Peter Godwin on Zimbabwe

I just heard a very interesting interview on NPR with Peter Godwin, author of The Fear:The Last Days of Robert Mugabe. His is an interesting perspective on the liberation, current affairs, and future of Zimbabwe. It is a very powerful story and I hope to soon get my hands on the book.
Amongst the questions about Zimbabwe, the lack of resources were discussed. When Peter's father passed, Peter himself had to cremate him. This was due to lack of fuel for proper crematoriums. Odd combination of mixed feelings on this. On the one hand, it would seem to be quite a gruesome thing to do. On the other hand, it is very intimate and that is why the Hindus still do it. The burning of the body by the eldest son is a rite of passage for both father and son. (interview highlight at end of blog)
I encourage all to check out the highlights of the interview at: http://www.npr.org/2011/03/30/134955995/a-journalist-bears-witness-to-mugabes-massacre
I also encourage all to seek out his book, as I will do right now at my local library. There is not much western interest in Zimbabwe, yet what is happening there is quite interesting. As we witness the passage of other African dictatorships, Peter's book sheds light on another.
Peter Godwin, On his father's cremation
"As he was dying, he did ask me for one thing, and that was that he wanted to be cremated. And I was so preoccupied organizing the funeral — nobody had fuel to get there and we couldn't find any flour to make the cakes — and suddenly, after the funeral, I thought 'I need to make a booking at the crematorium,' and called up the crematorium and they said, 'No, no, we don't have any gas — any butane — we haven't had it for weeks and weeks.' ... I phoned the Hindu Society and asked them if I would be allowed to burn his body myself on a funeral pyre. They said eventually that I could do it, but as the eldest son, I would have to be the person who actually did it. So we built a huge funeral pyre and the undertakers delivered the body there and I lit it and it burned for 24 hours."

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