The needs of Zimbabwe have only become greater since Kevin Snyman trekked across the country in the 1980s

I remember the last time I visited Zimbabwe. It was 1988, and I was travelling in a gorgeously restored 1975 Land Rover with my five British friends. We almost wore out the tape of Zimbabwae by American singer-songwriter Toni Childs, so naturally we decided to call the Landie ‘Toni’.

Zimbabwae is a man who tried
To teach his children what was right
But then there came a time when war
Split the family from inside, he said no fighting no more
What you gonna do, Zimbabwae?
What you gonna do, Zimbabwae, hey?
Can there be some peace on earth, can there be a love
Greater than the world we see, greater than us all?

Fast forward to 2022 and I am delighted that the focus region for this year’s Christian Aid Week is that achingly beautiful country. Thirty-four years on, the problems in the region have, if anything, worsened. Ordinary people face the structural ‘wars’ of grinding poverty and climate disruption in a way I could scarcely have imagined all those years ago…

Kevin Snyman is Programme Officer, Global Justice and Partnerships. For more information about Christian Aid Week, visit www.caweek.org

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This is an extract from an article published in the May 2022 edition of Reform

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