An arranged marriage is a marriage arranged by someone other than the persons getting married, curtailing or avoiding the process of courtship. There are different reasons why arranged marriages are done, and also how different socities view the concerpt of arranged marriages.

Some years back the concerpt of arranged marriages was a bit common in Zimbabwe. However with the passage of time with people learning new cultural values and the general quality of life improved, the concerpt was no longer as prominent. But do we see signs of arranged marriages coming back?

There are different types of arranged marriages;

Traditial arranged marriage: There is no courtship in this type of marriage. The parents or matchmaker select the pair. These can be agreed at the first meeting. This was very common long back in Zimbabwe. Do we see it coming back today, yes a lot has happened to our country which may force people into these types of relationships.

Morden arranged marriage: In this case several candidates are chosen, courtship is curtailed or absent. There is no much pressure to agree first time. This seems to be a bit more common now with the use of match making sites.

Introductions only: The son or daughter is introduced to the potential spouse. The children are left to develop their relationship. There is no pressure put on them and there are no time limits to marry. I have had cases of these arrangements very often. These days mostly involving Zimbabweans in foreign countries and those back home. There are different reasons for doing this.

Factors considered in arranged marriages include:

- Reputation of the family, if a family has got a high standing in the community families would prefer their daughter or son to get married in that family.

- The type of profession, level of education and employment status also plays a major part in influencing the family's decision.

- Religion and Wealth, most families would prefer their daughter to be married into a wealth family. Now with a lot of Zimbabweans outside the country, and the worsening economy people will be even looking for their daughters to be married in wealth families. Foregn currency dominates people's lives these days. Some now charge lobola money in foreign currency and even charging cars and cell phones. Gerri at Living Zimbabwe, wrote an article on how people charge these bride prices in Zimbabwe.

- Immigration, families living in foreign countries may prefer their son to get married to someone from their home country. Immigrating to wersten countries has influenced people in different ways. I have talked to some guys who feel they can not get the right type of girls from Zimbabwe in the foregn countries they are living now. Most of the traditional values of how husband and wife relate are no longer there, ever since the concerpt of equal rights came.

It is also common that after a certain age one is expected to get married. If one is not married this may cause problems in the family and mostly women are at a disadvantage because of how the traditional society views them after a certain age without beign married. We also have cases of single mothers or fthers who may also find it difficult to get a partner for different reasons. The concerpt of arranged marriages may work for them.

However even though there are arguments for arranged marriages, the negatives are in the case of child marriages and forced marriages were family and social interests are far more important than that of the daughter or son. What is important is love between the pair and what the future holds for them.

Wehther an arranged marriage for someone living in Zimbabwe and another in a foreign country works, depends on a lot of factors. Hopefully all those in relationships like that will succeed and have happy families.

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People who do not have dreams do not have much. Do you remember your dreams when you were growing up? Did you dream of being a doctor, teacher, bank manager, pilot, business man or millionaire when you grow up? How many people have managed to fulfil their dreams? Some have, but many will fail because they are discouraged by people who think the dream can not be achieved.

Do not let anyone discourage you, do not be afraid of failure. You need to have belief, even things that look impossible can be turned around. How we deal with our setbacks will shape the future of our lives.

How do you set your goals to achieve your dream? To achieve your goal you need to plan, make the right decisions at the right time and never look back. Right now there are so many opportunity for you to make money on the Internet. Here on my blog I give you even more money making ideas you can start today.

Never let anything distract you from your dream, do not be discouraged. Remember disappointments will come along the way, ups and downs but the important thing is how you deal with them.

Set a time limit to your goals:

A goal without a time limit is no goal. If you wish to achieve something in life you have to set a time limit to it. This will force you to make those important decisions, remember failure if part of learning. What is important is what you learn from it.

Many people dream of being millionaires and very successful people. You need to look for the opportunities that will make you money . Do not be afraid to try new opportunities because you do not know anyone who have tried it before. There is always a first time.

There are so many work at home opportunities, Internet marketing, and also offline business opportunities that can make money with and give you that successful life you always wanted.

Here is an excellent business opportunity you can do part time and earn extra income that you can start right now. It's FREE to join

Join here: Business Opportunity

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When most Zimbabweans left the country for UK, not many knew what they where getting themselves into. The lure of a better life was too big to resist. Many decided to jump out of the sinking ship and swim. What about all those problems back home, be it political or economic things were just tough. Only to find themselves doing jobs of which you do not even need to go to school to be able to do them. And most of them are University graduates, that was a massive blow to peoples egos, pride and personalities.

Nothing will shock the system than to come from a high office job in Zimbabwe, a promising career path, with all those qualifications to come to UK and work all these funny jobs. One can never go lower than that.
But besides all these disappointments and the difficulties of living in a foreign country, there are still loads of business opportunities. In fact of you are tired of your job you should seriously consider start your own business even if on part time basis.

