num_pages: 304
description: The fifth volume in the Voice of Witness series presents the narratives of Zimbabweans whose lives have been affected by the countrys political economic and human rights crises. This book asks the How did a country with so much promisea stellar education system a growing middle class of professionals a sophisticated economic infrastructure a liberal constitution and an independent judiciarygo so wrong?In their own words they recount their experiences of losing their homes land livelihoods and families as a direct result of political violence. They describe being tortured in detention firebombed at home or beaten up or raped to punish votes for the opposition. Those living abroad in exile or forced to flee to neighboring countries recount their escapes of cutting through fences swimming across crocodile-infested rivers and entrusting themselves to human smugglers. This book includes Zimbabweans of every age class and political conviction from farm laborers to academics from artists and opposition leaders to ordinary men and women simply trying to survive as a once thriving nation heads for collapse.
language: English
title: Hope Deferred: Narratives of Zimbabwean Lives
publisher: McSweeney's