| Silver stories | | 10-1. Zimbabwe in 2008 | | John Moore (USA) Getty Images | |
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Impoverished miners scratch through soil while collecting ore to pan for
flecks of gold March 20, 2008 on the outskirts of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. They said
that their avera
ge earnings are around $1 per day. The year 2008 proved to be
disasterous for the country, even by Zimbabwe's standards. The economy went into
a free fall and inflation soard to more than 150,000 percent. Citizens were
unable to buy even the most basic foodstuffs, leading to a 60 percent increase
in acute child malnutrition in rural areas. President Robert Mugabe's ruling
party lauched widespread attacks on opposition party members, killing hundreds
and withholding international food aid to millions of people. The combination of
economic collapse and political oppression drove millions of Zimbabwaens to flee
the country, most of them to South Africa to seek asylum. There, a wave of
anti-immigrant violence left them even more terrorized and with President
Mugabe, 84, still ruling Zimbabwe, no way to return home. | |
