The people of Zhomba Mission in Gokwe—a region spanning the territories of three chiefs, Nenyunga, Simuchembo, and Madzivazvido—are facing an acute hunger crisis. Already marginalized economically and socially, the approximately 40,000 residents, who rely mainly on agriculture, have been devastated by a prolonged drought, with no food aid in sight.
The 2023 farming season was exceptionally harsh. Rainfall was minimal and erratic, with rains arriving late and ending abruptly, leaving crops without the necessary time to mature. This resulted in a complete crop failure. By January 2024, the impact of a severe drought was already evident, as water reservoirs began drying up, and both people and livestock struggled to find drinking water.
In this dire situation, residents looked to government, social welfare programs, and humanitarian organizations for relief. Unfortunately, no adequate measures have been put in place to address the crisis fully. A significant setback was the delayed declaration of the hunger crisis as a national disaster, which delayed the response of charity organizations like Caritas. To make matters worse, the response became entangled in partisan politics, with food aid distribution plans announced but not realized.
Programs such as food-for-work initially raised hopes, but they have yet to be implemented, leaving communities disillusioned. The limited aid from social welfare has reportedly been undermined by corruption, with benefits reserved for a few connected to local leaders, while the majority are left without assistance.
In a further blow, people have been compelled to work on road and dam projects without adequate food or compensation. Many elderly residents, long past retirement age, are among those laboring with promises of minimal compensation, often only a small sack of mealie meal. This situation has strained social values, especially respect and care for the elderly.
The struggle for survival has also led to severe environmental degradation, as many are resorting to cutting down trees for charcoal production to sell for food. This deforestation has left the area more vulnerable to strong winds, which have destroyed numerous homes. With no food for livestock, some residents are risking their lives by taking their cattle to graze in game parks, where they face dangers from both game rangers and wild animals. Tragically, some have lost their lives in these desperate attempts, and many cattle have perished from exhaustion and lack of water.
The crisis has escalated into a complex social issue, increasing crime and violent behavior in the area. Many youths have left to seek employment elsewhere, hoping to send money back home to support their families. Families are being separated as men leave in search of work, with many ending up in hazardous and exploitative conditions, including illegal mining, which has had a damaging impact on their physical and psychological health.
Access to water is another major challenge. People wait for hours to fill a single bucket and sometimes must walk over 15 kilometers overnight to obtain drinking water. The few remaining cattle are frequently stolen, or they drown in the mud as water sources dry up. Residents accuse some local police of involvement in livestock thefts by providing clearance documents for stolen cattle. The unrelenting search for water has left many exhausted and stressed, depriving them of rest and compromising their health.
The lack of clean water poses a serious health risk, as people are forced to drink unsafe water. The combination of extreme heat, long treks in the sun, and inadequate rest is taking a toll on their health. Elderly residents, in particular, face tremendous hardship as they struggle daily to survive.
Local schools have recently received government support for a food program, but the mealie meal provided is reportedly of poor quality, with some of it spoiled. The lack of balanced nutrition means that even the one meal children receive at school is insufficient, leaving them hungry for much of the day.
Looking ahead, the hunger crisis is likely to persist as residents lack seeds for the 2024 planting season and have no funds to purchase them. There is widespread frustration over the lack of fairness in government aid distribution and the absence of a platform to address grievances. Although a few individuals have attempted to organize food sharing, their efforts are like a drop in the ocean, unable to stem the flames of hunger sweeping the region. People are now even drawing water from springs deep in the game parks, despite the dangers.
There is an urgent need for food assistance to restore hope to the people of Zhomba Mission. Additionally, an investment in water infrastructure, such as boreholes, would provide a lifeline, enabling a sustainable future for this community.
On November 17, 2024, we celebrate the VIII’s World Day of the Poor and Pope Francis has chosen a particularly significant theme for this year dedicated to prayer, and in the proximity of the beginning of the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025: "The prayer of the poor rises up to God" (cf. Si 21,5).
This time the prayer has being prepared by the Claretian Sisters (RMI) with references to their founders. Let us join the whole Church in this ecclesial day of prayer.
The key word to understand the Bolivian reality before and after the militarization (coup d'état) of the government house on 26 June is "uncertainty".
It is important to comment on the situation in Bolivia when this event began; there was already a context of uncertainty marked by the dollar crisis and an internal conflict in the governing party.
With regard to the first, we are living in a situation in which there is a shortage of dollars in which, on the one hand, the official exchange price is maintained (with limits for exchanging currency through banks), but a clandestine parallel market for buying and selling dollars has been generated in which the price is notoriously higher; this generates a situation of speculation and price increases that has gradually been affecting the pockets of the general population.
The internal conflict within the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), the current governing party, is a struggle to define its leadership between former president Evo Morales and current president Luis Arce, which, among other things, has led to a rupture between the executive and legislative branches of government. This has led to situations in which different credits and other legal proposals demanded by the executive power are not approved by the legislative power, causing a situation of political stagnation.
In this context, the coup attempt exacerbated the uncertainty experienced by the population. On the one hand, as the situation unfolded, people began to crowd into supermarkets and neighbourhood shops to stock up on basic necessities, and in banks and exchange offices, the queues for dollars intensified. The result was increased speculation and price hikes that lasted for several weeks after the event and continue to this day. On the other hand, the banks increased their policies of limiting dollar payments by creating higher limits on internet payments and decreasing the authorised amounts of monthly credit or debit cards for payments in dollars from that same day, which made the "dollar shortage" situation even more strongly felt. Shortly after the event, a fuel crisis was also generated, due to a situation in Chile's ports, which only added to the uncertainty felt by the population regarding the day-to-day economic situation.
