As Zimbabwe's politicians wrangle over power, ordinary people are being sucked into a downward spiral of food shortages, spreading cholera outbreaks and collapsing social services.

The school year was supposed to begin on Tuesday, after a week's delay, but with teachers' monthly salaries worth just a few loaves of bread, few children are likely to find their schools open, Save the Children says.

In a new report, the aid agency says many teachers have little choice but to spend their time scraping together enough to survive rather than heading back to the classroom. Many are on strike, demanding their wages be paid in U.S. dollars.

At the end of 2008, only 20 percent of children were still attending school, down from 85 percent a year earlier, and that figure is likely to drop further, Save the Children warns.

"Children in Zimbabwe are going hungry and many have already lost family or friends," said Rachel Pounds, the agency's Zimbabwe director. "With classes closed, children feel they have no hope. They want to learn, be with their friends, take exams and create a future for themselves."

Yet even if they do venture back to school, they face a higher risk of infection from the cholera epidemic, which is spreading from urban to rural areas amid the rainy season and a breakdown in the health system.

"Sanitation is now so bad in schools that they may become a breeding ground for infection unless there is more money made available to put precautions in place," Pounds said.

IN SEARCH OF EDUCATION AND FOOD

The U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) plans to assess how many schools are functioning in the coming days.

"If schools don't open, the fear is you'll see a lot more people crossing the border (into South Africa)," said Shantha Bloemen, UNICEF's spokesperson in Johannesburg. "Schooling is important to Zimbabweans and you could see some parents who are already here bringing their kids over too."

Of 30,000 teachers estimated to have dropped out of the education system by the end of 2008, at least a third are now living in South Africa, Save the Children says. Among the 70,000 left - many of whom have little training - morale is rock-bottom and desperate conditions are driving them to inflict corporal punishment and exploitation on their pupils, according to the aid agency.

"A generation is at risk of growing up without any education in Zimbabwe, and that will have catastrophic consequences for the country's recovery," said Pounds.

Richard Lee, spokesman for the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP), agrees the crisis will have long-term effects on Zimbabwe's children, whose growth and development will be harmed by poor nutrition.

"People will continue to send their kids out into the bush to look for wild foods and things - especially if we can't provide them with a full ration," he said.

POOR HARVEST LOOMS

Aid agencies are struggling to feed more than 5.5 million Zimbabweans this month, but have been forced to reduce the amount of food per person because of a funding shortfall.

Lee expects the need for food aid to persist after the hungry season ends in March.

"Unfortunately it does look like the harvest will be poor and the economic situation is still bad, so it is likely that many people will once again need food assistance in 2009 and into early 2010," he told AlertNet.

Tom Arnold, chief executive of Concern Worldwide, an Irish aid agency that is distributing food and helping treat cholera in several districts in the west and east, said a lack of seed and fertiliser had prevented farmers planting enough crops.

"The countryside looks quite good - it's green and the rains have come," said Arnold, who recently returned from a trip to the country. "But the harvest will only meet around a quarter to a third of (food) needs... We will still see an argument for a wider level of food aid."

Concern will assess whether to continue providing food from April. Arnold said the agency faces difficult choices about who to feed, because there are so many people who are now "very, very poor" even if they do not fall into the poorest group.

He described meeting a man who complained about not qualifying for food aid even though his eight children and sick wife are eating just one meal a day. After selling his last bull for food, he now depends on casual labour, but for two to three days' weeding work, he's paid only five kilos of mealie meal, a staple food made of maize.

"The cases of most extreme need are still getting help, but it's not that the other half (of the population) is wealthy. The whole country is declining," said Arnold.

AID GROUPS SHORT OF CASH

There are growing fears aid agencies will have to scale back or even end their operations if donors don't stump up more cash to support humanitarian work.

The Red Cross - which has mounted a major response and prevention campaign on cholera - is warning it will have to stop operations in four to six weeks' time without more funding.

Heron Holloway, a Red Cross communications officer who recently visited cholera treatment centres in three provinces, said the numbers infected - now approaching 60,000 - are likely to rise as the rainy season progresses, with some people cut off from help.

The treatment centres are saving the lives of those who have already fallen ill, but Holloway said the emphasis should be on preventing the spread of the epidemic. The Red Cross is doing this by installing water treatment facilities and raising awareness by sending volunteers from house to house to give out basic information and hygiene kits.

Holloway said people are very eager to learn about the disease, with a crowd gathering "in about five seconds" around a Red Cross team who started telling people about it at a bus depot.

Asked why the Red Cross is struggling to raise enough money for its cholera response, she suggested it could be because the media spotlight has shifted to other crises and corporate donors are worried about the credit crunch. Some people may be afraid of compounding the political situation by giving money, she added.

"It's almost like the people of Zimbabwe are suffering doubly," she said.

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