The African Union has rejected international calls to stop Zimbabwe’s government from destroying poor people’s homes. The United Nations says 1.5 million people are now homeless because of President Robert Mugabe’s campaign to clean up Zimbabwe’s cities. International concern is increasing at the humanitarian crisis developing in Zimbabwe. Mr. Mugabe said the operation was designed to remove crime from cities. He said the destroyed communities were “notorious criminal hideouts and havens for black-market activities”.

The “city renewal” campaign is called Operation Murambatsvina, which means “cleaning up the trash”. Police have burned and bulldozed whole communities. Two babies were crushed to death earlier this week by bulldozers. Mr. Mugabe’s opponents say the campaign is to punish poor people for voting against Mr. Mugabe in recent elections. Mr. Mugabe wants the homeless to disappear into the countryside. The African Union thinks the campaign against the poor is an internal Zimbabwean matter. It also said there were more important issues in Africa.

WARM-UPS

1. HOMELESS: What do you think it is like to have no home? What would it be like to live somewhere with no electricity or water? Do you ever think how lucky you are that you have a roof over your head? Imagine you are homeless or a refugee living in a tent. Talk with other students (also homeless/refugees) about your life and how you survive each day.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.

Zimbabwe / African Union / Robert Mugabe / humanitarian crises / inner cities / the black market / trash / bulldozers / poor people / important issues in Africa

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

3. ZIMBABWE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with Zimbabwe. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

4. ZIMBABWE OPINIONS: To what degree do you agree or disagree with these opinions? Change the statements so they match your own opinions and provide support for any changes you make.

1. Robert Mugabe is similar to Saddam Hussein.
2. South Africa should put pressure on Robert Mugabe to resign.
3. The African Union knows more about Zimbabwe than America or Europe.
4. Zimbabwe should be removed from the international community.
5. Africa has more urgent problems than what is happening in Zimbabwe.
6. America and the U.K. also have homeless people. They shouldn’t complain about Zimbabwe.
7. Robert Mugabe said America and European countries are evil for creating a million homeless people in Iraq. He is right.
8. Thousands of people will die in Zimbabwe and the international community will do nothing, as usual.
9. The G8 Summit will solve all of Zimbabwe’s problems.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	The African Union is going to help Zimbabwe’s homeless people.	T / F
b.	As many as 1.5 million people may be homeless in Zimbabwe.	T / F
c.	There is a humanitarian crisis developing in Zimbabwe.	T / F
d.	Robert Mugabe said he is cleaning Zimbabwe of crime.	T / F
e.	There is a national campaign to pick up trash in Zimbabwe.	T / F
f.	Two babies died when police destroyed their homes.	T / F
g.	Mr. Mugabe wants people to move into the heart of the cities.	T / F
h.	The African Union said Africa had more important problems.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

a.	rejected	shady
b.	calls	matters
c.	campaign	torched
d.	notorious	requests
e.	havens	vanish
f.	burned	domestic
g.	punish	brushed off
h.	disappear	shelters
i.	internal	drive
j.	issues	hurt

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

a.	rejected international	up Zimbabwe’s cities
b.	destroying poor people’s	punish poor people
c.	campaign to clean	in Africa
d.	humanitarian	calls
e.	black-market	renewal campaign
f.	city	crisis
g.	Police have burned and	activities
h.	crushed	bulldozed whole communities
i.	the campaign is to	homes
j.	more important issues	to death

WHILE READING / LISTENING

WHICH WORD?: Circle the correct word from the pairs in italics.

Zimbabwe’s homeless ignored

The African Union has rejected / reject international calls to stop Zimbabwe’s government from destroying poverty / poor people’s homes. The United Nations says 1.5 million people are now homely / homeless because of President Robert Mugabe’s campaign / campsite to clean up Zimbabwe’s cities. International concern is decreasing / increasing at the humanitarian crisis developing in Zimbabwe. Mr. Mugabe said the operation / surgery was designed to remove / removal crime from cities. He said the destroyed communities were “notorious criminal hideouts and havens for white-market / black-market activities”.

The “city renewal / removal” campaign is called Operation Murambatsvina, which means “cleaning up the trash”. Police have burned / fired and bulldozed half / whole communities. Two babies were crushed to death earlier last / this week by bulldozers. Mr. Mugabe’s opponents say the campaign is to punish poor people for voting against Mr. Mugabe in recent / recently elections. Mr. Mugabe wants the homeless / homes to disappear into the countryside. The African Union thinks the campaign against the poor is an internal / external Zimbabwean matter. It also said there were more important issues / issue in Africa.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘poor’ and ‘people’.

