Rising Prices, Inflation Pushes Zimbabwe to BrinkHARARE (AP) After working as an overnight security guard at a church in Harare's impoverished Mabvuku township, Jeffrey Carlos rushes home to help his wife fetch water to sell. Prolonged water shortages mean most residents of the capital city of more than 2.4 million must source their own water. Carlos is lucky because the property he rents has a well and his family can haul up buckets of water to sell to neighbors. "This is our gold," he says of the well water. "If we are lucky, we can sell up to 12 buckets of water (per day) for $2 (1.98 euros)," said the 50-year-old father of three. That's about enough money to buy the family's food for the day, he said. Rising prices and a fast depreciating currency have pushed many Zimbabweans to the brink, reminding people of when the southern African country faced world-record inflation of 5 billion % in 2008. With inflation jumping from 191% in June to 257% in July, many Zimbabweans fear the country is heading back to such hyperinflation. To prevent a return of such economic disaster, President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government last month took the unprecedented step of introducing gold coins as legal tender. The country's central bank, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, said the one-ounce, 22-carat coins would help tame runaway inflation and stabilize the nation's currency. The glitter of the gold coins is hard to see for Zimbabweans struggling each day to eke out a living. The government sees things differently and is pleading for time. The coins are at an average price of just below $2,000 (1.982 euros) per coin, depending on the international gold price But many such as Carlos say they can hardly afford a meal, let alone earn enough to save. To get by, many are forced to take up multiple jobs. Carlos, in Mabvuku, says he gets about 100 US dollars a month from his job as an overnight security guard for a church and the bar next door. That's hardly enough to pay rent, school fees and other basic needs. Sometimes, he exchanges water for food items. His wife, Christwish, 43, prepares the day's evening meal — the staple maize (corn) meal and vegetables plucked from a small home garden — over a wood fire. Because of lengthy power cuts, the children do their homework by candlelight, although their parents press them to use it sparingly. Christwish also supplements the family income by doing household chores for better-off families in exchange for money or food items. Items previously regarded as basics are now out of reach for the familly.