These are some of the most vulnerable who depend heavily on food handouts.
Will Christmas be as joyful as it should be? Will they get back to school in 2009? Will their parents be able to afford the fees? We all wait and hope.

Another year has gone by and yet again it's the suffering, the sickness, hunger, starvation and death which have all escalated that signal the worst situation ever to engulf the beautiful country, the beautiful people. This was a year that promised so much but Zimbabwe will still have to wait to be normal yet or at least show signs of returning to normalcy. Zimbabweans are reeling - for at least the eighth year running - under unprecedented economic hardships. This Christmas, for many, is hardly going to be a time for celebrating.

Zimbabweans are predominantly Christian and they take Christmas very seriously. Though, there will be no real Christmas in Zimbabwe. Yes, December 25 will come and go. For many in Zimbabwe, Christmas this year centres on fond memories of the past rather than anticipation of good times ahead. Christmas was good back then, a time of plenty, but now it is just another difficult day to get through. For us Zimbabweans, this will probably be the worst Christmas since we achieved our national independence 28 years ago.

A recent assessment by Caritas Zimbabwe which is also known as the Catholic Development Commission (CADEC) with support from Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) shows there is now very little to distinguish between the most vulnerable and everyone else in the country. The entire country is now virtually on its knees. The survey, carried out in October, revealed 70-90% of households interviewed are on the brink of hunger. In the 21st century we have in parts of the country where there were and are households going for days surviving only on wild fruits, roots and in some cases eating insects. Well over half of Zimbabwe's urban population live below the poverty line.

At Harare's refuse dumps, scores of bedraggled men, women and children move systematically, like vultures, through foul-smelling rubbish, scratching for food and anything that might be sold or bartered. Before 2000, Zimbabwe fed much of southern Africa and massive quantities of fruit, vegetables and flowers were exported worldwide. All of that has come to a standstill, as hundreds of thousands of once-productive hectares now lie idle.

Our traditional understanding of Christmas is that it is an occasion when we think of the Lord Jesus Christ and how through him, humanity has experienced the greatest gift of all. It is through Jesus Christ that we have experienced life in its fullness. I am afraid that the message of "fullness of life" will be hard to understand for Zimbabweans today.

It is without doubt Zimbabweans are experiencing their bleakest Yuletide, it is most heartbreaking. All optimism is almost lost, people are starting to show signs of exhaustion, desperation and utter despair, and they have lost all hope.

As a populace we have reached breaking point. Its either you have or you don 't have "Society is polarised between those who have access to hard currency - such as US dollars or the South African Rand - to buy food, and those who do not," said a CAFOD representative recently.

To date the Catholic Church has been better placed to reach vulnerable people in communities with life-saving food parcels, but the number of the vulnerable continues to grow rapidly, hence the resources available are stretched. Zimbabwe's health system is in intensive care. From village to national hospitals, patients find that healthcare is not working.

My heart bleeds for those who find themselves between a rock and a hard place, hospitals are ghost towns with nurses and doctors no longer turning up for work, because their salaries do not cover transport costs and they can't afford to buy basic foods. People are now relying on mission hospitals for their medical and healthcare needs, which too have been stretched beyond their limits.

The education system is in a similar state of collapse, with pupils not able to learn because of the absence of teachers, most schools may not even open in the new year, there will be no one to teach and some may simply not be able to afford the fees.

The cholera crisis has hit the most vulnerable and will only get worse, the UN World Health Organisation (WHO) warns the disease will be more difficult to contain as it spreads from urban to rural areas.

Many of Zimbabwe's poor say they simply won't have Christmas this year.
However, it won't be all gloom though, with some people saying they were keeping the spirit of Christmas alive. But for all Zimbabweans, this is just Christmas. It will not be a "happy" Christmas. Most Zimbabweans are really happy that 2008 is at last coming to a close, but they also have serious trepidations about 2008. It is really sad because there's nothing on the horizon indicating change for the better, at least anytime soon.

Against all odds may I wish all Zimbabweans a happy Christmas and a blessed New Year. It is my heartfelt hope and conviction that Zimbabwe shall be a different place in 2009. All we can do is pray… God Bless Zimbabwe at Christmas.

For all those who have been with us through these difficult times, on behalf of the people of Zimbabwe, from the bottom of my heart, Thank you!
Harare Tribune