However, in addition to the day-to-day economy, there is a strong political uncertainty that was also exacerbated after the event. During the coup attempt, several members of the Arcista wing began to say that Evo Morales was responsible for the whole thing; and later, General Zúñiga, at that time commander of the Armed Forces and the main actor in the event, began a speech in which he spoke of "an elite that took over the state" and demanded the release of opposition figures such as Jeanine Añez and Fernando Camacho (both important actors during the conflicts of 2019). After he was captured, however, General Zúñiga himself blamed Arce, indicating that he was seeking a self-coup orchestrated in conjunction with the armed forces.
In this sense, it is difficult for the general population to have a clear view of the events that took place that afternoon. There are many among the population who believe that it was all theatre (theatrical performance); there are others who accept the version that Evo Morales was behind the events, and there are others who believe that it was an affront by the military itself. In this sense, what prevails in Bolivian society today is uncertainty about the institutions of the state; that is, after the events, people have almost completely lost confidence in the state. This is also currently manifesting itself in the lack of confidence in the recently published preliminary results of the 2024 Census. This distrust in the institutions translates into a lack of credibility in any policy to be implemented, and several social sectors have begun to demand Arce's resignation and new elections, such as the trade unions and transport workers, as well as some peasant groups sympathetic to Evo Morales. On the other hand, fascist and militarist discourse also increased from that day onwards; there are sectors of the Bolivian population who think that the solution to the current situation is "the return of the military governement", with a misguided nostalgia for the military dictatorships that caused so much pain and death in the country.
As a result of all this, there was also a notorious change in President Arce's economic policies. To tackle the economic situation, the president held meetings with the Central Obrera Boliviana (workers' association), without reaching clear proposals or consensus. He then opted to meet with the country's business sector, and as a result of these meetings with businessmen, market liberalization policies are being implemented in some areas (tariffs on medicines were recently reduced) and there is a clear escalation in the reduction of restrictions for the agro-industrial sector. The latter is particularly threatening, as it comes in the midst of a context of fires in the Amazon, most of which have been caused by arson and are obviously totally unattended; reducing restrictions on agriculture could mean that this sector is being used to continue its damage to mother earth.
They are trying to get out of a complex economic situation by favouring powerful sectors of society (business and agro-industry) but ordinary people find nothing to give them security and certainty in their own situation, prices continue to rise, the dollar situation worsens and uncontrollable fires terrorize the people of the east.
A week ago Evo Morales called for a march that reached La Paz, the seat of government, threatening to encircle the area and provoke the resignation of the current president if his demands, including the resignation of several ministers, are not met. One of the main reasons for these pressure measures led by Morales is his determination to be the MAS candidate for the next presidential elections despite not having the support of a majority within his party. This march led to conflicts, riots and clashes between those who support Evo Morales and those who support President Arce.
In this context of uncertainty, the aforementioned distrust of the 2024 Census data could further aggravate regional conflict in the country, a conflict that has historically always used the least favoured sectors as cannon fodder.
Each year, from 1 September to 4 October, the Christian family unites in this global celebration of prayer and action to respond together to the cry of Creation: the ecumenical family around the world comes together to listen and care for our common home, God's Oikos.
It is a special season where we celebrate God as Creator and acknowledge Creation as the ongoing divine act that calls us as co-workers to love and care for the gift of all creation. As followers of Christ from around the world, we share a common call to care for Creation. Our well-being is interwoven with the well-being of the Earth.
We rejoice in this opportunity to safeguard our common home and all beings who share it. Amid the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, many are beginning to despair and suffer eco-anxiety. As people of faith, we are called to lift up the hope that inspires our faith, the hope of resurrection. This is not a hope without action, but a hope embodied in concrete actions of prayer and preaching, service and solidarity.
This season, we are also joining our Christian voices through a joint advocacy initiative in support of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty that calls for a halt to new fossil fuel projects.
Join this common effort of the Christian family through the three actions proposed for this season of creation:
On September 1, the Feast of Creation, for which we offer a prayer that you can use in both religious and lay communities.
On September 21, we will have a day of action for advocacy: It will be a day of action to support the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty (FFNPT). The 79th Session of the UN General Assembly will take place from 10-24 September and it is in this context that Christians, as a global family, will raise our voices and show how faith communities can be powerful agents of justice and hope around the world.
On October 4, we will celebrate St Francis of Assisi: this day is his feast day and the last day of the Season of Creation. People of faith from all over the world will gather in an online prayer service prepared by the Ecumenical Youth Committee of the Season of Creation to celebrate together our month-long journey.
On August 9, the International Day of Indigenous Peoples is commemorated, which seeks to promote inclusion, equality and respect towards these communities. Today there are more than 476 million indigenous people in approximately 90 countries around the world, who represents only 5% of the world's population, and the majority are in a highly vulnerable situation.
On this occasion, the prayer has been prepared by the JPIC team of Lay Claretians for the entire Claretian family. Let us make this day a moment of prayer and reflection for our communities. Fraternal greetings.
