The internet for all of northern Mozambique and most of eastern Africa has been knocked out for 4-6 weeks because the underwater fiberoptic cable was accidentally cut by a ship's dragging anchor (at least that's the rumor). So no more blog updates for a while... I will be able to talk to you via another phone service provider with the phone number 258844096351 or 258842038733. Please try not to worry too much though. I'm doing great :-)
P.S.- In case you were wondering, I was able to make this update via a special, one-time only use of satellite internet thanks to a nice NGO...
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Getting Things Going After IST
Sunday March 21st, 2010
The group of Moz 14 health volunteers started pouring into Nampula early Friday afternoon for the reconnect conference. Still hours away, I began receiving texts like “On my way to the hotel, where are you?” or “I can’t believe you’re not here yet”. Indeed, with or without me, the recently placed Moz 14 PCVs were picking back up friendships formed during PST as if we hadn’t been separated for more than a long weekend (in reality most of us hadn’t seen each other since leaving Namaacha in early December).
While the majority of PCVs had already arrived, I was stuck on the road inching my way closer and closer to Nampula on an open back chapa. Surrounded by 10 other Mozambican travelers, everyone remained relatively quiet and introverted due to the deafening wind that drowned out all other sounds. Not used to this solitude (the mountain roads around Nauela don’t usually permit cars to go that fast and thus talking over the wind isn’t an issue), I made an attempt to befriend my closest neighbor on the chapa, Daniel. As it turns out, Daniel lives and works in Macuba, selling snacks and drinks at the chapa stop. After a few minutes of going back and forth, he said that he might even recognized me from a few months back (apparently seeing a tall, lanky white guy riding local transportation doesn’t happen every day).
Sporadically throughout the 3 hour car ride to Nampula from Moloque, we chatted about where we were going, what we’re doing, etc. But as soon as the chapa stopped to let us all off, I quickly forgot all about my new friend. Jumping down off the chapa, I was overwhelmed by the number of taxi drivers offering to take me to my final destination. Not knowing Nampula that well, I didn’t want to get lost. At the same time, however, I also didn’t want to pay an arm and a leg for the last leg of my journey! Looking around confused, Daniel innocently approached me and offered to accompany to my hotel and assured me that it was on the way to his place. I quickly took him up on his offer and before I knew it we were on an inner-city chapa charging through downtown Nampula toward the hotel. Even though Daniel still had a ways to go before he got to his house, he got off the chapa with me to accompany me all the way to the hotel entrance and in return I gladly paid his 5 met chapa fare. After a crazy afternoon that seemed to go on forever, Daniel and I finally parted ways in front Hotel Lurio firmly shaking hands with me promising to say “Hi!” and buy a snack from him the next time I pass through Macuba (I don’t care what other people say… so many Mozambicans are SO nice!).
Turning away from Daniel, I was brought back to reality by the hotel lobby that stood before me overflowing with the familiar faces of fellow PCVs. Together at last! As a reward for sticking it out thus far I feel, PC hosted the conference in the relatively new, three-star Hotel Lurio located in downtown Nampula. Arriving from the United States, I’m sure you wouldn’t be particularly impressed with the hotel’s little amenities. After having lived for the past 6 months in Mozambique (especially the 3 most recent being in a rural town), however, I was almost awestruck by its luxuries (i.e. - A/C in the rooms, hot running water, meat at every meal, and best of all… unlimited wireless internet access)! What a great place to get have some meetings and hang out with some friends :-)
The first day of the conference, Monday, we listened to each other share our successes and challenges (ie failures!) thus far at our sites during formal sessions and informally over meals. Some people complained of too much structure in their job with their assigned NGO and others (like myself) reeled off stories about a complete lack of structure and almost absence of NGO support. It was productive to hear other PCV’s project ideas, but it was also a venting session long overdue for most!
In Service Training, or IST, was not simply a time to vent and share, it was also a time to review and expand on some of the trainings that we briefly covered in PST now that we’ve integrated into our communities and have seen what it’s really like at site. One of the main themes of the conference was monitoring and evaluation, or M&E. In fact, we spent almost a full day in a half talking about the importance of M&E, different ways of how to do M&E, how to incorporate M&E in to your work as a PCV, and how to report your data back to Peace Corps (sounds fun, right?!). We also spent a good amount of time talking about Organizational Development, or OD, and covered a bunch of other housekeeping issues, such as safety and security, PCV health, the future of PC Mozambique, etc.
Participating in all these meetings at the conference, however, didn’t mean we were about to miss the opportunity to go out and enjoy each other’s company. As a matter of fact, after the first long day of meetings, a group of 15 or so of went out to a nightclub about a block away from the hotel. We should have known it wasn’t the best situation when we arrived and there was a crazy line waiting for us outside. The group had made up its mind though and Greg, a PCV built like a diesel engine (but with one of the kindest hearts you’ll ever meet), helped force us through the crowd and inside. Once we were in, I was surprised by how it wasn’t too packed and there was actually some space to move around and dance. We quickly formed our own little bubble and had fun dancing it out while managing to keep the sketchy Mozambican guys from harassing our fellow female PCVs.
Amanda and I having fun at the night club in Nampula
We had arrived at the club a little after midnight and before we knew it, my watch was showing it was already 2am. Realizing that we had to get up early for the next day of meetings, we started rounding up people to go home. When we had finally gotten the majority of the group together, we left the club and found our way back to the hotel relatively uneventfully. Upon arriving, however, we were greeted by some distraught PCV friends of ours who were part of a smaller group who had left just moments before us and had gotten robbed on the short walk from the club to the hotel. As it turns out, the thieves threatened them with a brick and a broken glass bottle but only managed to take some money and a cell phone before being chased off by a good Samaritan who was driving by in a car. Although there was some material possessions lost, we were all very thankful that no one got hurt!
The night finally wrapped up around 4am, having everyone safely back at the hotel and in their rooms ready for bed. Waking up 2 hours later was tough, but staying awake for the next day of the conference was the worst part. Needless to say, there weren’t anymore late night adventures for me during the rest of IST. (In fact, a few of us didn’t even set foot out of the hotel again until we were leaving Nampula to head back to our sites… I mean, who needs to when you’ve got great food and company inside!)
