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It cost ZW$210000 said my father-in-law

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It cost ZW$210,000," said my father-in-law.At the official exchange rate that's £17, but the minority who have jobs would be fortunate to take home ZW$1m a month. My in-laws rent their middle-class house for around ZW$800,000. But they can't leave Zimbabwe as they don't have passports: they relinquished their UK documents under government orders.Often, the phone rings at our home The caller display shows "international" It's the catalyst for trouble. "Mom, don't call us, you can't afford it, and we can't keep giving you more and more money," my wife says. The reply is always, through tears, "I love you and just wanted to say hello to you and my grandchildren. Oh, and dad's in agony with his knees, but we can't afford an operation."My father-in-law refuses to face reality "Things tick over.

After work [he recently landed a full-time job], I go home, watch TV and then go to bed and wait for the morning. Things are ticking over, it's not getting worse." But emails from my mother-in-law over the years paint the bleakest of pictures.They relocated from apartheid South Africa in 1982. My future father-in-law set up a recruitment firm, placing scores of young men and women in jobs They put their trust in him, and he gave them hope. In recent years, unemployment has reached new highs, and his business is but a memory.However, they will never leave. They are trapped in a world they refuse to believe can deteriorate. But it does.My fiercely patriotic brother-in-law has two children, but he took his family to Johannesburg this year.

His six-year-old daughter carries some mental scars, though he will disagree. One day this year, armed policemen arrived at her private school in Harare and shut it on government orders. The intelligent little girl is now waiting to begin her education in another country, which she knows is not home.But enough of the privileged. Need I mention it's a white family? Yes, as "white" and "privileged" are no longer linked. "If you think whites have a good life, come have a look for yourself. Those buying Mercedes with suitcases full of cash aren't white," my father-in-law says.

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