As the persecuted Anglican Bishop of Harare, Sebastian Bakare, wraps up his tour of Sydney, it appears his homeland is on the brink of catastrophe.
Today, ZImbabwe declared a national emergency and appealed for international aid to tackle a cholera outbreak that has already claimed 565 lives.
In Sydney, Bishop Bakare called on Australian Government assistance in accessing Australian water-drilling expertise to save Harare residents from a cholera epidemic.
“The authorities have now officially closed down the Harare water supply which has for weeks been intermittent at best and consistently dangerous to health," eh said. "The only prospect of safe water for Harare residents is a major water drilling campaign throughout the city area. Fresh, clean water can usually be found around eighty meters depth."
Bishop Bakare has been in Sydney since November 20 at the invitation of the Rev Fred Nile and the Christian Democratic Party.
Earlier in the week, Bishop Bakare was asked by the ABC's The World Today program if Robert Mugabe was to blame for the unprecedented cholera outbreak.
"I can say so, because we’ve never had cholera in Zimbabwe" I don’t remember that kind of disease, it’s a new disease which has broken out because there hasn’t been attention given to infrastructure, especially the water system," he said.
Millions face starvation
Relief agencies say as many as 2 million Zimbabweans require immediate food aid. They estimate this figure could shoot up to 5.1 million by January.
Fred Nyamhunga, chairman of the Sydney-based Zimbabwe Aid Association, released an assessment this week saying his homeland "has entered into the throes of death'.
"The world seems callous to the ever-sinking crisis in that country. Since the elections in March 8 which were won by the opposition MDC- T, there has never a day that has passed without people being tortured, killed, disappeared, starved and now we have cholera" "
Mr Nyambunga painted a horrific picture of life inside Zimbabwe, with social services already collapsed because the Government has run out of cash.
"The government is now offering free graves because of the epidemic caused by breakdown of essential services like no running water, sewage overflowing in the streets, no electricity, school have been shutdown and there is no hope of them opening next year. Hospitals are closing their doors because they have no medicines to dispense. Rural clinics are now empty reminders of how life was in times past.. Starving sick prisoners are being released to avoid dying inside" We are now going to see this crisis moving to another heartbreaking scenarios."
Bishop Bakare is also establishing a school meals program for Anglican schools in his Harare Diocese.
Presently most schools have closed because teachers receive less pay than the cost of commuting to school, and because they and their families are also facing starvation.
“For less than US$0.50 (fifty cents) we can provide one meal per day to a school student. This will save children from starvation and also give them the incentive to attend school," he said.
Yagoona: aid effort and praise to God
A driving force behind local aid efforts for Zimbabawe is David Shekede, a Zimbabwean trainee pastor who is studying theology in Sydney and attends St Mark's Anglican Church, Yagoona.
In October, these efforts saw the Zimbabwean community in Sydney collect enough clothes to fill a 20 ft container which left Sydney bound for Zimbabwe.
On Tuesday night, Bishop Bakare briefed a large group of Sydney-based Zimbabweans at a special church service at St Mark's.
As the bishop related the extent of church closures, and showed pictures of the locked cathedral in Harare, he placed the responsibility for the closures squarely upon himself.
"Because Sebastian Bakare speaks out against injustice, against financial mismanagement, against the neglect and abuse of this people by their government, his churches must be closed," he said.
Not only are these churches closed, they are locked and guarded by armed police, so that people cannot enter even the grounds of suburban churches.
Bishop Bakare urged the Zimbabweans in the congregation to do all they could for those who remained behind, but he left no doubt that the hope of Zimbabwe lay with God.
Though the picture painted by Bishop Bakare was bleak, Zimbabweans are not ready to give up on their country or their faith in their Lord and Saviour. Much of the evening was given over to song, supported by a group of musicians from the parish of Yagoona.
The most beautiful and moving moment was hearing the combined voices of Zimbabweans raised in unaccompanied songs of praise to God, expressing their undimmed confidence in the hope of salvation offered by God to individuals, and to the nation of Zimbabwe.
One woman commented that just reading the words on the song sheet made her feel home-sick.
Additional reporting: Craig Small from St Mark's, Yagoona.
