From Harare: Your questions answered

Esther (not her real name), 28, a professional living and working in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, is writing a diary on the challenges of getting through each day.

Zimbabwe is suffering from an acute economic crisis. The country has the world's highest rate of annual inflation - and just one in five has an official job.

This week Esther answers questions from readers.

Q: I spent many years in Harare and consider Zimbabwe as my second home. I would like to know is University of Zimbabwe, Medical School open and admitting students? How do they survive, both students and lecturers? I regret that Zimbabwe is not the country rich in oil...in that case the rest of the world will care more. Take care Esther

Mutsa, Belgrade, Serbia

A: The UZ is still functioning, although they have delayed starting the 2nd semester till after elections. I was a student there in the late 90s and have returned for some professional studies. It is not what it used to be, but its still there. I don't know how students survive, for most of them it's a miracle, as food and accommodation are quite expensive and out of the reach of many.

Q: Hi Esther, I work with people with HIV infection in the UK. What prospects regarding medical and drug treatment (with antiretrovirals) would people face returning to Zimbabwe?

Clare, Birmingham, UK

A: I think the Ministry of Health has worked hard to set up partnerships in this area of Anti Retroviral Therapy such that there are a lot of organisations providing ART here. The drugs are also available from pharmacies but those cost billions for a month's therapy, so that's not for everyone. Most people use the public sector facility.

Q: Hie! Ester i want to thank u for such a good job u r doin.i'm really proud ov u sis please don't stop until we get our Zimbabwe back. DO U THINK SIMBA IS GENUINE & CAN HE OUST MUGABE.

jack madeu, zimbabwean in UK

A: I watched a Simba Makoni interview on a South African TV channel last night. I'm afraid he came across as being evasive and downright rude at times. We were actually talking about the interview with my colleagues on the way to work and 9/12 people believe he shot himself in the foot with that interview. He is NOT opposition to the ruling party, so no, I think he is not genuine.

Q: I once lived in Harare and had predicted then, 1999, that things were going to touch the bottom before getting up again. But I never imagined it would get this bad. One thing I also remember is the smugness of the average Zim elite then; ever ready to point at the failings of other African states and demonstrating so much disdain for nationals of those states going through economic reforms. Kwacha in Zim parlance meant worthless note; what do we call the Zim dollar of today? When I arrived Harare, the Zim dollar was 9 ZWD - 1 USD. Such a sad irony. Zimbabweans have to take their destiny in their hands. No one else can do it for them.

Olu, Abuja, Nigeria

Q: I never got the picture of what Zim inflation means to you guys' life out there, but now I understand after your told how you go to work and while coming back home you find commuter bus fare shot up two, three fold. JUST HOW DO YOU GUYS SURVIVE, REALLY? Hang in there Zim, everything is gonna be alright.

Bravo, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

A: Kwacha still means worthless note, only that's what we call our own dollar now. As of today, our dollar is trading at 40m to 1US. As of 1 January this year, it was 6m to 1US. So you see how fast we are going?

Q: Esther do you Zimbabweans all get your basic needs such as daily food and security? You know sometimes you can survive in any way, but the worst problem in the world is lack of security.

Abdirihiin, Hargeisa, Somaliland

A: Yes, at least we don't have guns & bombs going off all around us.

Q: Your situation sounds so very much like what happened in Guyana in the 1970's and '80's. Empty shelves and teachers leaving to become traders and on and on. It was common and popular for people to blame the president and his "bad" economic policies but I saw the World Bank destroy some of his programmes which could have put milk and beef on the table of every Guyanese and I saw foreign companies and foreign governments strangle Guyana's ability to trade, to manufacture and to earn foreign exchange. I am curious to know if some of these same types of circumstances are at play in your country.

Pat, Maple Ridge, Canada

A: The World Bank issue is one I'm not qualified to comment on. But I do know we have made some policies that have driven out investors and scared off any potential ones. I think our country is now perceived as one in which anything can happen to one's property at any time. A new law is just drafted to justify the seizure. Pricing decisions are made for you by the state, foreign earnings are retained by the state, official foreign exchange rate is not market driven, but fixed by the state. All this makes for a hostile climate in which to conduct business.

Q: Hello Esther, what are the chances of Simba Makoni beating President Mugabe in the upcoming elections?

Kennedy Nji Achiri, Douala Cameroon

A: Well, he seems to have the support of party loyalists who think Mugabe needs to step down, and of academics and high powered executives who cannot see a former trade union leader being president.

Q: Hi Esther, I have been following the situation in Zimbabwe, since my daughter married a very good man from your country and is very sad the situation that all your country is enduring, I admire your strength and hope that sometime soon all of that will change. My son's family is out of there but his grandmother is living in Harare and we are always praying for her and all of you .

R. E. Aponte, Castle Rock, Colorado USA

A: Thank you for the prayers. Help us to pray for courage to turn out in our millions for 29 March, especially in the rural areas, and for peace after the results are announced.

Q: Esther, I think you are brave and strong and what is happening in your homeland is a crime. In years past, we counted on Zimbabwe to pull other countries through a drought year since the harvest from Zimbabwe was usually so bountiful. May you soon see a renewal as brilliant as the famous Harare Jacaranda trees and as bountiful as past harvests.

Ginny, Massachusetts, USA

A: That is our prayer too. Thank you.

Q: Esther to begin with I want to send you my love and support - you are so brave to be standing firm and not leaving even though times are hard. Are you in danger for talking so openly about the situation? What are you hopes and dreams for the future?

Sarah McCully, Belfast

A: Am I in danger? Esther is NOT my name. Does that answer your question?

Q: Is this situation going to change? because students are the most affected please write something on our decaying educational system

regererai maguta, masvingo

A: Hi Regerarai, you know as well as I do that school kids have not been going to school for more than two weeks now. Are you old enough to vote? If you are please try to change the situation on 29 March.

Q: is it fairly hard working in hospitals or is it that they just cannot hold up enough people, and isn't there a lot of hospitals in zimbabwe?

Halimah Hussein, London England

A: We have quite a number of hospitals, but like I said no drugs, and no staff. The pay structure is just ridiculous, so most of our doctors & nurses are abroad or working informally.

Q: Hi Esther.

I just want to know about the health standards and provisions made (if any) to the general public. There can never be an informal clinic/hospital i suppose. So how are people really surviving medically?

Willie, Perth, Western Australia

A: The medical situation is sad. I have heard rumours that the Registrar/Superintendent of our major hospital in Harare wanted it to be shut down, but he is the one who got fired instead. We just do not have drugs, and at times no running water & no power. I have heard stories from nurses about how at times patients lie in messed bedding because there aren't enough personnel to change the bedding and clean the patients. My cousin, a medical doctor, has told me of how they give paliative care rather than carry out tests to find out what is wrong with a patient, because there is no point in the investigation, as there are no drugs to treat whatever it is. The only drugs in abundance are ARVs, because there are so many organisations doing ART research here.

Q: BBC, you are fraudulent! Esther does not exist. You have cooked up rubbish as usual just to paint the ugliest picture possible about Zimbabwe. you only choose to see what you want to see about zimbabwe.

John Iteshi, London, UK

You are partly right John, as Esther is not my real name, and I am not 28. It is a little fraud to keep certain people off my scent - but I certainly exist!

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