The poor manager of the gold factory - My uncle in Zimbabwe

Dear Stackers,

This is a real story of my late uncle who once was poor - than rich - poor again but always happy.
This post can be a lesson for life.

Where did my uncle Dick live?

Dick (or Dik in Dutch) emigrated as a poor Dutch guy after the Indonesian war to South- Africa end of the 1950's and via Namibia was sent to Rhodesia for the Dutch Trade Bank (Handelsbank). He then started working for a client in Rhodesia which was a factory of jewellery making. He was accountant/head of admin.
My uncle always told me they made arfrican gold jewelry which was 12 karats or even less. The owners were of British origin and all lived well. My uncle was (over)priviliged with a large house a cook, maid and garden staff and always had to explain us - via thin airmail letters - that having servants really was normal out there.

Then what happened?

Well this guy below started his civil war and we all know the outcome. The government was now a one man and his family affair and it must be said the white people could remain doing what they did except for a lot of the farmers. I also think this could have worked but it did not.

Pension worthless

Having worked till 65 my uncle wanted to retire but due to the government spending and printing money without limits the pension in Zimbabwe dollars was worth nothing anymore. The economy by now was gone and poverty and violence was on every corner. My aunt was victim of a car jacking so no more car left.

Back to work at age 75

At around age 75 my uncle did not have any savings anymore but the factory was still running albeit a little smaller than before. The Britsh owners wanted to leave the country and asked my uncle to take over the factory management. He did and worked for another ten years in poverty. No goods unless you had some USD and drove to neighbouring Botswana. We sent him regularly packages with all kind of basic stuff and mostly it arrived safely.

Final years

He asked his brother - my father aged almost 80 - to visit him once more as he was expecting to not make it that much longer and he could not get out the country himself anymore. My father went there and was surprised to see how happy the community of elderly people was. A prefect climate, people helping eachother where they could, all as poor as the other but a great community sense. My father saw it was good and returned safely after 3 weeks. A year and a half later my uncle died. My aunt is now in a catolic elderly home paid for by the 8000 USD they got for the house and gardens. And the factory ? I have no clue....

Any Lessons ?

Well you figured it out yourself of course. Money is a nice thing to have but it is not what makes you happy. If you want to preserve some of your wealth it is very good to stack in gold or silver. But most important community sense is what keeps us going. Treat the other the way you want to be treated.

Goldrooster