Structural violence underscored by the political economy plays a pivotal role in the epidemics of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in Zimbabwe. Political and economic hardship make migration across the border for work necessary for rural locals in Zimbabwe in order to remit money or goods from South Africa to families at home. The potential for the economic stabilisation of rural households through the remittance of goods and money is threatened, however, when what comes home includes “baby parcels” — infants who are sent home for relatives to care for as the parents in the diaspora are unable to do so — or when breadwinners return home ill. Based on a study of families in Maphisa, a rural growth point in south-western Zimbabwe, this article illustrates that the movement of babies and ill adults from an urban migratory setting to a rural one at home due to hardship is rooted in structural violence that perpetuates poverty and vulnerability, often leading to disease and death. Rural areas have become dependent on remittances; when ill persons are remitted instead of, or alongside, household goods, home becomes a place where the elderly care for the young, and where the sick die.

政治经济所强调的结构性暴力在津巴布韦的艾滋病毒/艾滋病和结核病流行中起着关键作用。政治和经济上的困难使津巴布韦农村移民跨境迁移，成为当地农村人必需的工作，以便从南非汇款或物资到家中。但是，通过汇入商品和金钱来稳定农村家庭的经济潜力受到威胁，但是当回家的东西包括“婴儿包裹”时，由于散居在外的父母无法将其送到亲戚家照顾的婴儿这样做-或养家糊口的人生病时回家。根据对津巴布韦西南部农村成长点Maphisa的家庭的研究，本文说明，由于困难，婴儿和患病成年人从城市迁徙到农村迁徙，其根源是结构性暴力，这种暴力使贫穷和脆弱性长期存在，常常导致疾病和死亡。农村地区已经开始依赖汇款；当生病的人代替家庭用品或与之并置时，家就变成了老年人照顾年轻人，病者死亡的地方。