Lessons from Zimbabwe

British Quaker Craig Barnett recently moved to Zimbabwe with his family, as director of Hlekweni Friends Training Centre in Matabeleland. In a recent talk at the Quaker Centre in Friends House, he shared his experiences of life at Hlekweni. Jo Tait reports

by Jo Tait 8th July 2011

Craig began his talk with some background history of Zimbabwe. He is still learning how the war, violence, AIDS, poverty and hyperinflation that most Zimbabweans have experienced continue to impact on their lives.

This is not a ‘developing’ country – it is a country trying to come to terms with the humiliation of having once had a highly successful education and health system that is no longer in place.