The UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) book distribution program in Zimbabwe has come up against a wall of logistical issues that are preventing 13 million books from reaching the hands of school children throughout the impoverished nation.

After years of civil war and a recently "fixed" currency crises which sent inflation % to millions per year, Zimbabwe is receiving a fair amount of attention from the United Nations. This nation was one of the top economic and political forces in Africa, but for a plethora of reasons this recent history seems almost more like a dream that never was.

But for all this attention, what seems to be lacking is true fixes to the foundational problems of poverty, ignorance, and inability to travel freely.

Although the collection of 13 million books has made its way into the country, none are as of yet distributed. The logistical issues of delivering 13 million books to 5,500 public schools through a nation lacking in an efficient government is stalling progress months beyond the expected deadline.

UNICEF put a September 31 deadline for the completion of the distribution, but with none of the books reaching schools so far, that deadline looks more like a guideline than a rule.

While this distribution could potentially bring many of these schools into the 20th century, the 21st century rolls onward with a decade already behind us. One program that has attempted to bring the poorest of the children in the world into the 21st century is another project funded by UNICEF that gives these children laptops that cost around $150. 

A program like this could allow for the whole universe of books to be suddenly available to a remote village; bringing the remote peoples firmly into the 21st century. The vast amount of discount books available as well as a huge collection of books online that are free to use would give these students many of the same opportunities as their more wealthy counterparts in the US.

Although the subject has not been brought up by the large media organizations, one potential complication of such a distribution is the massive amounts of graft and outright theft inherent to such a large government program. African governments are notoriously corrupt, with government extortion generally being seen as part and parcel of doing business in many of these nations.

So while the world contributes greatly to UNICEF to attempt to help the poorest children in the world, many of those that were elected to help these same children are taking part in programs that attempt to stall progress. Is it any wonder that populations around the globe are rising up against their cruel overlords to ask for that which they have stolen; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.