships. Her last solo trip took her to a school and orphanage, which The Little Herbal International supports.

“I was shocked by the way everything has deteriorated. Although things have been slowly getting worse, I noticed a really big change this time,’’ said Lesley.

“Essentially, there is no food. The supermarket shelves are empty and inflation is running rampant. When I arrived there, US$1 was worth 1bn Zimbabwean dollars; by the time I left two weeks later it was 7bn and now it’s more like 16bn. The banks have no money and there are queues all day outside them.

“Anyone who does have money can buy food but a lot of people have no money at all. If you have transport, you can get food in South Africa and Botswana, but most people don’t have a car.”

Lesley feels so strongly about the situation in Zimbabwe that she has written to a number of British politicians and is eager to highlight the needs of the people.

“We have been supporting the White Water Primary School in Matopos since 1999 and, more recently, the Ethendwendi orphanage,” she said.

“Most of the children in the orphanage have been orphaned by AIDS and four of the 34 children there are HIV positive.

“The people there are asking why the United Nations didn’t send in a peacekeeping force for the last elections. They want to know why no-one is helping them. Wherever you go, people are saying: ‘Why has the world forsaken us?’”

“I truly believe that the world must get involved and that the reason why we go into countries such as Iraq but not Zimbabwe is that Zimbabwe has no oil reserves. The world acted over the atrocities committed by Saddam Hussein and yet the atrocities committed by Mugabe are on the same scale.”

Although she has not witnessed any violence during her visits, Lesley says she has heard first-hand of children and elderly people who have been brutally beaten or murdered.

During her early days as a visitor to Zimbabwe, Lesley and her family considered moving to the country. They bought a lodge and renovated it for use by tourists. However, it soon became apparent that Mugabe’s misrule would destroy the tourist industry and the couple handed over the running of the lodge to Zimbabwean friends, who are now attempting to establish eco-tourism in the area. Lesley is supporting the Mother Africa venture, which offers visitors the chance to learn about African wildlife, work with conservation programmes and assist in educational programmes for children.

Over the years, the Little Herbal company has helped to build a maternity unit at the clinic in Matopos, put a roof on the school library, bought a television, two computers and books for the school and is now supporting the orphanage. Lesley’s son-in-law, Jan Danilo, raised more than £1,000 for the orphanage and school by taking part in the Snowdon Mountain Marathon last year.

Although Zimbabwe is a troubled nation, Lesley says there are still many good people working hard for the future.

“There’s a fantastic guy who runs the orphanage called Lucien Oosthuizen. He was a businessman in Cape Town but sold his business and his house, packed his belongings in his car and drove to Zimbabwe. He had reassessed his life and decided he wanted to do something worthwhile,” she said.

“The sad thing is that the orphanage can only take so many children and it’s really a drop in the ocean. We want to help him build an extension.”

Sponsoring a child to attend the Matopos school costs as little as £1 a term, while sponsoring an orphan is just £10 a month.

One of the people Lesley visits regularly while in Africa is Rosina, the herbal witch doctor who inspired her to set up the Little Herbal company.

Lesley said: “I was shocked when I saw her because she’d become so thin. She had no food in the house but I managed to get some maize for her and bought meat that she could dry. It breaks your heart to see people suffering so much.’’

Anyone who would like to support the school and orphanage can get further details from Lesley on 01484 689807 or enquiries@littleherbal-int.com.