Learnin' the Lingo

Activista – A volunteer associated with the health care system who is typically compensated minimally for their time and efforts. These people are community members who are often recruited from the local group of HIV patients and can almost always speak the local dialect (thus relating well to other people undergoing HIV treatment). They help out around the hospital, visit fellow HIV positive community members, give health education lectures, and also seek out people who have abandoned HIV treatment.

AJUDE – A nationally recognized association with local chapters spread throughout the country. Each chapter has a self run theater group which performs pieces on various health topics. The chapter in Alto Moloque is very active, meeting everyday M-F for an hour or two with occasional meetings on Saturdays and Sundays.

Alto Moloque – The closest big city to Nauela, located about an hour and a half East at the intersection with the country’s main highway, the EN 1.

Barraca – Any neighborhood open-air bar. To the untrained eye, they may simply appear to be a stand with some gin and beers being sold, but when night comes around and the music flips on, something magic happens! ;-) In all honesty, it is actually rather intriguing the first time walking past a barraca, but any normal barraca will typically have the same soundtrack blaring from its blown out speakers late into the night, weeks on end… and it gets old… fast!

Boleia – A car ride from a personal vehicle. Can be free or the normal chapa rate.

Capalana – A piece of colored fabric, often with elaborate designs, that is about the size of a small bedsheet. Capalanas are multi-use pieces of fabric that can be cut and sewn together to make various articles of clothing (shirts, dresses, shorts, etc), wrapped around personal possessions and act as a suitcase, or even tied around your body as a sash to act as a baby harness. Why is this wonderfully designed cloth not available in the U.S. you might ask? The world may never know…

Carmano - A rural village about a day’s bike ride away from Nauela where everyone from the surrounding countryside comes to sell all kinds of clothes and goods on Saturdays. Although there are several of these day markets, Carmano is one of the area’s biggest and most famous. It is because of this that several of the chapas which ferry passengers to and from Moloque during the week switch their destination to Carmano on the weekend.

Chapa– The typical short-distance mode of transportation in Mozambique. A chapa can manifest itself as an enclosed van or an open back truck. Regardless of the form, they are always packed tight with passengers and produce an endless amount of stories for their patrons.

Chefe do Posto- A political leader that is the equivalent of the mayor of a small town outside the county seat.

Empregada(o) – A maid that is compensated with cash and may or may not live on the premises. The typical monthly wage for a full-time maid is only between 500-800 metacais (~$17-$27)

EN 1 – Mozambique’s main highway that runs North-South mostly along the country’s coastal regions.

Esteira - A multipurpose straw mat that people use to chill outside on, as a cheap bed at night, or even to hang up as blinds.

FRELIMO (A Frente de Libertação de Moçambique)– Formed during the fight for independence during the period of colonialism. It has been the dominant party in Mozambique ever since winning independence from the Portuguese.

Gurue - The closest big city West of Nauela, located about 2-3 hours away via chapa. The city is an agricultural mecca that is in a fertile valley filled with tea bushes and surrounded by beautiful, towering mountains.

IBIS – A Danish NGO in Alto Moloque dedicated to furthering development through improvements in education.

IFP (in Portuguese pronounced Ee-Fep-Ee, Insituto de Formacao dos Professores) – Training institutes located in most district capitals for people who want to become teachers.

Irmas – Catholic nuns. There are a handful of them located just west of Nauela in the small town of Milevane where they run a small agricultural school.

IST (In Service Training) – Also called “reconnect”, it is a regional conference for all first year PCVs after completing their first 3 months at site. The purpose of the conferences is for the PC admin to see how everything is going, for you to share your experiences thus far, and to get some more trainings under your belt.

JOMA (Jovens para Mudança and Accão)– One of PC Mozambique’s main outreach programs for young men and women. Has yearly regional conferences where high school students in the groups learn about HIV/AIDS and other health topics and then get trained in areas such as theater, journalism, photography, art, etc. Each group chooses what area, if any, they want to focus on and then use that medium to communicate positive health messages to their local communities.

Lomwe - The predominant local dialect in the Northern Zambezia area.

Lurdes Mutola Foundation – A famous runner from Mozambique who established her own foundation here in 2001 to encourage young Mozambicans (particularly females) to participate in sports. The organization works to train coaches to better teach life/health skills through sports.

M&E - Monitoring and Evaluation. The way to measure and follow up on programmed activities. Allows you to measure outputs, outcomes, and gain a sense of your impact on your target population and make adjustments to your activities accordingly.

Machamba – A garden or field where people plant corn, beans, millet, etc.

Macua – The predominant local dialect in the Nampula area. Also can be a nickname for people who are from that region and speak the language (ie my local counterpart Professor Macua).

Malapa – The name of one of the mountains 3kms West of Nauela. The river bearing the same name starts at a crystal clear spring on the mountain, but then quickly turns to a muddy mess by the time it works its way towards the city of Nauela.

Matapa – The sauce made from the leaves of a cassava plant.

Mcel – Mozambique cellular. The more dominant of the two cell phone service providers in Mozambique. Mcel’s ubiquitous yellow tint is seen everywhere… on building, signs, even people! You see, most people here in Mozambique use cell phones through a pay-as-you-go service (rather than having a contract) and thus there are people decked out in mcel yellow at every street corner trying to force feed you credit for your phone.

MDM (Mozambique Democratic Movement) – A rising third party candidate in the national elections this past year.

