An African Lament

I don't do political commentary very gracefully at all, so insted I'll tell you the briefest of stories.

Back in the days IGL, I organized a temp to take over my duties at IGL for one of my trips back home (I usually took my 4 weeks off in one lot, and that left quite a gap at the office). We hired on an older lady, who really was quite nice, if not a bit shy.

She had a subtle, yet distinctive afrikaans lilt to her voice, and being the sticky beak I am, I asked how she came to be in Perth.

It was a sad sad story of how she and her family were more or less forced (threatened) to abandon their lives in Africa, so for their safety they decided to move to Australia. Some of the details were quite terrifying if not a big boggling. In fact, I rememer wondering if she hadn't exaggerated some of it. (That is before so many of the terrible stories started to come out of Zimbabwe and the region in general).

They left EVERYTHING behind. What they didn't carry with them on the plane, they had to forsake (including the contents of their bank accounts etc.)

This circumstance left them near destitute, near retirement age. Her husband was struggling to find meaningful work (he'd been a photographer with his own shop in Africa) and her scrambling to find any income to sustain the family.

Situations like this trouble me. And, remind me how lucky I am to have never had to face these kidn of threats to my life and my liberty.