Some enterprising Zimbabweans are into, shipping, foreign currency trading, online grocery shops, employment agencies and also online entrepreneurs. With a little bit of research, anyone can find an opportunity to make a living from. However how you set your goals and your action plan will determine you success.

Many people have computers at home with high speed broadband connection. All they do is spend time in chart rooms, social networking sites, downloading music and films and some just use them to read mail. Not many realise that they are actually missing out on the current big Internet boom.
More and more people are shopping online, more and more companies are advertising online, thus bringing in a lot of money into the Internet businesses.

Many people are making a living from the Internet with affiliate marketing. With affiliate marketing, you do not even need to have your own product. You make money through selling other people's products. There are people making millions, but remember not to expect get rich quick scams. In any business you have to work to build it

You can join an affiliate marketing program today, HERE and start making money.

Since many people now shop online, you can even make money by giving away discount coupons. You can also use the same vouchers to shop online and save money.

Join HERE and save money with discount vouchers.

You can even socialise in the chart rooms and make money. You can join a social networking site HERE and start making money today by just inviting your friends to join. It's that simple.

You can even make money by telling people what you enjoy doing. If you like football, you can make money by just talking about your football and other things associated with it. You can even make money telling people how to cook sadza, it's that simple. There are so many blog platforms like blogger, live journal and wordpress, you can join today and start writing about anything you like and make money.

Don't miss out on the Internet boom, there are a lot of opportunities to make money online. You can find some here, How to making Money Online

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The term role model was introduced by Robert K Merton. Merton say that individuals compare themselves with "reference groups" full of people who occupy the social role to which the individual aspires. The term passed into general use to mean an "person who serves as an example of a positive behavior". (wikipedia)

Your destiny in life is determined by the various decisions you make, the goals you set for yourself and also how you plan to achieve those goals. Your role models determine the path you take and also some of the different actions and decisions at different stages in life. You may look up to people like Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa, Bill Gates, Michael Jordan, David Beckham, Econet wireless boss Strive Masiyiwa, Joshua Nkomo, Anthony Robins etc. There are all different reasons, but the bottom line is what they have contributed to society and how you view and value their contribution is a major factor.

If we look at the kids growing up in our community today, who do they look up to as their role models. What do they want to do when they grow up? Are there any role models in the country today? Long back teachers, nurses and members of the police force were well respected members of the community and many youngsters would look forward to join those professions. But as of today who would want to be a teacher when they grow up.

It reminds about the joke of the little girl who picked up a piece of paper in the house? The girl went up to her father and said, "Dad did you see how low our electricity bill for this month is". The father just sat down crying because that was his pay slip, how embarrassing and what if he was a teacher. Do you think he told the little girl that it was actually his payslip.

The world today is growing as a global village, we all look up to different people from different parts of world. Like for myself my interest is Internet, online business and marketing. Everything I do, there are successful Internet marketers who inspire me. This means I tried to model my works around their successful strategies, which already are giving me rewards. Anyone can make a living of the Internet if you know what you are doing and you seek the right guidance.

With the growing number of consumers shopping online, their has been a boom in advertising online. This has also open a lot of opportunities to enterprising business people. Do not miss out on this Internet boom, there are loads of opportunities you can start making a living online with today.

- You can start affiliate marketing, get ideas and opportunities Click HERE.

- Join a network marketing program today HERE.

If you look around this site you will also find different opportunities that can start making you money today. Time is very important in Internet business, act quick and take advantage of the many opportunities available online.

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A few weeks ago I started getting myself ready for Christmas. It has not been easy considering the costs involved. I had to buy some stuff for my family back in Zimbabwe. The problem is what to send them, they would want clothes from UK and other accessories. But there is a severe food shortage in Zimbabwe, the supermarkets shelves are empty, so now I have to send food also. It's not easy sending food items all the way to Zimbabwe.

The problem with sending goods over a long distance to Zimbabwe, is the shipping costs involved. I have had to deal with some cargo shipping company costing me about £180.00. The deal seems to be good in that I can put as much stuff as I can in the packaging they supply, it does not matter what I'm sending.

The other advantage is I do not have to pay duty in Zimbabwe. This is a major plus since our government has decided to charge duty in US dollars. It is a lot of money to pay considering how much you have spend already buying your goods and also shipping costs.

We may consider buying things back home, even though it may be a preferable and cheaper option, there is nothing in the shops. The supermarket shelves are empty. Wonder what they are going to do with those supermarrket buildings.

So what sort of Christmas are they going to have back home, whilst some feast on those extra big GMO turkeys, buy one get one free products from tesco, extra cheap beer, wine, whisky and even cigarates which you can not get in Zimbabwe? It used to be funny and everyone would look forward to Christmas and really enjoy it. I remember my grandfather would kill at least a cattle every holiday. So there was plenty to eat for everyone.

Christmas was time to get new clothes, I remember one time I got new school uniforms Christmas time so I ended up wearing my new school uniform on Christmas day. At least I had new clothes. Being that very young new clothes and food was all that mattered.

Christmas was a time to eat plenty food, bread with butter and sun jam, chicken and rice and plenty drinks (ma cokes)coca cola, fanta plus Tarino, with family. After the family feast then came the time to go to the townships, there was a lot of dancing here. The village people can dance and those from town will be showing off there skills too.

We would buy sweets(1c for 2), biscuits and even more drinks plus loaf of bread. It was a real feast. Wish I could turn back the years.

Those days the fathers would have plenty money around Christmas time. They would keep their bonus so we could enjoy together as a family. That is if the father did not fall for the clever women, they used to be very loving around this time. They surely new how to get what they wanted.

Today I don't know if they are even looking forward to Christmas. The economy is so bad, there is no money and even if you had the money there is nothing to buy. Even if you find something to buy, you need a sack load of notes.

Lets not forget our loving ones and families this Christmas. It is time for giving.

Merry Christmas

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Over the past few years Zimbabwe has suffered from severe foreign currency shortages, and because of the continued use of the controlled exchange rate system by the government there has been an increase in foreign currency dealers. Their business flourish because they offer a very high exchange rate which is probably the actual valuation of the Zimbabwean dollar compared to other currencies.

A lot of people have lost money through dealing with these black market foreign currency traders because of the lure of the high exchange rate. Always remember if it's too good to be true, probably it is.

Recently we have had of instances where the black market dealers are requesting more personal details of the sender than they were doing before. I know it's true when you use the formal channels, like banks, Western Union and other money transfer agencies you still provide them with this information.

But these agencies are registered, in the case of UK you know they are regulated by the Financial Service Authority. In the invent of any dispute you know the agency has to adhere to certain set rules and guidelines to resolve the dispute. On their paper work it shows how they use your personal information. They have terms and conditions which you are directed to. Where as most of these black market traders, are not registered, some do not even have written policies and procedures. They end up sending you unsolicited junk mail promotions for their other business dealings.

Many people have lost their money to the black market foreign currency traders, because there is no way of tracking the dealers. Most people do not even have a clue of the physical address of the people they use to change money. Hence the dealer can just change phone numbers, which in most cases is a mobile phone number, and you lose your hard earned money.

However there is an advantage in using these black market forex dealers, in the case of Zimbabwe. Surely who would want to change their hard earned currency through the bank at those ridiculously low exchange rates? Who would want to use Home link services to send money as well because of the rate they offer. You will always look of the high exchange rate, however you just have to be careful.

Do not lose your hard earned money always use reputable forex dealers, shop around first before depositing your money and always make sure to keep your paper work until everything is sorted.

Have you had any of these stories of people losing money, have you lost money yourself? Your comments are welcome

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"The US government will impose travel and financial sanctions on about 40 more people with ties to Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe after the escalated use of violence to crack down on dissent within the country", said US official Jendayi Frazer.

Are these sanctions necessary and do they work? If they are supposed to benefit somebody, who benefits from these sanctions? If they are meant to make someone suffer, who is suffering from these sanctions? All Zimbabweans want is a better way of living.


These US sanctions have surely done more harm to the country than the benefits they were supposed to bring if at all there were any. The country's image has been tarnished, of cause there maybe other factors contributing. But with all this talk about sanctions on the leaders of the country, all the international community gets is a negative picture the country.
No meaningful economic development will take place especially in this current environment. Investors will not want to come to the country.

I admit there are other problems within the country contributing to the current state of things, but the major problem is economic decline. Do these sanctions help improve the state of the economy?

For years now, we have had these sanctions but they do not seem to be helping the country either. We have had economic problems for years now, and a lot of factors including management decisions, both locally and internationally have affected the state of our economy. We have also had poor rainfall pattens which have adversely affected our agriculture based economy.

Now we have Zimbabwean asylum seekers being deported back home, were supposedly they face risk of persecution. If it makes sense to keep these sanctions, one would think Zimbabweans should not be deported back home. A lot of Zimbabweans have left the country since the late 90's because of the economic situation. This is the major problem affecting Zimbabwe today.
One would want to live where you can get the basic necessities, not for free, not benefits but you are working for them.

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A zimbabwean man has been arrested for using (10 cent)bank notes as business cards. Denis Paul a proffesional hunter and lodge owner from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second largest city was arrested on charges of defacing bank notes. He faces a fine or upto a year in prison.
Why he needed to bring these notes to London, I find it difficult to understand. These notes are valueless, current exchange rate is £1 - $8 million Zimbabwean dollars, so there is no need to carry these 10 cent notes anymore.

He is quoted in the state paper, The Herald as saying that he stamped his business details on 100, 10cent bearer cheaques for distribution at the World Tourism Market Fair in London last month because he had left without his usual business cards.


I guess these maybe the same notes the reserve bank governor was complaining about a few weeks ago, when he announced that he wants to change the local currency. What ever the motive for using the bank notes as business cards, the truth is those pieces of paper are not worth anything. With the exchange rate at £1 - ZW$8 million. Who would want a 10 cent bearer cheque.

Actually this man might have been giving out cheap business cards which may not be good for his business image.
But surely why did this guy bring valueless bearer cheques all the way from Zimbabwe to London. No one would even accept to change those 10 cent notes if he intended to. Why is he still moving around with those valueless notes. To buy a killogram of beef you need $6 million Zimbabwean dollars.

Even though he may say he did not mean to tarnish the already battered image of the country, I find it difficult to understand why? He is still moving around with 10 cent bearer cheques, especially in London.

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The president of the European Union Mr Jose Manuel Barroso, said " World leaders must be prepared to deal with dictators 'your mother would not like you to meet". So was Gordon Brown right not to attend the summit because Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe was invited?
Was it not in Britain's best interest for Mr Brown to attend? Did his absence help the Zimbabwean cause in anyway? Surely the summit was about EU and Africa Union of which Zimbabwe is part of the problems that maybe addressed at these meetings.

Did Britain stand to benefit in anyway, if Mr Brown had attended the summit. Surely Britain owes it to it's European Union members to be part of these meetings. The problem if there is any, is between Britain and the current EU president who invited Robert Mugabe to the summit.

Because of what has been happening in Zimbabwe for the past few years. The current state of the economy because of mismanagement and different problems faced by the people, many people believe Robert Mugabe should not attend this summit. But if he is not attending the summit because of the travel sanctions imposed on him, who will be there to represent Zimbabwe? The country is part of the African Union isn't it?

Isolating Zimbabwe this way I do not think will help the country, neither does it help the long suffering people of Zimbabwe. Now Zimbabweans are scattered all over the world, running away from their own country. They deserve all the help they can get from international community. Isolation in this way I don't think it will help.

This is an opportunity for Zimbabwe to be in the sport light again. Any media exposure of the Zimbabwean crisis, I think is better for the country.

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The Zimbabwe war veterans and other people buses from all over the country marched in the streets of Harare today, in support of president Mugabe's candidature in the elections next year. What a real waste of resources, in a country whose economy is on it's knees and a starving population.


This was a real waste of resources, there was no reason for this march. These people should have been doing something back home in their villages or where ever they came from. If they wanted to much they could have done that in their respective provinces instead of coming to Harare.

The government wasted fuel carrying these people to Harare, and they will be lucky if they get something to eat. You would think they will learn but know, next time they are asked they will be back again. Or for the unfortunate ones they will be forced.

These people want everyone to believe what they think is right. We judge the leaders according to their performance. How well they are managing the economy. Is the economy growing? NO. There is no fuel, no electricity, there is no cash in banks and not even beer in pubs. Surely people will not march in support of such an economy!

Now the Finance minister is talking about a $7 840 trillion budget. Are you serious comrade, you still want to march.

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Preparations for tomorrow's one million men march in Harare, in support of President Mugabe's candidature are at an advanced stage. With marchers expected from all 10 provinces of the country, the Herald reported.

National Railways of Zimbabwe, Bus companies and lorries will be used to ferry people from different provinces into Harare. No wonder why this country is in such an economic mess.
National railways is a company on it's knees, if it still got knees. For a company always operating at a loss, then why use the few resources it has got left to carry these people for free. It is under any obligation to carry these people to Harare.

The same applies to the different bus companies which are going to carry these people into Harare, and also the lorries. Where are they going to get diesel, everyone knows there is a shortage of fuel in Zimbabwe. Now the little fuel we have is going to be used to carry these people into Harare to march. Do people need to come to Harare to march to show their support for the president. If they like the president they will vote for him, period.
Why not use the fuel to make people's journeys to work easier.

Why not let everyone coming to Harare for the one million march pay for their own travel expenses? They should provide their own transport, that way they will really show us that they support the president. They just want to cause problems in Harare.

Surely these people will go back to their starving families empty handed, hungry and miserable after the march.
Given that it's the farming season, these people should just get on with their work.

Instead of scarring the people in Harare, these war veterans should stay in their different provinces and march their if they want to march.

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