I had exactly the same response as Penelope Chester when I read Ethan Zuckerman’s blog about the events in Gabon. I immediately Googled Gabon and found that the top stories were about football, not the political crisis in that country.

What makes the events in Egypt more compelling for media houses and news agencies around the world? Read both Penelope and Ethan to learn more about the situation in Gabon.

Ethan reminds us:

We are challenged to witness people’s struggles, whether or not they take place in countries we already know and fear. We are challenged to ensure that authoritarian regimes don’t crush dissent because they know no one is watching. Increasingly, we have the tools to pay attention to revolutionary change anywhere in the world – now we just have to live up to our responsibilities.

My name is Mai Machafa and I have been selling since 2003. What made me keep on selling is that I realized it is better to be my own boss than to work for some one else. I think selling as a vendor is better than just sitting. I would love to do something else besides selling vegetables but right now there in nothing worthwhile to do besides being a vendor.

What I would say is a big problem is the council. We are paying money to them but they do nothing in return with our money. The money they want us to pay is too much when we do not have water. The toilets are bad and we don’t have electricity so we can’t sell at night.

The future I wish to see in Zimbabwe is a future that is good like what we once had. A life that where we struggle less. We want to be able to have and afford stuff. I want the future to be good for my 4-year-old son so that he doesn’t become a vendor like me. I want him to be able to have a good job and for him to have a good education.

The advice to people that do not have anything to do I would like to say you can start selling even at your gate. Sell anything – mangoes in your yard or even the vegetables from your garden. Do something that would ensure that you have food in your house.

ZANU PF youths have taken their terror further by informing headmasters in Harare that they must leave at least two days a week for lessons about the liberation struggle, Radio VOP can reveal. “We have been asked to teach for three days and the other two days we must teach children about Zanu PF and the liberation war,” a headmaster told Radio VOP in an exclusive interview.

A poll on The Standard newspaper web site caught my eye today. The question is: Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is warming up to Zanu PF? (Oddly put I agree)

Apparently the majority of people think YES.

Hmmm.

But according to The Standard, their poll kicked off with the first vote on 4 January 2002.

I know the city council has not been able to remove rubbish from some parts of Harare but that does not we citizens should enjoy it. There is this rubbish pile by Kuwadzana and instead of the people burning it or even sitting as far from it as possible, some vendors sit near it and enjoy it. Life carries on like there is no serious harm to their health and that of their customers. I was amazed that people can actually sit that close to a rubbish pile and laugh and enjoy themselves. There is also a lady who was picking up some plastic papers, taking her time while she was bending towards the rubbish. She did not seem to be bothered by the foul smell coming from there. I do not even want to imagine what she wanted to with the plastic papers, I just hope she wanted to light a fire or something along those lines.

I really think Zimbabweans have become content with things going wrong. People seem not to care enough to at least do something about it no matter how small. I know the rubbish pile might not be going anywhere soon but people can at least burn it.

If they can’t burn at least stay away from it.

Election campaign messages that date back as far as 2005 can be seen on Chiremba Balancing rocks in Epworth. Due to limited advertising space in public media various political parties resort to putting their campaign messages on national monuments. Chiremba Balancing Rocks were declared a national monument in 1994 and are located 13 km southeast of Harare. The granite balancing rocks lie within a natural breathtaking scenic environment. These rocks were a famous feature on some of  Zimbabwe’s bank notes before the currency was changed to American dollars.

With another round of elections on the cards more graffiti is expected to besmirch these magnificent rocks since the site has been turned into a mere billboard. One would wonder if the ideas and energy taken by the people who spray painted these rocks is put to action we wouldn’t be having problems in marketing our country  to the outside world. Instead of showing their advertising and marketing skills by bringing more tourists to this place they decided abuse the place with political party messages.