Of Human Zoos, a bundle of questions and no answers



Sunday 18 November 2013
Today I have witnessed an accident. I know it’s not something new, there are many accidents happening every day in our Capital. It has become the order of the day, a topic on our everyday conversations. As I was driving home from town in the evening, man on a motorcycle was disturbed by a commuter omnibus and he lost control of his motorcycle. It threw him on the ground as it skated on the road leaving a line of sparks.

Although the accident was horrific, it is not the accident itself that has driven me to write. It is the reaction of the people. Normally, after an accident, people are left with the images of the accident survivors. However, what I still see as residue of the scene in my mind is the faces of the people who passed by, drivers piping through their windows, passengers hissing, pedestrians saying shame but still walking away. Only two people attended to the man, a young person who had seen the accident right in front of him (I forgot to ask his name) and me. Well my presence was merely decorative as this young person was completely in charge.  

The bystander phenomenon is common in urban setups yet it troubles me beyond reason every time I experience it. How can people pass by when something bad is happening to someone? It’s not that they don’t feel the emotional pain, I could hear some saying words like shame, oh my God, maihwee kani, which showed that they could relate to the scene beyond physical. Yet they could not stop. Have we become so egocentric? Have we completely lost the sense of companionship?

The man needed to be taken to hospital quickly. Although he had lots of bruises and very few deep cuts, we felt he might have been injured internally. I was not prepared to do so myself and looked to my other unknown colleague for assistance. I thought of the parable of the Good Samaritan as I questioned myself on how far I should go. With that notion, I would like to think of all the cars and omnibuses that passed by. There were Christians in there and members of other religions. There is no religion in Zimbabwe that does not preach about love, justice, service and of being good to another person. Where do these values go when people step out of the Cathedrals, Churches and Shrines?

Few weeks ago, I heard an account of a woman who gave birth alone at Harare Hospital. Nurses were there but could not respond to her call for help. When they were approached for an explanation, they said women call very often when they are in labour so we thought it was a normal cry and we had checked on her several times before with her centimeters moving slowly. So we were tired.  Can we say that we are now so accustomed to pain and suffering that it has become normal? That we have given help to many people in numerous occasions and we have become so tired to help? I wish I had answers to these questions. If I was better as a person perhaps I would have given some insights. I sometimes pass-by too just like the motorists. However, it is sad to notice how we have become more like animals and our cities like the human zoos.

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