Wednesday March 24th, 2010
Let me just step back to the last post and clarify that waking up at 6am is never fun, but it’s even worse when you have to say goodbye to people that you likely won’t see again until MSC next January and maybe never again after that. That said, while eating breakfast and saying my goodbyes, my emotions were mixed because I knew that Amanda was coming back with me to make her first visit to Nauela (actually my first visit from any PCV) and I couldn’t wait to show off my site to her!
After throwing back a small breakfast, Amanda, Josh, Julia and I jumped in a PC car that was headed to Quelimane and would be able to drop Amanda and I off in Alto Moloque on the way. The boleia left around 8am, meaning we should’ve gotten to Moloque with plenty of time to spare in order to catch a ride back to Nauela before sunset.
After an hour and a half of driving, however, the PC car got a flat tire in the middle of nowhere and we quickly pulled off the road, coming to a stop under the shade of a small tree (thank God for whoever planted that tree 10 years ago!) “Not the worst situation”, I thought, “Now we get to jump out of the car and stretch our legs for a bit and be back on the road in no time…” True, but that all changed when the driver went to switch out the tire and discovered that the spare was popped too (Gah! Can nothing be easy here?! ). Looking around at each other for a while, we eventually agreed that the driver could hitch a ride to the nearest town to patch the tire while we all stayed behind and looked after the car.
Having left Nampula at 8am in a private vehicle, we should have easily arrived in Alto Moloque before 11am. Due to our little tire mishap, however, we pulled up to the city chapa stop shortly after 3pm, luckily just as a chapa was pulling away for Nauela. (Thinking back on it, I’m not sure whether or not, if we had missed that chapa, we would have had to sleep in Moloque till next morning or not. Either way, fortunately we didn’t have to worry about it!)
We got to Nauela in a little over an hour after an uneventful chapa ride and from the moment we arrived, jumping down from the chapa, we were welcomed by neighbors excited to see the newcomer. After all the hoopla, we didn’t even make it into the house before Florentino showed up on his way back into Moloque inviting Amanda and I to come with him to Mitxaiane tomorrow around 9am. Even though Amanda was really hoping to enjoy some R&R while in Nauela, she could tell that I was excited to show her around and thus gave me a nod, letting me know that she’d be up for the trip.
Thursday March 25th, 2010
Amanda and I woke up early this morning in order to eat and be ready by 9am to go to Mitxaiane with IBIS. Much like the last time I went with Florentino though, Amanda and I enjoyed the predictable Mozambican tardiness and had a lazy morning sipping on tea and coffee.
When the IBIS car finally showed up around 11am, it was already packed with people who I had yet to meet. Squeezing Amanda and I in the back seat, I introduced myself to the uniformly-clad strangers and quickly discovered that they were all members of a theater group in Moloque, called AJUDE, which has a partnership with IBIS.
The day was fun, filled with a good mix of meetings, food, and play time. Although there was a lot going on, the purpose of the day’s work was to meet with the leaders of the school advisory council to help define their role when working with the school.
One of the local school council members giving a presentation on his understanding of the discussion.
While most of the teachers (there are only 4 at the primary school in Mitxaiane) and school council members were in meetings, the kids were entertained playing games with the theater group members and Amanda. The kids, girls especially, absolutely flocked to her! It made me so happy to see how they welcomed her and how she accepted and matched their enthusiasm, playing alongside them.
Amanda being surrounded by all the elementary school girls as she walks up to the playground
Amanda being pushed by all her newfound friends!
Me pushing the doubled up girls on their new swing set. Notice that they made the main structure (minus the rope) from local materials…
During designated breaks in the meetings, the AJUDE group performed two different pieces, one about caring for the environment and another about the importance of getting tested for HIV (Most of the plays were in Lomwe, so granted that my understanding of the plays was limited to common gestures and random Portuguese words thrown in here and there).
Getting all the kids organized to watch the first play.
Florentino introducing the theater group to the students
An actor pretending to be working in the field during the first play about taking care of the environment
A captivated audience
They think it’s funny!
On the ride home to Nauela, I got Magdalena’s number (one of the leaders of the theater group) and promised to contact her about the possibility of bringing some members of their group to Nauela for a troca (de experiencia). She seemed pretty excited about the possibility of teaching others theater techniques and I know that it’d be beneficial for the Nauela group. I’ll talk with FGH about providing some transport for them to and from Nauela one day and we’ll see what ends up happening...
Getting home at the end of a long day, Amanda and I rested, cooked up some dinner, and went for a short walk before calling it a night. The next day, however, she finally got her wish: a morning spent chilling, hanging around the house, followed up by an afternoon bike ride through town to the market with the dual purpose of buying some small necessities and chatting with people in the community.
Hanging out around the house playing the guitar with the owner of my house’s grandson looking on.
Picture of sunset from the road on the way to the market
Saturday March 27th,2010
The only bad thing about having someone come visit your site is eventually having to say goodbye. After a few days of hanging out and enjoying each other’s company, the time finally arrived when Amanda and I had to part ways. The good news was that at the last minute Amanda found a friend of hers from Morrumbala, Bern, who was coming through Moloque from Nampula on the exact day she needed to leave. The bad news, however, was that we were having a hell of a time finding a chapa into town in order for her to meet up with him on time.
For all of you who have talked to me here in Nauela, this one’s for you! A picture finally capturing me in my Mango tree courtesy of Amanda! This is me trying to contact Bern to let him know about our chapa problems.
When the chapa FINALLY came barreling down the road, I decided to jump onboard with Amanda to accompany her into Moloque to make sure she didn’t have any (more) trouble meeting up with Bern and selfishly wanting to milk a few more hours out of her visit,
The open-back chapa to Moloque was packed with people and cargo that made the relatively short and smooth ride a little uncomfortable. After 10 minutes on the road, the driver took pity on us by offering up the 1 remaining spot in the front cab to us. I insisted that Amanda take it and she hesitantly obliged. When we stopped to pick up the next passenger a few minutes later, however, Amanda flung open the cab’s passenger-side door and came flying back to the empty spot she had left next to me just moments earlier in order to spend the last moments of her visit with me.
At the time it was quite a moving gesture (it actually made my day!). But when crossing the airfield on our way into Moloque, her selflessness was taken to another level when the rolling-in storm clouds finally let loose. As it turned out, she had not only given up a comfy seat, but also one that would have kept her high and dry through all of this (a definite plus for someone who is about to travel all day!). Amanda was quick to react to the incoming rain though, pulling out her camping towel to cover us. When the drizzle turned into a sudden downpour, however, any effort to shield ourselves from the rain was futile.
