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I am 16 yr old girl from Pakistan who needs your help
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rapier

Joined: 16 Feb 2003

Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 11:26 pm Post subject:

ed4444 wrote:

30-ish Year old from Zimbabwe/GB needs help

See above post for details....

Here is a letter from Someone in Zimbabwe now:

A letter from Zimbabwe Sent in by John Winter:

I reckon that these are the last days of TKM and ZPF.
The darkest hour is always before dawn.

We are all terrified of what they are going to destroy next........I mean they are actually plowing down brick and mortar houses and one white
family with twin boys of 10 had no chance of salvaging anything when 100 riot police came in with AK's and bulldozers and demolished their beautiful house - 5 bedrooms and pine ceilings - because it was "too close to the airport"..so we are feeling extremely insecure right now. You know - I am aware that this does not help you sleep at night, but if you do not know - how can you help?

I feel so cut off from you all knowing I cannot tell you what's going on
here simply because you will feel uncomfortable. There is no ways we can leave so that is not an option. I just ask that you all pray for us in the
way that you know how, and let me know that you are thinking of us and
sending out positive vibes... that's all.

You can't just be in denial and pretend its not going on. To be frank
with you, its genocide in the making and if you do not believe me, read the Genocide Report by Amnesty International which says we are IN level seven (level 8 is after its happened and everyone is in denial). If you don't want me to tell you these things then it means you have not dealt with your own fear, but it does not help me to think you are turning your back on our situation. We need you to get the news OUT that we are all in a fearfully dangerous situation here. Too many people turn their backs and say - oh well, that's what happens in Africa. This government has GONE MAD and you need to publicize our plight or how can we be rescued?
You can't just say "oh you attract your own reality". The petrol queues
are a reality, the pall of smoke all around our city is a reality, the
thousands of homeless people sleeping outside in 0 degrees Celsius with no food water, shelter and bedding are a reality. Today a family approached me, brother of the gardener's wife with two small children.
Their home was trashed and they will have to sleep outside. We already
support 8 people and a child on this property and electricity is going up
next month by 250% as is water. How can I take another family of 4 - and yet how can I turn them away to sleep out in the open?

I am not asking you for money, or a ticket out of here - I am asking you
to FACE the fact that we are in deep and terrible danger and I want you to pass on our news and pictures and don't just press the delete button. Help in the way that you know how. Face the reality of what is going on here and SEND OUT THE WORD. The more people that know about it, the more chance we have of United Nations coming to our aid.

Please stop ignoring and denying what's happening. Would you like to be
protected from the truth and then if we are eliminated how would you feel?
Surely you would say "if only we knew how bad it really was we could have helped in some way". I know we chose to stay here and so we "deserve" what's coming to us. For now we ourselves, have food, shelter, a little fuel and a bit of money for the next meal - but what is going to happen next?

Will they start on our houses? All property is going to belong to the
State now. We no longer have SW radio which told us everything that was happening because the government jammed it out of existence - we don't have any reporters, and no one is allowed to photograph. If we had reporters here they would have an absolute field day. Even the pro government Herald has written that people are shocked, stunned, bewildered and blown mindless by the wanton destruction of everyone's homes which are supposed to be "illegal", but which a huge percentage of them actually do have licenses for.
Please - have some compassion and HELP by sending out this report so that something can be DONE. Please pray for us.

So there you have it: the reason I teach esl in Korea rather than live back in my home, Zimbabwe. It now has the worlds lowest life expectancy (34 yrs old) and the highest inflation.

Neil

Joined: 02 Jan 2004
Location: Tokyo

Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 11:41 pm Post subject:

How did you get an E2 visa with a Zimbabwe passport? Oh right....you have a UK passport which allows you to work in 25 countries. So you're not as exactly as trapped in Kimchi land as you like to make out?

jaganath69

Joined: 17 Jul 2003

Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 12:03 am Post subject:

rapier wrote:

ed4444 wrote:

30-ish Year old from Zimbabwe/GB needs help

See above post for details....

Our squabbling and bickering aside, I feel for most white Zimbabweans who have been forced off their land, out of their businesses and away from the land in which they were born. Mugabe is the epitomy of why government should keep the hell out of ordinary people's lives. I had two working for me in my last job in Australia and both were two of the most wonderful, calm, friendly and insightful people I have ever met. Both had the commonsense to get out of dodge before it became too bad, moving to South Africa then Australia. My country has reaped the benefit of accepting these hard working people and many of them are now revitalizing farming communities on the Southern Darling Downs in my home state of Queensland with their agricultural knowhow. Its a sad state of affairs that owing to its geopolitical irrelevance and lack of energy resources, the international community largely ignores the situation there. Its a measure of Mugabe's viciousness that he has not only turned on the whites who stayed to help keep Zim stable and running as the breadbasket of Africa, but now has punished the rest of the country who refuse to support him. I've a mate from uni who last I heard was working deep under cover with the MDC. He even sent some members to us, when I was working for the University Union to train them in political activism. To the brave people of Zimbabwe who risk their lives day in and out defying the monster Mugabe, my hat is off to you and may your struggle bear fruit before too long.

Big_Bird

Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...

Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 1:35 pm Post subject:

rapier wrote:

Hi Big bird,

Thanks for a decent reply. I posted those up because the first hand stories of ex muslims make for interesting reading..

Interesting that you think western intervention has made things worse as regards womens rights abuses.
What would you recommend then, to try and change attitudes in the long run? continued educational work by charities in places like Pakistan and Palestine? It just seems like a mountain to climb when you consider that the local society encourages and condones such abuses. I'm not saying its exclusive to the Muslim world, but it just seems to me they have the most widespread, institutionalised and cruellest forms of it.

Not sure if you've read "Burned alive", the first hand account of a palestinian woman who got set on fire by her brother. Fascinating account: -pm me if you want this book, I just finished reading it...

My appologies for not replying sooner, I had an imminent deadline to meet, and then this thread seemed to disappear.

What could we do to try to change attitudes in the long run? I don't know. I think quietly and invisibly funding local organisations that are trying to change things from inside is probably the best we can do. Unfortunately, change seems to have to come from within, not imposed from outside. The perception in the muslim world that their religion is under attack makes people more defensive and more determined to cling to every aspect of their culture. Women I knew walking around in miniskirts a couple of years ago are now covering from head to toe and attending Koran classes. A friend went back to visit his native Libya a few months ago, and was astonished at how many women were wearing the hijab, compared to August 2001 when he had left (when young girls were running about in mini-skirts etc). Women are taking up the hijab voluntarily as an act of defiance - as they feel their culture is under attack. It's hard to persuade the men in those cultures to change their ways when they feel under attack in this way -and it's much harder for those local women who were trying to change things now, as they've come to be associated with the West -which is perceived to be attacking the Islam world. Things have gone backwards since 2001.

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