As the English language proverb goes, necessity is the mother of invention.
Put simply, the proverb means that difficult situations often inspire people to come up with ingenious solutions to get around their challenges.
The saying could not have described any other situation than the one currently obtaining in Zimbabwe where people are faced with stark choices – it’s either one adapts to the realities of the day or one is devoured by the myriad economic challenges facing the country.
Faced with daily power cuts, that on average last about 16 hours, Zimbos – as Zimbabweans like to call themselves – have devised ways of beating the long hours of darkness.
The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority has been facing a severe generation deficit since the beginning of the year and routinely cuts off power every day around 5am (0300 GMT) and switches it on around 10pm.
Most families cannot afford the rising cost of cooking gas and now resort to preparing their meals for each day during the night before power is switched off.
“It’s either we get up around 10pm to cook food for the following day or we will starve to death because we can’t afford to buy prepared meals from the shops,” said Primrose Pilime, a mother of five resident in Harare’s Mufakose low income suburb.
Without electricity throughout the day, the food is stored in refrigerators or freezers for those who have them or it is left in cool places, praying that it does not get bad due to the weather.
“We are really surviving by the grace of the Almighty because we have been fortunate so that since the past few months have been the winter season. I shudder to think what will happen during the coming months as we get into hot summer months,” explains Sipho Mandizha, who says she wakes up around 3am every day to prepare lunch for her two school-going children and husband.
With inflation pegged at 175.66 percent in June and with salaries mostly stagnant at 2018 levels, most basic commodities are out of reach for the majority of Zimbos.
To make ends meet, most people have reduced the number of meals per day to an average of two and have done away with some of the things that they hitherto considered basics.
“Bread is now a luxury and have since dropped out things like margarine, washing powder and cordials from the grocery list. We are sticking to the real basics such as bars of washing soap, toilet paper, sugar, salt and vegetables,” says Pilime.
The economic situation has provided fodder for social media jokes.
Never a people to get depressed by their plight, Zimbabweans have turned to social media to make fun of the country’s economic situation.
In one of the jokes, a video shows a group of monkeys swinging on electricity pylons, with a caption reading “Even Monkeys Have Realised How Tame the Zimbabwean Economy Is.”
“This is the only way we try to survive our challenges. Otherwise without these jokes we will all be depressed and we will all die because the hospitals have no medicines,” explains Frank Baureni who sells second-hand clothes in central Harare.
For the more serious Zimbabweans, the country’s economic crisis is however no laughing matter. With no solution in sight, it’s a matter of adapting or sinking for many.
JN/APA