Weeks later, while revising this entry, I can still vividly remember the look on Amanda’s face as we huddled under the small towel hysterically laughing at the ridiculousness of it all while the soaked, ill-humored Mozambicans simply stared… these are the moments you LIVE for, right!? On that note, if any of you reading this have a story you’d like to share on my blog, especially related to traveling/experiencing another culture, please email me at mtudeen@gmail.com and I’ll try to include it on a new Guest Speakers page I’m starting up…
In a matter of minutes, Amanda and I had gone from baking in the sun just outside the city to completely soaked getting off the chapa in front of the district hospital. Ironically, the rain stopped almost as soon as we jumped off the chapa, but not before having done its damage. Things fell into place like timework after that. No sooner had we settled down in front of the hospital than Bern sent a text message letting us know he had just arrived in the city. The goodbye was quick and sad, but at the same time it was good because all the sadness was rooted in the fact that we both had had such a good time together (I can’t wait for my next visitor!)…
After Bern’s car disappeared around the corner with Amanda waving goodbye through the back window, I found myself suddenly alone in Alto Moloque with no definite plans. Should I just hop on another chapa and retreat back to my empty house in Nauela? Or should I take advantage of my trip to the city and visit a few people to temporary get my mind off my loneliness? Sitting at the chapa stop contemplating this, feeling pretty empty after having just said goodbye to Amanda, an AJUDE group member passed by and invited me to their meeting later that day. I took the invite as a sign and left the chapa stop to kill some time before the theater meeting.
Looking at my watch, I noted that I had almost 2 hours before the supposed start of the AJUDE meeting (I knew better than to assume the meeting would actually start on time though!), so I decided to call up Melissa, a fellow Moz 14 health PCV, and meet up with her at the district hospital with theVinhane group. After talking with Melissa for a bit and observing the meeting, I pulled the group’s president, Anna, aside to ask if her and a few members would be interested in coming out to Nauela to help us teach mom’s of malnourished childrenhow to make “papas enriquecidas” (something the Vinhane group already does at the district hospital). Anna seemed pretty interested in the idea and said she’d talk with FGH to arrange a date when they could come out.
The Vinhane meeting ended up going on for longer than expected (after discussing a number of issues they still had to sit down and analyze a local weekly radio broadcast about HIV), therefore I had to leave before early in order to make the supposed start time with the theater group. As it turned out, the meeting for AJUDE was actually a rehearsal for Monday’s performance at the district hospital (FGH had asked them to present a piece on Tuberculosis prevention) and it was very inspiring to see how serious they took it and how much they got into it. Before and after the rehearsal, I talked with the group leader, Gato Preto (Black Cat is his artistic name), about arranging a date for them to come out to Nauela to train the local JOMA theater group. Gato Preto liked the idea and sounded optimistic about being able to find a date in the near future for them to come out if we could arrange the transport and food. We’ll see…
By the end of the AJUDE meeting the sun was already hidden behind the distant mountains and it was quickly getting dark. I knew that I’d be stuck in Moloque for the night, the only question was where I’d end up sleeping. Luckily, Kate (a Moz 13 education PCV) was at her house by herself (her roommate Gina was traveling for the weekend) and was quick to accept my company. On the flip side, I also welcomed her company (not only because she was kind enough to open up her house to me) having just said goodbye to Amanda and not wanting to go home to a suddenly empty house. The evening actually turned out great because, since Gina was gone, I didn’t even have to sleep on the floor!
Sunday March 28th, 2010
The open-back chapa to Coming back to Nauela from Moloque on the first chapa of the day, I had plenty of room to spread out. That said, the morning dew had made the truck’s bed slick and muddy and thus I opted to perch myself on the truck’s rim. I’d been in this position many times before, holding on tight for dear life as the truck rocked back and forth… not fun! We had just crossed over the Malapa River and were going down the home stretch towards Nauela, however, when something abnormal happened.
What exactly took place next is a blur. Reflecting back on it, I can still remember looking across the truck bed at the passing scenery, listening to my MP3 player, and thinking about how peaceful the chapa ride was going. I must have unknowingly loosened my grip from the railing for a split second exactly when we hit a small pothole in the dirt road. The jolt sent me up into the air and my body reacted by pulling me back toward the railing. I over shot my target and sent all my body weight flying towards the ground below. Luckily, my reflexes were faster than my thoughts, allowing me to catch myself by pinning my doubled up body against the in and outside of the truck without even comprehending what had just happened.
In an instant, hands from fellow passengers came from all directions, grabbing hold of my arms and shirt. I heard the cobrador in the distance scream for the driver to stop, but by the time he got the urgency of the message and slowed to a halt, my fellow passengers were able to pull me back to “safety” inside the chapa. I sank down to the dirty truck bed floor in embarrassment, but had the decency to remember to thank everyone around me profusely for their help.
Monday March 29th, 2010
Although my counterpart from FGH has only shown up in Nauela once in the past month and a half (don’t get me started!), the one good thing about being partnered with FGH is the car the mobile hospital staff brings with them on Mondays that is free to shuttle me around if I have any work that needs to be done. Today I was hoping to make it out again to the Padres and Irmas in Milevane to talk about a few project ideas and Joakim, the FGH driver, was quick to oblige. Although the majority of the Padres weren’t there, or were busy, I ended up meeting at length with Irmas over a small lunch. When I had first arrived in Nauela 3 months ago, I had tried to introduce myself to the Irmas, but none of them were home. Well as it turns out, there are 5 of them (3 from spain, 1 from Portugal, and 1 from Mozambique) living together in a large cottage and they collectively run an agricultural school down the road in the rural town. All of them were very nice and welcoming to me, offering up lots of stories about the previous PCV, Laura, who they had all grown very close to (especially near the end of her service).
When I got back into Nauela in the mid-afternoon, I called Chauchane from the Lurdes Mutola Foundation in order to get stuff ready for upcoming Lurdes Mutola meeting on April 1st. But when I finally got a hold of him, he insisted that the he and the Chefe do Posto had agreed on an April 10th meeting date. Having not been there for their meeting and the Chefe do Posto being out of town, I had no choice but to take his word for it and make our plans for the 10th.
