Economic Crises in Zimbabwe: Teachers Turing to Prostitution to Make Ends Meet

Hidden from glare of international media, economic crises in African nation of Zimbabwe is forcing some hard working people to make tough choices.

According to U.N News service IRIN, teachers in Zimbabwe are now turning to working as sex workers to escape the harsh economic realities. In a country where inflation is astounding 3,700 percent, they are forced to trade their place in classrooms to walking in streets looking for "clients".

One night of working as a sex workers pays them two times more than what they make as a teacher in a day.

Some teachers and civil servants have started to work in the cleaning business, which also pays better than what the Government is giving them as salary.

News report published at AlertNet, says that "one in five Zimbabweans aged between 15 and 49 are infected with HIV". This is worrisome considering the fact that the country is almost bankrupt and the dismal state of health care.

On February of this year, New York Times published a detailed account of situation in Zimbabwe, where they talk about how the economic crises is affecting every aspect of daily life and could trigger a social and political upheaval.

President Robert Mugabe, who has been in power for last 27 years, is seeing rising level of discontent among his party members, who used to be very loyal to him

According to the New York Times, "Hyperinflation has bankrupted the government, left 8 in 10 citizens destitute and decimated the country's factories and farms"

Opinion on what triggered this crises varies, but many point towards the land reform movement started by President Mugabe which resulted in decline in crop production, internal population displacement .Wikipedia says that, "What is not in dispute is that a country once so rich in agricultural produce that it was dubbed the "bread basket" of Southern Africa, is now struggling to feed its own population."

Sources:

New York Times. URL:.(http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/07/world/africa/07zimbabwe.html?ex=1328504400&en=35609ef536b62b09&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss)