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Zimbabwe in 'humanitarian crisis'
Jennifer Campbell, Ottawa Citizen Special
November 23, 2005

http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=147f150f-ce07-4ae0-8975-42b4bcb952fe

For Shari Eppel, the enduring image of the crisis in Zimbabwe is an 80-year-old woman who didn't know where to turn when her home was demolished. She must look after her daughter and granddaughter because they're both schizophrenic. When their home was taken from them, they were shipped off to a rural area where they found no shelter. The two mentally ill women became hysterical. And they remained in that condition because they were no longer able to access the medication that controlled their symptoms.

Ms. Eppel, the human rights consultant for Archbishop Pius Ncube, is touring developed countries, speaking out about the problems in her country.

"Police and army personnel abducted people at gunpoint and they were taken to the rural areas," she said, describing the ongoing crisis that heightened last spring.

"Churches have had some 4,000 dumped there and they're trying to get resources for them. People are going three and four days without food. It's terrible to see.

"The UN estimates that up to four million people may need food airlifted in before the harvest comes," she said, adding that the food being delivered now is "like putting a teaspoon of water into an ocean of need."

Calling the situation a "huge humanitarian crisis," Ms. Eppel explained that many children are out of school and those who are in school generally don't have desks or books. Frustrating the situation, she said, has been the government's refusal, until very recently, to accept any international help.

"It's a massive, ongoing disaster," she said. "It's something the UN says will set the country back decades."

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