The group of Moz 14 health volunteers started pouring into Nampula early Friday afternoon for the reconnect conference. Still hours away, I began receiving texts like “On my way to the hotel, where are you?” or “I can’t believe you’re not here yet”. Indeed, with or without me, the recently placed Moz 14 PCVs were picking back up friendships formed during PST as if we hadn’t been separated for more than a long weekend (in reality most of us hadn’t seen each other since leaving Namaacha in early December).
While the majority of PCVs had already arrived, I was stuck on the road inching my way closer and closer to Nampula on an open back chapa. Surrounded by 10 other Mozambican travelers, everyone remained relatively quiet and introverted due to the deafening wind that drowned out all other sounds. Not used to this solitude (the mountain roads around Nauela don’t usually permit cars to go that fast and thus talking over the wind isn’t an issue), I made an attempt to befriend my closest neighbor on the chapa, Daniel. As it turns out, Daniel lives and works in Macuba, selling snacks and drinks at the chapa stop. After a few minutes of going back and forth, he said that he might even recognized me from a few months back (apparently seeing a tall, lanky white guy riding local transportation doesn’t happen every day).
Sporadically throughout the 3 hour car ride to Nampula from Moloque, we chatted about where we were going, what we’re doing, etc. But as soon as the chapa stopped to let us all off, I quickly forgot all about my new friend. Jumping down off the chapa, I was overwhelmed by the number of taxi drivers offering to take me to my final destination. Not knowing Nampula that well, I didn’t want to get lost. At the same time, however, I also didn’t want to pay an arm and a leg for the last leg of my journey! Looking around confused, Daniel innocently approached me and offered to accompany to my hotel and assured me that it was on the way to his place. I quickly took him up on his offer and before I knew it we were on an inner-city chapa charging through downtown Nampula toward the hotel. Even though Daniel still had a ways to go before he got to his house, he got off the chapa with me to accompany me all the way to the hotel entrance and in return I gladly paid his 5 met chapa fare. After a crazy afternoon that seemed to go on forever, Daniel and I finally parted ways in front Hotel Lurio firmly shaking hands with me promising to say “Hi!” and buy a snack from him the next time I pass through Macuba (I don’t care what other people say… so many Mozambicans are SO nice!).
Turning away from Daniel, I was brought back to reality by the hotel lobby that stood before me overflowing with the familiar faces of fellow PCVs. Together at last! As a reward for sticking it out thus far I feel, PC hosted the conference in the relatively new, three-star Hotel Lurio located in downtown Nampula. Arriving from the United States, I’m sure you wouldn’t be particularly impressed with the hotel’s little amenities. After having lived for the past 6 months in Mozambique (especially the 3 most recent being in a rural town), however, I was almost awestruck by its luxuries (i.e. - A/C in the rooms, hot running water, meat at every meal, and best of all… unlimited wireless internet access)! What a great place to get have some meetings and hang out with some friends :-)
The first day of the conference, Monday, we listened to each other share our successes and challenges (ie failures!) thus far at our sites during formal sessions and informally over meals. Some people complained of too much structure in their job with their assigned NGO and others (like myself) reeled off stories about a complete lack of structure and almost absence of NGO support. It was productive to hear other PCV’s project ideas, but it was also a venting session long overdue for most!
In Service Training, or IST, was not simply a time to vent and share, it was also a time to review and expand on some of the trainings that we briefly covered in PST now that we’ve integrated into our communities and have seen what it’s really like at site. One of the main themes of the conference was monitoring and evaluation, or M&E. In fact, we spent almost a full day in a half talking about the importance of M&E, different ways of how to do M&E, how to incorporate M&E in to your work as a PCV, and how to report your data back to Peace Corps (sounds fun, right?!). We also spent a good amount of time talking about Organizational Development, or OD, and covered a bunch of other housekeeping issues, such as safety and security, PCV health, the future of PC Mozambique, etc.
Participating in all these meetings at the conference, however, didn’t mean we were about to miss the opportunity to go out and enjoy each other’s company. As a matter of fact, after the first long day of meetings, a group of 15 or so of went out to a nightclub about a block away from the hotel. We should have known it wasn’t the best situation when we arrived and there was a crazy line waiting for us outside. The group had made up its mind though and Greg, a PCV built like a diesel engine (but with one of the kindest hearts you’ll ever meet), helped force us through the crowd and inside. Once we were in, I was surprised by how it wasn’t too packed and there was actually some space to move around and dance. We quickly formed our own little bubble and had fun dancing it out while managing to keep the sketchy Mozambican guys from harassing our fellow female PCVs.
Amanda and I having fun at the night club in Nampula
We had arrived at the club a little after midnight and before we knew it, my watch was showing it was already 2am. Realizing that we had to get up early for the next day of meetings, we started rounding up people to go home. When we had finally gotten the majority of the group together, we left the club and found our way back to the hotel relatively uneventfully. Upon arriving, however, we were greeted by some distraught PCV friends of ours who were part of a smaller group who had left just moments before us and had gotten robbed on the short walk from the club to the hotel. As it turns out, the thieves threatened them with a brick and a broken glass bottle but only managed to take some money and a cell phone before being chased off by a good Samaritan who was driving by in a car. Although there was some material possessions lost, we were all very thankful that no one got hurt!
The night finally wrapped up around 4am, having everyone safely back at the hotel and in their rooms ready for bed. Waking up 2 hours later was tough, but staying awake for the next day of the conference was the worst part. Needless to say, there weren’t anymore late night adventures for me during the rest of IST. (In fact, a few of us didn’t even set foot out of the hotel again until we were leaving Nampula to head back to our sites… I mean, who needs to when you’ve got great food and company inside!)
Wednesday March 24th, 2010
Let me just step back to the last post and clarify that waking up at 6am is never fun, but it’s even worse when you have to say goodbye to people that you likely won’t see again until MSC next January and maybe never again after that. That said, while eating breakfast and saying my goodbyes, my emotions were mixed because I knew that Amanda was coming back with me to make her first visit to Nauela (actually my first visit from any PCV) and I couldn’t wait to show off my site to her!
