Passports and the Green Mamba

In Zim, everyone knows what a black mamba is.  It's a snake... And not just any snake, but a highly venemous, fast predator related to the cobra.  Here is the last time I (knowingly) crossed paths with one:

We pulled up to a parking lot and there it was, sitting between us and the store....  We went shopping elsewhere.

Now here is what most Zimbabweans refer to as "the green mamba":

The power of your passport can be a fascinating topic when you live abroad and suddenly realize there are number of perks that come with belonging to a certain passport club.  And a number of limitations if you don't... 

The passport is a funny thing.  Well, funny, that is, if you're an American.  In Zimbabwe, it's no laughing matter.  With the help of outspoken leadership and political pariahood, Zimbabwean passport holders have been seeing a lot of closed doors these days.  

The "green mamba," as Zimbabweans call it, stands as a symbol among many locals as a reminder that they are shut out of access to other countries, despite the languages they may speak or their ancestral backgrounds. As one of many examples, my friend -whose grandfather holds the key to a city in Great Britain, fought in their army, and was sent to Zimbabwe as part of his military duty- reminds me that she is being made to feel less and less welcome in her home country of Zim, where her rights are not systematically equal to that of every other citizen in the country. Yet, though she feels the government's pressure to push out those colonialist families who have now called Zimbabwe home for generations, she has no where else to go.  "All we can do," she once told me, "is teach our children to marry someone outside of the country! My husband and I say, 'Don't marry for love!  Find a good passport first!'" Though there is a humor in her speaking, there is also sadness. "We have nowhere else to go.  This is home, eh?  Whether they want us here or not." When times get tough in the country, citizens do not get the same options to move across borders as we Americans confidently have.

Most local Zimbabweans have their own stories. Some involve the limited number of times one can apply for a visa in a foreign country. Some involve getting all the way to the other country before being denied entry. Some involve having to show a great deal of money in  a bank account, as well as proof that one is returning back to Zim eventually with a job waiting for them. Some involve proving familial connections through documentation extending as far as turning in mortgage papers for the homes of in-laws in other countries. And all involve hours of running around and completing interviews to get the correct paperwork and approval stamps.

Visas for those citizens of Zim are an arduous, expensive, full time job to say the least.  As political climates ebb and flow, companies devoted entirely to getting locals visas in other countries are still learning how to jump through hoops decades into service. Travel and moving can be a tricky thing when no one will have you. 

Apparently nobody wants a green mamba knocking on their door....

To view this fascinating graphic up close, check it out at its source: http://awesome.good.is/infographics/how-powerful-is-your-passport/516