Metacais - The official currency of Mozambique. Pronounced Met-a-kai-sh

Mihecane (Mee-hey-caan-nee)– The origins of the União Baptista church in Zambezia. Located just outside of Nauela about 4kms to the NW.

Milevane – The beautiful rural town that is home to the Catholic Padres and Irmas, located just 20 minutes West of Nauela toward Gurue. The Irmas run a basic agricultural school there and the Padres operate a large, scenic hideaway that routinely hosts conferences and individual travelers.

Mitxaiane (Mee-tchai-ah-nee) – A community located in the Nauela administrative post with an elementary school that is collaborating with IBIS to become a “Happy School.”

Mount Namuli – The second highest mountain in Mozambique located just outside the city of Gurue.

Motoristas - The drivers of the Mozambique’s infamous chapas! (The term refers to any driver, but typically I’m only interacting with chapa drivers…)

Moz 14 - The designation of my training class of PCVs here in Mozambique. PC Mozambique started in 2000 (I think?!) with Moz 1, which was comprised of strictly Education volunteers. Since then, PC Mozambique has added a health sector and is getting ready to add an agriculture sector starting this year. During the Moz 14 training, Education and Health trained at the same time, but that was not always the case and thus there are more Moz training classes than years of PC Mozambique existence.

MSC (Mid-Service Conference) – A national conference held in Maputo for PC Mozambique Volunteers after the end of their first year of service in January.

Mugema - A small neighboring town of Nauela on the way towards Alto Moloque. Located at the intersection of roads going to Nampula, Alto Moloque, and Gurue it has a lot of transportation movement and thus has built up a very large market with farmers selling their products directly and cheaply to the passing cars.

Namaacha - The location for PC Mozambique’s Pre-Service Training. A small district capital located at the Mozambican border with Swaziland and South Africa, about an hour and a half West of Maputo.

Nampula – Mozambique’s second largest city (behind Maputo) and the name of one of Mozambique’s 11 provinces. While not a port city, it sits at the intersection of three roads leading from large ports on the way into the heart of southern Africa.

Nauela – One of 2 administrative posts in the Alto Moloque district (the other being Alto Moloque itself). Has a rich agricultural history and thus was the site of much of the civil war battle sites. Also my home for the next 2 years!

Padres – Catholic preists. There are a handful of them located just west of Nauela in the small town of Milevane where they own a large complex that often functions as a conference retreat center.

Papas Enriquecidas – A calorie enriched porridge made with corn meal, peanut butter, oil, eggs, and sugar. You can all make variations by adding various ingredients (i.e. ground pinto beans) or leaving some out if you can’t get it all. In the end, the porridge simply should be dense in calories and easy to consume/digest.

Passear – A verb meaning, more or less, “to wander about aimlessly”. It is a common, everyday occurrence in the life of Mozambican who usually find themselves with little money to spend and nothing better to do that walk around and see what’s up. It can also mean to travel around only to sightsee.

PLWHA – People Living With HIV/AIDS

PST (Pre-Service Training) – The 3 month, in-country training that a Peace Corps Trainee must pass before becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer. The training varies significantly between countries, but in Mozambique it is held about an hour and a half outside of Maputo in a small border town (with Swaziland) called Namaacha. Here, trainees spend the 3 months living with host families while improving both their language and technical skills.

Quelimane– The capital of the Zambezia Province. Proud home to the FGH Zambezia office (among many other NGOs), my PO Box (send me mail!) and some of the worst roads you’ll ever find ANYWHERE. Near the ocean and flat as a pancake, Quelimane is the perfect home for a unique profession: the bike taxi. Try it and you’ll love it!

Rapaz – It is a fairly common practice amongst Mozambican workers (without a stay at home family member) to have a young boy who acts as a live-in maid at their house. The boy isn’t typically paid money, but instead, benefits by living closer to school and being provided with all the necessary school supplies (ie uniform, notebooks, pens, etc).

REDES (Raparigas En Desenvolvemento Educação E Saúde) - One of PC Mozambique’s main outreach programs for young women only. Has yearly regional conferences where female high school students in the groups learn about health topics such as HIV/AIDS, the reproductive system, and sex education and get trained in areas such as career selection, income generation, art/culture, and community volunteering. Each group chooses what area, if any, they want to focus on and then use that medium to better promote the role of the female in Mozambican society.

RENAMO (A Resistência Nacional Moçambicana)- The national minority political party behind FRELIMO. Fought against FRELIMO during the civil war, but lost.

Sena- The predominant local dialect in the Northern Sofala (ie Beira)/Southern Zambezia area (ie Morrumbala).

Troca (de experiencia) - A VERY popular concept here in Mozambique, it is a simple cross culture exchange between two parties. I believe that its popularity stems out of the fact that there is such limited movement of people and ideas here in Mozambique (due to lack of funds, transportation problems, and lack of available, affordable communication methods).

Vinhane - The PLWHA group at the Alto Moloque district hospital.

Vodacom – An international newcomer to the cell phone service scene in Mozambique, it still remains the less dominant of the two cell phone service providers in Mozambique. That said, it is already being regarded as a stiff competitor as it expands its service coverage area.

Xima – The most common carb of choice amongst Mozambicans. It can be made from ground corn, millet, cassava, or sweet potatoes by just adding hot water and stirring. It will sit in your stomach like a brick and tastes pretty good topped with any number of sauces.

Zed – The infamous Gin that is widely drank across Mozambique. Empty bottles of this are routinely used by children as toys and/or water bottles. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to seeing a 8 year old boy taking a deep swig from a Gin bottle (even if I know the clear liquid inside is only water)!