Student Spotlight September 2008

Growing up in Zimbabwe, I was never exposed much to advocacy for ‘Social Justice,' partly because of the cultural barriers that create a more conservative society, and also because there is hardly any student activism. However, coming to Gettysburg brought about a different perspective altogether.

Project Gettysburg Leon presented itself as a unique, and challenging project because from the little that I know about Nicaragua, the country has many similarities to mine. The economic histories of Zimbabwe and Nicaragua tie in so well, the challenges are in many ways similar and the project presented an excellent platform for me to understand how those challenges can most effectively be addressed.

I am interested in the area of Development and in finding out how various efforts come together to build communities in the most sustainable manner. PGL presented this opportunity to work with people who are currently building that vision and working to improve the lives of those in Nica. I am hoping to use the knowledge that I gain from this experience, to make that difference in my home country Zimbabwe.

Tell us about your summer research in Zimbabwe. How does it relate to your work at CPS?
Over the summer of my freshman year, I was fortunate to receive a grant under the Mellon Foundation to work on academic research. I chose to focus on ‘The Economic Decline of Zimbabwe,' a country that is currently crippled by an inflation rate of over 11 million percent. The research was an opportunity for me to understand the dynamics underlying the challenges that my country is currently facing. I spent the first 7 weeks of my summer on campus reading on Hyperinflation under the very helpful guidance and mentorship of Professor Weise. He was very instrumental in helping me understand a lot of the complex ideas behind the inflation process. Over the last 3 weeks, I managed to undertake a field study in Zimbabwe where I had the opportunity to visit the Reserve Bank, the local university and to talk to independent economists from various areas. I experienced first-hand, the effects of hyperinflation in Zimbabwe, - which include the ever escalating prices of goods and services, serious cash shortages, hoarding of basic goods of consumers as they feared that harsh reality of being unable to find goods in stores and long lines for commodities whenever they were rarely available. I was forced to trade on the parallel market, which is thriving in Zimbabwe and is the only source of foreign currency in Zimbabwe currently. About eighty percent of the economy is running on the informal sector, meaning 20 percent or virtually no production is taking place on the formal market. I learnt a lot about how people are coping with the crisis: those who are fortunate to have relatives abroad, heavily rely on foreign remittances, while many others engage in cross-border trading - buying groceries in South Africa, Mozambique and Botswana. Others have quit formal employment, as it cost more to get to work in a week, than what an individual earned in an entire month.

To couple with the economic crisis, the political atmosphere at home was very tense, and was the major fuel of speculation on the parallel market. Nicaragua also went through a similar challenge of hyperinflation from 1987 to 1990. The Chamorro government issued a new currency as part of their stabilization efforts in 1990. Seeing these similarities and living through some of their effects, has helped me to realize that a direct correlation often exists between social and economic justice. So often, when economic conditions are unfavorable in a society, much inefficiency arises that often favors a certain sector of society and adversely affect another. In working at CPS, I hope to discover how these challenges are addressed, especially in Nicaragua on its path of development.