Saskam Express
By Lillian Masitera
Now I can Play Publication (2013)
ISBN: 978-0-7974-5760-7

THE last decade was one of the hardest as the country was faced with a myriad of economic challenges.
To many it seemed all hope was lost, others abandoned ship leaving for neighbouring countries in search of greener pastures.
The resilient ones remained, not losing hope, but soldiering on in the face of the difficulties.
The country’s detractors rejoiced, it was all over for Zimbabwe they thought.
Their plan had worked and they were ready to ‘take over’ the running of affairs in Zimbabwe.
The situation had deteriorated, the masses were taking each day as it came eagerly waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel.
In the book, Saskam Express, writer Lillian Masitera takes the reader through some of the experiences by Zimbabweans during the last decade.
Through the character of Laina, a retired Maths lecturer, Masitera highlights some of the challenges which many who witnessed the era can identify with.
Reading through the book, one would have thought Masitera would at least give a background of the situation.
The writer is silent on the causes of the predicament the country found itself in.
It is noble that at least the experiences were shared by a ‘sober’ Zimbabwean who witnessed the situation with no malice intended, but it would have been prudent if she explained the situation.
Through literature, history is passed from one generation to the other.
It is good that after we are long gone, the coming generations know that yes the country faced challenges and also how it got there.
Following the Land Reform Programme that saw Government giving back the land to its rightful owners, the indigenes the West imposed illegal sanctions on the country.
The effects of these sanctions were felt by every Zimbabwean despite claims by the West that they were targeted on certain individuals.
It is this key historical fact that Masitera omitted, one which would have helped put her story into context.
Laina, Masitera’s protagonist, is a representation of the ordinary Zimbabwean who was affected by the illegal sanctions.
Cash constraints resulting in daily long winding queues at banks, shortages of basic commodities and interrupted service delivery became the order of the day.
Laina, who had opted for early retirement from the state university where she tutored, made countless trips to the bank to check whether her terminal benefits had been deposited into her account.
However, with each visit, she was disappointed as it took longer than she expected to get her money.
To Laina all hope seemed lost.
Laina stayed with her niece, her namesake Laina Junior who worked as a nurse-aid at one of the Government hospitals in the capital.
Junior despite the fact that she was going to work was not spared from the challenges.
Junior, together with her colleague Munya, in order to augment their salaries which continued to lose value by the day due to the ever rising inflation resorted to reselling basic commodities which were scarce.
“How does a guy live, or rather, avoid death on our wage?” Munya said.
“At least I buy stuff at wholesale prices and trade them at a profit.”
Masitera highlights some of the unorthodox methods people employed to try and survive.
“Now with the honourable civil service, the wage was meagre, paid out monthly and employees seemed to share a common despair when payday approached,” Munya tells Junior.
“Chaps are stuffing their pants with hospital linen and towels for resell.
“Basketfuls of tablets find their way to the people’s market.”
It was not only the employed that had strategised on how to get by.
Laina decided to offer private extra Maths lessons in her house.
Typical of the Zimbabwean who did not lose hope in the wake of the challenges, Laina used what she had to ensure her survival.
The West would have wanted to see a dejected Zimbabwean calling out for help from them. However, Zimbabweans, hard as it was and companies and industries closing down, did not give up.
It was at that time many started small-to-medium business ventures such as candle making, sweet making and others turning to farming in order to earn an income.
As Masitera concludes the book there was indeed light at the end of the tunnel.
Finally when Laina’s terminal benefits came, she got the best advice from her friend Isaac.
“One, don’t sell your house. Don’t even think about it. Two, create employment and be your own boss,” Isaac told her.
It was this advice that resonates what many Zimbabweans adopted following the economic challenges faced.
It is this same advice that discourages the dependency syndrome that has been advocated by Government.
Through the Land Reform Programme and other various empowerment programmes by Government, a breed of Zimbabweans that takes pride in being its own employer emerged.