Cathy Buckle has been telling the Zimbabwean story not known to those outside the Mugabe walls for a long while yet. This is Buckle’s last post for the year and she’s still fighting for new beginnings in the country. Below is her Zimbabwean rendition of the Christmas song Jingle Bells. Buckle’s gift lies in her use of words and this is just some more of that magic. – Stuart Lowman
The original Jingle Bells soundtrack
By Cathy Buckle
Dashing through the dust
In an ox cart full of hay
Through farms where all is bust
Laughing all the way.
Sparkling diamonds were found
And the rich made still more money
While we all scratched around
In the land of milk and honey.
Clanging bells, clanging bells
Clanging all the way
Oh how hard it’s been to ride
In Zimbabwe’s darkest day.
Fifteen years ago
Our government took the farms
People reaped what they didn’t sow
But no one took up arms.
The dollar crashed and shops were bare
Homes torn down and jobs were lost
Nothing was legal, right or fair
And so many paid the cost.
Clanging bells, clanging bells
Clanging all the way
Oh how hard it’s been to ride
In Zimbabwe’s darkest day.
We’re on the last leg now
Or that is what we hope
For sure they’ll be a row
But let’s not weep and mope!
Our people are the best
Making a plan is what we know
The goodwill wave will crest
Back to milk and honey we’ll surely go.
Clanging bells, clanging bells
Clanging all the way
For our beloved Zimbabwe
We say hip, hip hooray.
