11
veterans, which was previously the highest reported rate from any population here in
Zimbabwe.
The implications from these comparisons are very worrying indeed, and require some brief
comment. Firstly, this is a group that is still in the displacement process, with no secure home
at all for the present – they have at least once been moved forcibly back to the farms from
which they came and where they no longer have any security. Thus, the trauma process is
still continuing and feelings of anxiety and depression will be very prominent.
Secondly, they are a group that has had multiple experiences of OVT and has lived in a state
of high stress for a considerable time. This is analogous to what trauma experts term living in
a zone of “high war stress”: a situation in which the likelihood of witnessing death, serious
injury, and violence in highly probable. Persons living in such situations are highly likely to
develop trauma disorders, as was the case with the Mozambican refugees, war veterans, or
ordinary citizens during times of epidemic violence, such as the Liberation War or during the
Gukurahundi period in the 1980s.
This finding is bolstered by the findings on the general health problems reported by this
sample.
6.2
Present state of physical health
As regards their self-perceived health status, the sample reports very frequencies of
symptoms associated with psychological disorder: headaches, dizziness, impaired
concentration and memory, chest pains, palpitations, abdominal pains, and sleep disorder are
all commonly reported. However, there are also a high number of symptoms that are
associated with injury due to physical torture.
Together, the findings indicate a group for which medical and psychological care must be a
very high priority.
7.
Condition
Headache
Dizziness
Impaired concentration
Impairment of memory
Impairment of hearing
Number
77
48
47
49
19
%
55%
35%
34%
35%
14%
Numbness or pins and
needles in arms/legs
Reduced strength in
arms or legs
47
34%
32
23%
Pains in shoulders or
arms
Pains in legs, including
feet
Backache
Chest pain
Palpitations
Abdominal pains
Nausea
27
19%
Condition
Vomiting
Diarrhoea
Constipation
Pain on urination
Male pain in the genital,
female pelvic pain
Lacking control on
urination, defecation
Convulsions or loss of
consciousness in the last
month
Male impotence
Number
17
16
15
17
28
%
12%
12%
11%
12%
20%
7
5%
1
1%
7
5%
45
32%
Menstrual disturbances
16
12%
54
45
62
58
26
39%
32%
45%
42%
19%
Sleeping disturbances
Difficulty in falling asleep
Early awakening
Disturbed sleep
Nightmares
67
41
22
22
26
48%
29%
16%
16%
19%
CONCLUSIONS
There are several thousand farms in Zimbabwe that have been listed for acquisition and have
“war veterans” and others settled on them currently. If one takes the experiences of the farm
workers from the farms surveyed and multiplies the situation to cover all the invaded farms
where workers have faced a barrage of intimidation, assault, and eventual forced
displacement, the magnitude of the crisis is apparent. With Zimbabwe facing a severe food
shortage as a result of a drought and dramatically lowered food production on the commercial
AMANI TRUST: Preliminary Report of a Survey on Internally Displaced Persons from Commercial Farms in
Zimbabwe.