Money Money Money

If there is an economist out there- please shed some light on this for me...
It can be confusing working in another currency. i've finally figured out the exchange rate: 124MK (kwacha) is an Aussie dollar- so I just knock 2 zeros off any price and aim for 3/4ths of whats left to figure out if something is expensive or not (try doing THAT with every item in the supermarket!! luckily we only get to a supermarket once every few months!).

In this way I've figured out that the prices of stuff in the supermarket is pretty much the same dollar value as Australia (except for carrots and broccoli which can be up to $30/kg- which you can accidentally buy if you don't do the mental gymnastics correctly hehe).

So anyways, what I don't get is how people survive. the average monthly income for an unskilled labourer is 8000MK ($64), or about 12000MK ($97) for a university educated job ie teacher. These are the lucky ones- unemployment is huge. Most people don't have a salary- but do whatever work they can find.

This didn't bother me until today. Today I filled my car up with 40 litres of petrol- which cost me 8000MK (petrol is $1.61/L), and today my language helper asked for an advance of 2000MK so she could fed her family for the week cos her husband spent Januarys pay without consulting her (thats another whole cultural insight story on its own!)...but it made me realise that a tank of fuel is a months wages and how the heck do you feed a family of 5, 3 meals a day for a week (+ extras that conveniently visit at dinner time during the hungry season) with $16?

You're probably thinking- 'well everything is much cheaper in the market place'- which, granted, it is- but let me remind you that theres no gas or water connected to most houses here- in town you have to buy charcoal to cook with and 4 large buckets of water cost about a dollar. In the markets, tomatoes are 20c each, beans are about $4 a kilo, a fish is about $2.50, and I can guarantee you she'll have no stocked pantry to fall back on. Living here is hand to mouth- partly because people have nothing to start with, and partly because needy relatives tend to come and help themselves to any excess- whether that be sheets and curtains or maize.

How can an economy function paying the large majority of its population not enough to live on? Granted- a large proprtion of the population rely more on the produce of their maize crops than their monetary income... but shouldn't the minimum wage be aligned to the cost of living regardless? How do you get this situation?!...and while we're at it- how the heck do you get Zimbabwe's situation where the country's Reserve Bank has officially revealed inflation (a gross underestimate) in excess of 24,000% (Australias is about 3%)??!!. A friend of mine passed through Zim on a monday, and when he came back through on the Friday his currency was useless. He didn't dare stop for more than a few minutes and travelled in convoy with trucks for protection. Its nuts. Right now Im wishing I did political science or something at uni so i'd have half a chance of wrapping my head around how some of the African nations function. Meawhile, ive decided that during March (when my housemate is away on holiday) Im going to takne on the challenge of feeding 1, 3 meals a day, for 7 days on $16. I know- im soft. to be legit I should divide it by 5 and try and live off $3.20- but I don't think I could do that. I'll 'pay'for my water and carry it in from the tap in the garden to compensate :) Stay posted for an adventure in March :)
g'nite