After throwing back a small breakfast, Amanda, Josh, Julia and I jumped in a PC car that was headed to Quelimane and would be able to drop Amanda and I off in Alto Moloque on the way. The boleia left around 8am, meaning we should’ve gotten to Moloque with plenty of time to spare in order to catch a ride back to Nauela before sunset.
After an hour and a half of driving, however, the PC car got a flat tire in the middle of nowhere and we quickly pulled off the road, coming to a stop under the shade of a small tree (thank God for whoever planted that tree 10 years ago!) “Not the worst situation”, I thought, “Now we get to jump out of the car and stretch our legs for a bit and be back on the road in no time…” True, but that all changed when the driver went to switch out the tire and discovered that the spare was popped too (Gah! Can nothing be easy here?! ). Looking around at each other for a while, we eventually agreed that the driver could hitch a ride to the nearest town to patch the tire while we all stayed behind and looked after the car.
Having left Nampula at 8am in a private vehicle, we should have easily arrived in Alto Moloque before 11am. Due to our little tire mishap, however, we pulled up to the city chapa stop shortly after 3pm, luckily just as a chapa was pulling away for Nauela. (Thinking back on it, I’m not sure whether or not, if we had missed that chapa, we would have had to sleep in Moloque till next morning or not. Either way, fortunately we didn’t have to worry about it!)
We got to Nauela in a little over an hour after an uneventful chapa ride and from the moment we arrived, jumping down from the chapa, we were welcomed by neighbors excited to see the newcomer. After all the hoopla, we didn’t even make it into the house before Florentino showed up on his way back into Moloque inviting Amanda and I to come with him to Mitxaiane tomorrow around 9am. Even though Amanda was really hoping to enjoy some R&R while in Nauela, she could tell that I was excited to show her around and thus gave me a nod, letting me know that she’d be up for the trip.
Thursday March 25th, 2010
Amanda and I woke up early this morning in order to eat and be ready by 9am to go to Mitxaiane with IBIS. Much like the last time I went with Florentino though, Amanda and I enjoyed the predictable Mozambican tardiness and had a lazy morning sipping on tea and coffee.
When the IBIS car finally showed up around 11am, it was already packed with people who I had yet to meet. Squeezing Amanda and I in the back seat, I introduced myself to the uniformly-clad strangers and quickly discovered that they were all members of a theater group in Moloque, called AJUDE, which has a partnership with IBIS.
The day was fun, filled with a good mix of meetings, food, and play time. Although there was a lot going on, the purpose of the day’s work was to meet with the leaders of the school advisory council to help define their role when working with the school.
One of the local school council members giving a presentation on his understanding of the discussion.
While most of the teachers (there are only 4 at the primary school in Mitxaiane) and school council members were in meetings, the kids were entertained playing games with the theater group members and Amanda. The kids, girls especially, absolutely flocked to her! It made me so happy to see how they welcomed her and how she accepted and matched their enthusiasm, playing alongside them.
Amanda being surrounded by all the elementary school girls as she walks up to the playground
Amanda being pushed by all her newfound friends!
Me pushing the doubled up girls on their new swing set. Notice that they made the main structure (minus the rope) from local materials…
During designated breaks in the meetings, the AJUDE group performed two different pieces, one about caring for the environment and another about the importance of getting tested for HIV (Most of the plays were in Lomwe, so granted that my understanding of the plays was limited to common gestures and random Portuguese words thrown in here and there).
Getting all the kids organized to watch the first play.
Florentino introducing the theater group to the students
An actor pretending to be working in the field during the first play about taking care of the environment
A captivated audience
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They think it’s funny!
On the ride home to Nauela, I got Magdalena’s number (one of the leaders of the theater group) and promised to contact her about the possibility of bringing some members of their group to Nauela for a troca (de experiencia). She seemed pretty excited about the possibility of teaching others theater techniques and I know that it’d be beneficial for the Nauela group. I’ll talk with FGH about providing some transport for them to and from Nauela one day and we’ll see what ends up happening...
Getting home at the end of a long day, Amanda and I rested, cooked up some dinner, and went for a short walk before calling it a night. The next day, however, she finally got her wish: a morning spent chilling, hanging around the house, followed up by an afternoon bike ride through town to the market with the dual purpose of buying some small necessities and chatting with people in the community.
Hanging out around the house playing the guitar with the owner of my house’s grandson looking on.
Picture of sunset from the road on the way to the market
Saturday March 27th,2010
The only bad thing about having someone come visit your site is eventually having to say goodbye. After a few days of hanging out and enjoying each other’s company, the time finally arrived when Amanda and I had to part ways. The good news was that at the last minute Amanda found a friend of hers from Morrumbala, Bern, who was coming through Moloque from Nampula on the exact day she needed to leave. The bad news, however, was that we were having a hell of a time finding a chapa into town in order for her to meet up with him on time.
For all of you who have talked to me here in Nauela, this one’s for you! A picture finally capturing me in my Mango tree courtesy of Amanda! This is me trying to contact Bern to let him know about our chapa problems.
When the chapa FINALLY came barreling down the road, I decided to jump onboard with Amanda to accompany her into Moloque to make sure she didn’t have any (more) trouble meeting up with Bern and selfishly wanting to milk a few more hours out of her visit,
The open-back chapa to Moloque was packed with people and cargo that made the relatively short and smooth ride a little uncomfortable. After 10 minutes on the road, the driver took pity on us by offering up the 1 remaining spot in the front cab to us. I insisted that Amanda take it and she hesitantly obliged. When we stopped to pick up the next passenger a few minutes later, however, Amanda flung open the cab’s passenger-side door and came flying back to the empty spot she had left next to me just moments earlier in order to spend the last moments of her visit with me.
At the time it was quite a moving gesture (it actually made my day!). But when crossing the airfield on our way into Moloque, her selflessness was taken to another level when the rolling-in storm clouds finally let loose. As it turned out, she had not only given up a comfy seat, but also one that would have kept her high and dry through all of this (a definite plus for someone who is about to travel all day!). Amanda was quick to react to the incoming rain though, pulling out her camping towel to cover us. When the drizzle turned into a sudden downpour, however, any effort to shield ourselves from the rain was futile.
