Zimbabwe: Secret Lives
Zimbabwe is a country in free fall. Life expectancy is plummeting, while inflation is rocketing. But the nightmare of life there is notoriously hard to document. Photographer Robin Hammond evades Mugabe's murderous police to smuggle out these extraordinary images.
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Secret Lives: Street children, Harare. Under the government initative Murambitsvina (Operation Restore Order), many homes and places of work belonging to the capitals poor were destroyed. Since the operation there has been a marked increase in the number of street childen on the streets of Harare.
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: Street children asleep. The glass-fronted building in the background is The Reserve Bank, Robert Mugabe's symbol of power. Harare, Zimbabwe. May 2007
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: A street child is beaten over the head by a policeman in downtown Harare.
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: Murambitsvina, also translated as 'clean up the filth' continues. Street children are picked up by police and dumped miles out of town to discourage them from being on the street. Harare. May 2007
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: A street boy smashes a bottle, selects a piece of glass, and shaves his friend’s head. The boy holds back tears as the glass nicks the skin. Viewed as troublemakers by most of society, street children form strong bonds which for many take the place of family.
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: Harare bus station not only provides a few hideaways in which to sleep but the large number of people passing through offers opportunities for begging, scavenging leftovers, and pickpocketing. These days though, the pickings are slim.
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: A man fortunate enough to have work holds his monthly wages, equal to just over GBP80. His pay includes a travel allowance which, due to inflation, is now greater than the salary itself. The cost of living doubled in the course of April 2007 as Zimbabwe's annual inflation reached 3,700%. Some experts now estimate it has reached 15,000%. Harare, Zimbabwe. May 2007
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: Scarce supply of basic foods has fed the black market. A woman in central Harare sells milk from her garage every Thursday morning. May 2007
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: A man holds his head in front of The Reserve Bank, Robert Mugabe's symbol of power. Zimbabwe. May 2007
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: Inflation of 3,700% means that more and more Zimbabweans are forced out of the cash economy. They scavenge for food and firewood, and plastic for their walls and ceilings. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has wide-ranging support in the country, but a ruthless governing party ensures any voices of opposition are crushed. Zimbabwe. May 2007
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: With unemployment now over 80%, Zimbabweans must make money any way they can. At rubbish dumps in Harare the unemployed search through waste for items to sell. Harare, Zimbabwe. May 2007
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: The home of a man killed in 1996 for supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Zimbabwe. May 2007
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: Memory, 30, has Aids. She will see out her final days in this rural hospital surrounded by other woman also dying of the same illness. Women's life expectancy has dropped from 65 a decade ago to 34 now, the lowest in the world. The government only has enough antiretroviral drugs to treat 30,000 of its estimated 3 million HIV positive citizens. NGOs try to make up the shortfall, but the government is making it increasingly difficult for them to work. Zimbabwe. May 2007
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: St Marcellin Children's Village is an orphanage that takes childen no one else will. Operation Murambatsvina has led to an increase in abandoned children. Many children come in very ill and do not survive very long. Thanks to the care of the village, others grow to be healthy young men and women. Moses was found placed on the side of a road wrapped in a towel. He is HIV positive. Harare, Zimbabwe. May 2007
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: A priest attempts to rid a young man of the evil spirits that have made him ill. As times get harder, more and more Zimbabweans turn to religion. A shortage of medicines and doctors has led people to turn to their church leaders for healing. Many illnesses, including AIDS, are blamed on spirits.
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: Without work, many townspeople sell fruit and vegetables outside their front doors. Harare, Zimbabwe. May 2007
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: School fees, exercise books, birth certificates, uniforms - a child may be denied an education if he or she can't produce one or all of these. For many of Zimbabwe's poor, not being able to afford the small fee or provide the correct documentation will mean they will grow up uneducated, and the cycle of poverty will continue.
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: Luckily for these children in Harare, a local man named Ronald Kanengoni has opened up his backyard to provide informal schooling. 350 children attend every day. Harare, Zimbabwe. May 2007
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: One of the few government schools to meet the government's target of providing one book for every child.
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: Kanengoni school.
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: A malnourished child in a feeding centre outside Harare. Poverty has meant malnutrition is increasingly prevalent. Zimbabwe. May 2007
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: A malnourished child in a feeding centre outside Harare. Poverty has meant malnutrition is increasingly prevalent. Zimbabwe. May 2007
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: A farm that has been invaded and left to go to waste. Zimbabwe. May 2007
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: South West Zimbabwe. May 2007
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: School is too expensive for many Zimbabwean families. If they are lucky they will be able to afford the equivalent of a school term for one of their children. The others will be expected to make money to support the family. South West Zimbabwe. May 2007
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
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Secret Lives: Zimbabwe’s children have only known hunger and struggle. Most are not aware that at independence only 27 years ago, their country was the breadbasket of the region, a shining example of what was possible. Now many do not live long enough to realise how far their country has fallen.
Photograph: Robin Hammond/Observer Magazine
