ZIMBABWE, UNSHAKABLE MORALE | France 5 | Les Routes de l'Impossible

In Zimbabwe, Victoria Falls offers breathtaking scenery, but its deep rumbling seems to echo the anger of a wounded people. For behind the spectacular beauty of nature lies a harsh reality. After 37 years of unchallenged rule, dictator Robert Mugabe left behind a country drained of life, ruined, where hopes for freedom have gone unfulfilled. In this closed nation, foreign cameras are seen as intruders.

Zimbabwe’s roads are not only potholed: kilometer after kilometer, they tell the story of the distress of an abandoned people. At the bus station in Bulawayo, passengers jostle in chaos for a seat on the “chicken buses,” overloaded minibuses with uncertain routes. It’s a lottery to escape stagnation, at the risk of an accident.

At the wheel of his old vehicle, driver Mutassa is not so lucky. Broken down in the middle of the bush, he is alone in the wilderness. Lions prowl around him. Every moment is a threat.

And yet this country is rich. Its subsoil is full of diamonds, gold, and platinum. But this treasure fuels greed and misery. Along the tracks, illegal miners dig with their bare hands in inhumane conditions for a few grams of fortune. Near Victoria Falls, others risk their lives in the rapids, reckless fishermen for whom survival is a race against death.

Despite everything, Zimbabweans are holding on. With dignity, humor, and unwavering energy. Their courage lights up even the darkest roads.