Weeks later, while revising this entry, I can still vividly remember the look on Amanda’s face as we huddled under the small towel hysterically laughing at the ridiculousness of it all while the soaked, ill-humored Mozambicans simply stared… these are the moments you LIVE for, right!? On that note, if any of you reading this have a story you’d like to share on my blog, especially related to traveling/experiencing another culture, please email me at mtudeen@gmail.com and I’ll try to include it on a new Guest Speakers page I’m starting up…
In a matter of minutes, Amanda and I had gone from baking in the sun just outside the city to completely soaked getting off the chapa in front of the district hospital. Ironically, the rain stopped almost as soon as we jumped off the chapa, but not before having done its damage. Things fell into place like timework after that. No sooner had we settled down in front of the hospital than Bern sent a text message letting us know he had just arrived in the city. The goodbye was quick and sad, but at the same time it was good because all the sadness was rooted in the fact that we both had had such a good time together (I can’t wait for my next visitor!)…
After Bern’s car disappeared around the corner with Amanda waving goodbye through the back window, I found myself suddenly alone in Alto Moloque with no definite plans. Should I just hop on another chapa and retreat back to my empty house in Nauela? Or should I take advantage of my trip to the city and visit a few people to temporary get my mind off my loneliness? Sitting at the chapa stop contemplating this, feeling pretty empty after having just said goodbye to Amanda, an AJUDE group member passed by and invited me to their meeting later that day. I took the invite as a sign and left the chapa stop to kill some time before the theater meeting.
Looking at my watch, I noted that I had almost 2 hours before the supposed start of the AJUDE meeting (I knew better than to assume the meeting would actually start on time though!), so I decided to call up Melissa, a fellow Moz 14 health PCV, and meet up with her at the district hospital with theVinhane group. After talking with Melissa for a bit and observing the meeting, I pulled the group’s president, Anna, aside to ask if her and a few members would be interested in coming out to Nauela to help us teach mom’s of malnourished childrenhow to make “papas enriquecidas” (something the Vinhane group already does at the district hospital). Anna seemed pretty interested in the idea and said she’d talk with FGH to arrange a date when they could come out.
The Vinhane meeting ended up going on for longer than expected (after discussing a number of issues they still had to sit down and analyze a local weekly radio broadcast about HIV), therefore I had to leave before early in order to make the supposed start time with the theater group. As it turned out, the meeting for AJUDE was actually a rehearsal for Monday’s performance at the district hospital (FGH had asked them to present a piece on Tuberculosis prevention) and it was very inspiring to see how serious they took it and how much they got into it. Before and after the rehearsal, I talked with the group leader, Gato Preto (Black Cat is his artistic name), about arranging a date for them to come out to Nauela to train the local JOMA theater group. Gato Preto liked the idea and sounded optimistic about being able to find a date in the near future for them to come out if we could arrange the transport and food. We’ll see…
By the end of the AJUDE meeting the sun was already hidden behind the distant mountains and it was quickly getting dark. I knew that I’d be stuck in Moloque for the night, the only question was where I’d end up sleeping. Luckily, Kate (a Moz 13 education PCV) was at her house by herself (her roommate Gina was traveling for the weekend) and was quick to accept my company. On the flip side, I also welcomed her company (not only because she was kind enough to open up her house to me) having just said goodbye to Amanda and not wanting to go home to a suddenly empty house. The evening actually turned out great because, since Gina was gone, I didn’t even have to sleep on the floor!
Sunday March 28th, 2010
The open-back chapa to Coming back to Nauela from Moloque on the first chapa of the day, I had plenty of room to spread out. That said, the morning dew had made the truck’s bed slick and muddy and thus I opted to perch myself on the truck’s rim. I’d been in this position many times before, holding on tight for dear life as the truck rocked back and forth… not fun! We had just crossed over the Malapa River and were going down the home stretch towards Nauela, however, when something abnormal happened.
What exactly took place next is a blur. Reflecting back on it, I can still remember looking across the truck bed at the passing scenery, listening to my MP3 player, and thinking about how peaceful the chapa ride was going. I must have unknowingly loosened my grip from the railing for a split second exactly when we hit a small pothole in the dirt road. The jolt sent me up into the air and my body reacted by pulling me back toward the railing. I over shot my target and sent all my body weight flying towards the ground below. Luckily, my reflexes were faster than my thoughts, allowing me to catch myself by pinning my doubled up body against the in and outside of the truck without even comprehending what had just happened.
In an instant, hands from fellow passengers came from all directions, grabbing hold of my arms and shirt. I heard the cobrador in the distance scream for the driver to stop, but by the time he got the urgency of the message and slowed to a halt, my fellow passengers were able to pull me back to “safety” inside the chapa. I sank down to the dirty truck bed floor in embarrassment, but had the decency to remember to thank everyone around me profusely for their help.
Monday March 29th, 2010
Although my counterpart from FGH has only shown up in Nauela once in the past month and a half (don’t get me started!), the one good thing about being partnered with FGH is the car the mobile hospital staff brings with them on Mondays that is free to shuttle me around if I have any work that needs to be done. Today I was hoping to make it out again to the Padres and Irmas in Milevane to talk about a few project ideas and Joakim, the FGH driver, was quick to oblige. Although the majority of the Padres weren’t there, or were busy, I ended up meeting at length with Irmas over a small lunch. When I had first arrived in Nauela 3 months ago, I had tried to introduce myself to the Irmas, but none of them were home. Well as it turns out, there are 5 of them (3 from spain, 1 from Portugal, and 1 from Mozambique) living together in a large cottage and they collectively run an agricultural school down the road in the rural town. All of them were very nice and welcoming to me, offering up lots of stories about the previous PCV, Laura, who they had all grown very close to (especially near the end of her service).
When I got back into Nauela in the mid-afternoon, I called Chauchane from the Lurdes Mutola Foundation in order to get stuff ready for upcoming Lurdes Mutola meeting on April 1st. But when I finally got a hold of him, he insisted that the he and the Chefe do Posto had agreed on an April 10th meeting date. Having not been there for their meeting and the Chefe do Posto being out of town, I had no choice but to take his word for it and make our plans for the 10th.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Finishing up the First 3 Months at Site
Sunday March 7th, 2010
The day after our unanticipated early arrival in Gurue (when we were actually supposed to be making our way back to the city after hiking up Mount Namuli), Noemi, Yohko and I slept in on Aditi and Camille’s comfy beds, nursing our aching bodies. My calves and quads were sore, but it was the lingering tendonitis in my left knee that was overwhelming (that said, I feel that I came away from the hike the best of the group because I didn’t get any blisters!). Even though the sun had long ago risen, I rolled away from the window and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to milk a few more minutes out of the calm, peaceful morning. A moment later, however, that tranquility was abruptly shattered by the next door neighbor, deciding that (it being 7:30am and all) it was high time for some partying, flipped on his stereo and cranked it up to full blast.
