By Kathryn Hawkins | Razoo.com
Imagine earning a trillion dollars for a week’s worth of work. Even the greediest CEOs of the now-disgraced Wall Street firms never saw those kinds of paychecks—but you can. If you live in Zimbabwe, that is.
As the 12 million residents of that war-torn African nation are discovering, being a trillionaire isn’t quite what it’s cracked up to be. These days, the Zimbabwean currency is worth so little that locals cannot even use it to buy a loaf of bread. In fact, local merchants will no longer accept the Zimbabwean dollar—they must be paid in foreign currency.
“If you don’t get your salary paid in foreign currency you are in serious trouble,†Esther, a woman from Harare, Zimbabwe, wrote in a diary for BBC News. “Now everything – water, electricity – have to be paid for in US dollars.â€
Unfortunately, very few Zimbabweans even have any income at all. According to the United Nations, more than 94 percent of the population has no formal employment, and over half of the population relies on food aid.
The switchover to foreign currency has helped the country considerably, allowing stores to reopen and restock their shelves. However, the country, long ruled by brutal dictator Robert Mugabe, and recently weakened even more by a widespread cholera outbreak, will need a lot of support to recover from its current crisis.
How you can help: You can help relief efforts by making a contribution to an international humanitarian aid group, such as ADRA International, which provides emergency food supplies, medical care, education, and microfinance business opportunities to people in Zimbabwe and many other developing countries.
By Kathryn Hawkins
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Tags: Africa, Harare, Razoo, Robert Mugabe, Society and Culture, trillionaire, United Nations, United States dollar, Zimbabwe, Zimbabwean dollar
