In response to your question: “Are Zimbabweans this helpless…?”. No we’re are not. Zimbabweans however have to prioritise and for most women feeding their family is more important than spending money on sanitary ware, even if they desperately need it for themselves. We have nearly 1000% inflation and that forces people to make very hard choices. To put it in context, a retired person who, ten years ago, worked in a middle management position (the extreme minority of people in our country!) would normally expect a comfortable old age. Their monthly income from their pension won’t even buy them a coca cola now - that’s the reality of inflation. So sanitary towels have become a luxury for the wealthy - that’s a flat fact. In fact, I was surpised to see the BBC site say that women were using toilet paper - my experience is that most cannot afford to buy that now, even that is too expensive.

In response to your statement “Stop perpetuating the perception that the African is helpless” I can only say - as a Zimbabwean - that the failure of some AFRICANS to recognise the reality in our country is one of the saddest and most profound betrayals we have experienced. We thought that our neighbours and friends would stand alongside us in our time of need, and that hasn’t always been the case. People seem to prefer to leave us to suffer rather than face the truth - and that is disgusting, in my opinion.

If to question, or comment is somehow taboo - lest it ruins Africa’s reputation - then you need to recognise that it is the African people who suffer as a result of that. Like it or not my friend, the truth is that life in Zimbabwe is very very hard at the moment, people are suffering, there is rampant corruption and abuse of human rights. I’m not going to pretend that that isn’t happening just to save ‘African face’ - my loyalty is to my people, my country and my continent! Anyone who cares about our continent needs to have the guts to stand up for it when things go wrong.

Rosie: what!