Soon following the rude awakening, we collectively stumbled out of the bedrooms and were surprised to find Camille slaving away in the kitchen making some wonderful, home-cooked blueberry pancakes! After a lazy morning snacking on the pancakes as they came hot off the skillet, we wandered through the city a little before bidding each other farewell at the chapa station. Noemi and Yohko were lucky enough to almost immediately find a chapa heading south that was ready to leave. They jumped onboard the exiting chapa and sped off, leaving me behind staring at the only chapa slated to head east toward Alto Moloque which was looking quite empty.
After nearly an hour of waiting by the vacant truck, the driver took pity on me and informed me that (if I couldn’t already tell) the car wouldn’t be leaving any time soon so if I wanted to walk around and come back in a few hours, he’d surely still be there. Noting that I had nothing better to do, I aimlessly left the chapa stop and started meandering around Gurue, admiring the beautiful surroundings. After 30 minutes or so of wandering, I was reminded of the missionaries in town, the Fosters , that the visitors in Mehecane had told me about a few weeks earlier. After asking around about their whereabouts, I made my way over to the school where I was told their house was located. A guard was on duty at the school’s gate and after only a little apprehension permitted me to enter the school compound. I’m not sure if he thought I’d get lost, if it was something just to occupy his time, or if just didn’t trust me, but he insisted on accompanying me all the way through the compound to the missionary’s home.
Stuart Foster was on the front porch when I showed up with the accompanying guard. Surprised, he gave me an odd look, but then greeted me heartily and dismissed the guard after finding out that I was a local Peace Corps Volunteer. Alerting the family, his wife, Sindia, was quick to join us with some fresh squeezed lemonade and peanut butter cookies (YUM!). My visit lasted most of the early afternoon, but seemed to go by in a flash. I let on that I was very intrigued to hear their history here in Mozambique and they were kind enough to oblige by sharing several of their stories that they’d amassed over the years.
As it turns out, the Fosters arrived in Mozambique back in 1986 (the same year I was born!) and have been living in here ever since (now, that doesn’t mean they haven’t left the country in 24 years, but they usually only make it back to the states every 4 years or so). In fact, with the country’s population distribution heavily weighted toward youth (due to high fertility and low life expectancy rates), the Fosters figure that they have been in Mozambique longer than at least half of Mozambicans! At the same time, they have a really good appreciation for how the country is constantly changing and, thus, are constantly seeking to learn new things about the current state of the country.
Although they weren’t always based out of Gurue, the large majority of their time in country has been in the beautiful, secluded mountain town. As a result of their strong connection to the local people, they have both learned to speak, read, and write in the local dialect of Lomwe, which has played a tremendous role in their work as missionaries here in Mozambique.
In fact, Stuart’s primary project is working with the local religious organizations who are translating the Bible into Lomwe. In reality, most of the work lies in translating the Old Testament because the New Testament was translated to Lomwe nearly 40 years ago and has long been available to the area churches. That said, 40 years is a long time for any language and thus there is considerable work being done to update the New Testament translation. At any rate, there is a team of Mozambican translators who are fluent in Portuguese and Lomwe, but Stuart’s role is to come back through their translations taking into consideration the original Hebrew and Greek texts. The work is slow, but there are hopes that the full Bible will be translated into Lomwe in the next 3-5 years.
Going hand in hand with making the Bible available in Lomwe (a language that until relatively recently existed exclusively orally), the area churches recognize that it is essential to work towards building the Lomwe literacy rate. Sindia has taken this task up on her own accord and works by building up the availability of children’s literature in Lomwe.
Sipping on the lemonade and taking generous bites out of the peanut butter cookies, Stuart assured me that the living wasn’t always as cushy as this. Arriving in Mozambique during the civil war between FRELIMO and RENAMO , the couple almost didn’t even make it to northern Mozambique due to reported food shortages. They eventually got approval to travel from Maputo to Nampula, but were greeted by a reality harsher than what they had imagined. The city was packed with refugees from the war-torn countryside and, to say the very least, food was scarce! In fact, for essentials food items that you likely take for granted (i.e. bread) one’s name had to be on a list just to receive a small ration. It took nearly six months of asking around, but finally they were able to make it on the coveted list. Bringing home the first loaf, Stuart didn’t even make it through the house’s yard before his wife and daughter ran up to him and tore into the blessed manna.
Staying in Nampula, the Fosters were removed from the actual fighting of the war, but constantly felt its impact. Communication was difficult and rare within country, but possible internationally. Although they never had to, it was a comforting thought that, if they needed to, they could go to the communications center in town and place an emergency call back home to the States. That’s a stark contrast to what Mozambicans at the time had to do to communicate with one another. Every once in a while, local Mozambican friends of the Fosters would sneak behind battle lines for emergency visits home and come back to Nampula where they’d be asked to update other anxious families about their loved one’s stuck behind. Oftentimes misinformation got passed by word of mouth and people mourned the loss of a loved one they later found to be alive.
Flash forward 20 years, the civil war is long over and the arrival of mcel is well underway. Although it seems like mcel coverage won’t expand fast enough for us PCVs who are used to 3G networks everywhere we go, talking to the fosters I can see that the communication network is making leaps and bounds. It was just 2 years ago that the only way you could get reception in Nauela was by climbing a nearby mountain. I figure that since I now only have to climb a mango tree, things are dramatically improving! Who knows, maybe by the end of the two years I’ll have reception sitting at this desk… I can dream, can’t I?
I bid farewell to the Fosters after a long afternoon of chatting, promising to visit the next time I’m in town and encouraging them to hit me up if they are ever passing through Nauela on the way to Alto Moloque. Stuart walked me to edge of the school compound and gave me a firm handshake as I passed through the gate. Smiling and then looking away, I was suddenly brought back to reality when remembering the fact that I was still hoping to get back to Nauela today. Amidst hurried steps, I glanced down at my watch and I saw that it was nearly 3pm. “If I want to make it back home before nightfall I’ll have to hurry… and have some luck with the chapas,” I thought.