• Share your findings with your partners.
• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. WHICH WORD?: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the relationship between each of the pairs of words?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. STUDENT ZIMBABWE SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about Zimbabwe and Robert Mugabe.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:

calls 1.5 million people campaign crisis operation hideouts

city renewal bulldozed bulldozers punish countryside issues

 DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1. Did you have a clear idea from the headline what this story was about?
2. Did the headline make you want to read the story?
3. Are you interested in what Robert Mugabe is doing in Zimbabwe?
4. How often do you read the news about Africa / Zimbabwe?
5. What do you know about Robert Mugabe?
6. Is Mr. Mugabe a hero?
7. Is the African Union right to say the homelessness in Zimbabwe is an internal matter?
8. Thabo Mbeki said the world should focus on the Congo, where 3 million have died. Is he right?
9. Do you think Mr. Mugabe really wants to prevent crime?
10. What African matters are more important than those in Zimbabwe?

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What did you think about what you read?
3. What is your opinion on the burning of homes in Zimbabwe?
4. Is Robert Mugabe similar to Saddam Hussein?
5. Should the international community remove Mr. Mugabe?
6. Will the G8 Summit help Zimbabwe’s poor people in any way?
7. Should South Africa help Zimbabwe more?
8. Why do you think Robert Mugabe has banned the BBC from reporting inside Zimbabwe?
9. Should Mr. Mugabe go to court for crimes against humanity?
10. Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

1. What question would you like to ask about this topic?
2. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
3. Was there a question you didn’t like?
4. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
5. What did you like talking about?
6. Do you want to know how anyone else answered the questions?
7. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

I’M LUCKY: In pairs / groups, talk about what you think conditions are like for millions around the world who are homeless, without jobs and don’t have enough food and water. Do you think you are lucky to have these things? Think of two reasons why it would be difficult to live without the everyday things we have (in the table below).

EVERYDAY THINGS WE HAVE	DIFFICULTIES WITHOUT THESE THINGS
Electricity	1.   2.
Clean water	1.   2.
Three meals a day	1.   2.
Freedom	1.   2.
A home	1.   2.
Jobs	1.   2.
Honest political leaders	1.   2.
Democracy	1.   2.
Other ________________	1.   2.

Change partners and compare the difficulties you talked about with your first partner(s). Which difficulties are the greatest?

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Zimbabwe’s homeless ignored

The African Union has ________ international _____ to stop Zimbabwe’s government from ___________ _____ people’s homes. The United Nations says 1.5 million people are now ________ _______ __ President Robert Mugabe’s ________ __ _____ up Zimbabwe’s cities. International concern is increasing at the humanitarian ____ __________ in Zimbabwe. Mr. Mugabe said the operation ___ ________ __ remove crime from cities. He said the destroyed communities were “notorious criminal _________ ___ ______ for black-market activities”.

The “____ _______” campaign is called Operation Murambatsvina, which means “cleaning up the trash”. Police have ______ ___ _________ whole communities. Two babies were _______ __ _____ earlier this week by bulldozers. Mr. Mugabe’s opponents say the campaign is __ ______ ____ people for voting against Mr. Mugabe __ ______ _________. Mr. Mugabe wants the homeless to disappear into the countryside. The African Union thinks the campaign against the poor __ __ ________ Zimbabwean matter. It also said there were more _________ ______ in Africa.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information on Robert Mugabe’s Operation Murambatsvina. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson.

3. I’M LUCKY: Write an essay explaining why you are lucky. Describe all of the things you are fortunate to have that millions around the world do not have. Explain the main points of your essay to your classmates in your next lesson. Did everyone write about similar things?

4. DIARY / SCHEDULE: Imagine you are homeless or a refugee living in a tent. Write your diary / journal entry for one day in your life. Read your diary/journal to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all write about similar things?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. T

c. T

d. T

e. F

f. T

g. F

h. T

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	rejected	brushed off
b.	calls	requests
c.	campaign	drive
d.	notorious	shady
e.	havens	shelters
f.	burned	torched
g.	punish	hurt
h.	disappear	vanish
i.	internal	domestic
j.	issues	matters

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	rejected international	calls
b.	destroying poor people’s	homes
c.	campaign to clean	up Zimbabwe’s cities
d.	humanitarian	crisis
e.	black-market	activities
f.	city	renewal campaign
g.	Police have burned and	bulldozed whole communities
h.	crushed	to death
i.	the campaign is to	punish poor people
j.	more important issues	in Africa

WHICH WORD?:

Zimbabwe’s homeless ignored

The African Union has rejected international calls to stop Zimbabwe’s government from destroying poor people’s homes. The United Nations says 1.5 million people are now homeless because of President Robert Mugabe’s campaign to clean up Zimbabwe’s cities. International concern is increasing at the humanitarian crisis developing in Zimbabwe. Mr. Mugabe said the operation was designed to remove crime from cities. He said the destroyed communities were “notorious criminal hideouts and havens for black-market activities”.

The “city renewal” campaign is called Operation Murambatsvina, which means “cleaning up the trash”. Police have burned and bulldozed whole communities. Two babies were crushed to death earlier this week by bulldozers. Mr. Mugabe’s opponents say the campaign is to punish poor people for voting against Mr. Mugabe in recent elections. Mr. Mugabe wants the homeless to disappear into the countryside. The African Union thinks the campaign against the poor is an internal Zimbabwean matter. It also said there were more important issues in Africa.

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