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WORLD NEWS Tuesday 13 augusT 2019
Zimbabwe's children suffer from country's economic crisis

By FARAI MUTSAKA ism because the children
Associated Press have a lot on their plate,"
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — said Mpata, the spokes-
It is only a few hours since woman for the Associa-
Zimbabwe's schools closed tion of Rural Teachers of
for month-long August holi- Zimbabwe. "Even if they
days, and 13-year-old Tan- come (to school), they are
yaradzwa is already milling either sleepy or, instead of
outside a bar "doing busi- concentrating on school
ness," he says. work they are busy thinking
He hawks cigarettes out- 'Where will we get the next
side a dingy downtown bar meal if I don't sell enough
in the capital, Harare, and items after school today?'"
for a fee, helps motorists Teachers have their own
find parking space. grievances. They are paid
"I am not a street kid. I the equivalent of about
come here to sell my things, $50 a month and, like the
go home and use the rest of the civil service, say
money to buy food," said they cannot live on those
Tanyaradzwa, who did not wages, which they call
give his last name to pro- "slave salaries."
tect his privacy. "We live in the communi-
With power cuts lasting 19 ty. We interact with these
hours per day, debilitating A young boy smiles while carrying a basket to a popular market in Harare, Thursday, Aug, 8, 2019. children and their parents.
water shortages, inflation Associated Press They are like family. That's
at 175% and many basic why we always try to give it
items in scarce supply, Zim- cigarettes, he said. of their children - no matter street named after for- our all ... but hungry teach-
babwe's children are the His parents run a small veg- how young. mer longtime ruler Robert ers teaching hungry chil-
silent victims of the once- etable stall in Glen View, Children are forced to Mugabe, children joined dren, that's tough," said
prosperous southern Afri- a working class residential juggle between school de- elders pushing fruit and Mpata.
can country's debilitating area, but what they make mands and supplementing vegetable carts. Some kids The food situation is dire in
economic downfall. is hardly enough to pay the the family income through held cardboard boxes sell- Zimbabwe, with about a
Tanyaradzwa would rather bills, let alone buy food, he street vending or selling at ing items ranging from cig- third of the country's 17 mil-
be home playing comput- said. small stalls. arettes, cell phone airtime, lion people being food in-
er games with friends. But Due to the spectacular de- "These holidays just mean sweets and clothing. secure due to drought and
for his family of six to eat he terioration of an economy more work. There is no According to Mercy Mpa- the worsening economy,
must hang around the bar that brimmed with hope break, because I now have ta, a teachers' representa- according to a report re-
at the popular Elizabeth less than two years ago, no excuse not to work ev- tive, the demands are tak- leased this month by U.N.
Hotel in hopes of cashing in many people can no lon- ery day," said Tanyaradz- ing many children's focus agencies, international
on afternoon drinkers and ger afford to put food on wa. away from school. aid organizations and the
passersby who want to buy the table without the help On the adjacent, busy "There is a lot of absentee- government.q

Russia, Iran, others debate how to split Caspian oil riches

By ALEXANDER VERSHININ try Medvedev, who at- energy riches should pro-
TURKMENBASHI, Turkmeni- tended Monday's forum in vide a powerful incentive
stan (AP) — Five countries Turkmenistan, said that the for the region's develop-
bordering the energy-rich ratification is expected "in ment.
Caspian Sea met Monday the near future." Turkmenistan and Azerbai-
at an economic forum Iranian Vice President Es- jan have yet to agree on
hosted by Turkmenistan in a haq Jahangiri was non- how to share the reserves
bid to agree on how to di- committal, making no under the seabed. That has
vide the region's oil wealth. commitments in his speech impeded progress of the
Last year, the leaders of at the forum. Trans-Caspian natural gas
Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Jahangiri argued that non- pipeline that would carry
Turkmenistan and Kazakh- Caspian nations shouldn't Turkmen gas across the sea
stan signed a convention meddle in the region's af- to Azerbaijan and further
aimed at ending decades- fairs and charged that the on to Western markets.
long uncertainty over ex- United States' unilateralist "It's a very sensitive issue,"
ploitation of its resources. policies and its emphasis said Bahram Huseynov, a
The agreement establishes on sanctions threaten sta- vice president of Azerbai-
rules for declaring each bility of the region. jan's state oil company SO-
country's territorial waters Turkmenistan's Presi- CAR. "No concrete steps Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, left, and Turkmeni-
stan's President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov speak, prior to
and fishing zones, but the dent Gurbanguly Berdy- have been made yet and a session of the First Caspian Economic Forum in Turkmenbashi,
issue of dividing seabed mukhamedov, who has it's too early to discuss spe- Turkmenistan, Monday, Aug. 12, 2019.
that contains rich oil and wielded all-encompassing cifics." Associated Press
gas fields is subject to fur- power since taking office Huseynov added that de-
ther negotiations. in 2006, styling himself as militarization of the sea bor- the energy riches. its efforts to diversify sources
Russia and Iran are yet to the former Soviet republic's der between Azerbaijan The West has long encour- of energy, while Russia and
ratify last year's agreement. Arkadag (protector), told and Turkmenistan could fa- aged prospective trans- Iran have watched the
Russia's Prime Minister Dmi- the forum that the Caspian cilitate the talks on dividing Caspian pipelines as part of plans with unease.q