Passing by one of the main parks in Gurue on the way to the chapa stop, my rushed pace was brought to a halt when I noticed a large sign on my left advertising the Lurdes Mutola Foundation office. Backing up a bit for you all reading this, ever since arriving at site I’ve had the desire to start a program teaching life skills through sports in Nauela. After doing some research online and asking around, I’d learned about the LMF which does just that in the northern Zambezia districts. However, up until now I’d been unable to make direct contact with them or even find out where they are based out of. Needless to say, despite my rush, I knew right away that I had to at least make an attempt at talking to them right then… and for all my efforts I was rewarded!
The new area LMF director, Chauchane (Shaw-sha-ni), only spoke with me briefly, but was really excited about the possibility of working with me in the near future and invited me to an upcoming LMF meeting in Alto Moloque this Saturday. He might even be passing through Nauela on the way and be able to give me a ride! We’ll see how it goes…
In the end, I only spent a few minutes with the LMF and got back to the chapa station with the chapa, predictably, still filling up. I’d like to say the chapa ride home was something special or exciting, but for the first time in a long while, the ride home was smooth and relatively uneventful. How boring… ;-)
Thursday March 11th, 2010
Today marks the official start date of my rapaz , Bento. You can click on that link your eyes just passed by, or just continue on reading this… either way, I’ll tell you that he is basically a live-in maid, but instead of paying him money, I will buy him all the supplies he needs for school, he gets to eat the food we prepare in the house, and he gets a place to sleep for free (ie the straw mat on my yoga room floor). That last perk sounds bad (maybe it is!), but the fact of the matter is that he is sleeping on a straw mat in his current set up and having to pay to live there. So in that light, I feel that this is the better deal! Not to mention the fact that my house has electricity (when Nauela has gas to run our generator) and I’m positive that he’ll be eating better here than where he’s currently staying.
It was funny walking around my house with him today showing him where everything is located, being patient as I explained things to him and let him experiment with cooking. Hopefully things go well! I’ll keep you updated!
Friday March 12th, 2010
Well all good things must come to an end, right? I just didn’t know it’d be this soon! Only a day and a half after Bento starting as my rapaz, I had to “fire” him! Now before you get all judgmental, you need to realize that it wasn’t really much of a choice actually... Last night he had the bright idea to take several of the neighborhood girls, including the owner of my house’s 14 year old daughter, over to the local barraca to go dancing for a few hours. They left without telling anyone where they were going and, to make matters worse, they lied about it when they came home (granted the bedtime for most people in Nauela is no later than 10pm so all this happened at the ungodly hours of 8-10pm). Janiero, the owner of my house, lit into Dulce, his daughter, when she got home and eventually found out what had actually happened.
During all of this, I was up in my mango tree making phone calls (minding my own business!) and when I finally came down Janeiro was anxiously waiting to speak with me. It was a short conversation, but very powerful! Normally a calm, collected man, you could easily tell that tonight he was fuming mad. He vehemently insisted that I kick Bento out of the house immediately, but I managed to bargain to let him stay until morning assuring Janiero that I’d make him leave then. It was sad saying goodbye to Bento the next morning, but I figure that it definitely isn’t worth having Janeiro mad at me for things that someone else is doing.
Whew! Drama! Now that Bento’s gone hopefully things won’t be weird between me and Janiero… Regardless, though, I still need/want a rapaz! I’ll be on the lookout for better prospects over the next few weeks and let you all know what ends up happening.
Sunday March 14th, 2010
So the meeting this weekend with the Lurdes Mutola Foundation went really well! It started off rough, the number I had in my phone for Chauchane wasn’t right, so I never got to confirm with him whether or not I would be able to get a ride with them. Not wanting to risk missing the meeting, I ended up having to catch a ride into Alto Moloque on Saturday morning on a chapa and ask half a dozen people once I got to Moloque just to find out where the meeting would be held.
Ultimately, I found Chauchane waiting outside the local elementary school all smiles to see me (maybe it gave me some validity because so many people here in Mozambique make plans with you, but then don’t fulfill them!) During the meeting (it was with the area coaches that LMF has already trained), I sat in the back of the room and watched as the new director introduced himself to the coaches and spent the rest of the time hearing their concerns/complaints and responding to them. There was a lot of mention about the breakdown in communication between the foundation and the coaches after the training was complete and they were sent off to implement the method. Glancing around the room and making eye contact with me, Chauchane assured them that, under his watch, things would improve.
Sitting there in the audience witnessing all that was going on during the meeting, I felt a rush as I realized that this could be an opportunity for me to make a very tangible improvement on the way the LMF operates with their monitoring and evaluation. After the meeting let out, my presence was rewarded with some time to sit down and talk with Chauchane about a possible partnership between LMF and FGH. Parting ways after 20-30 minutes of talking, we agreed that he’d meet with my FGH supervisor down in Quelimane the follow week and we’d arrange a meeting with the leaders of Nauela in the next month in hopes of soon having a training for coaches in Nauela.
By the time the meeting was over and I had made a quick run to the market to stock up on food supplies, transportation had practically slowed to a halt and thus I wasn’t able to find a ride back to Nauela before sunset. As I was giving up my search for a ride, however, Professor Macua pulled up to the chapa stop on the back of a friend’s motorcycle and, when finding out that I’d be in Moloque for the night, invited me over to eat with him, his wife, and his brother. I gladly accepted and was rewarded with a nice, free meal (a dried fish sauce served over xima) and some interesting conversations about U.S. history (they know so much!).
Tuesday March 16th, 2010
After a brief return to Nauela, here I was coming back into Alto Moloque on Monday evening for a meeting with World Vision, the district Agricultural Office, and Vinhane (the PLWHA group at the Alto Moloque district hospital) all on Tuesday morning.
The meetings with World Vision and the Agricultural Office fell flat. I got oneof those “Thanks, but no thanks” responses after offering them my help with any projects they might have going on in Nauela. The meeting with Vinhane, however, was informative and went pretty well. The purpose of the Vinhane gathering was to make and teach others how to make “papas enriquecidas” , which can increase calorie consumption amongst populations with high dietary needs (babies, HIV positive individuals, etc). There were a number of participants who were interested to observe the process of making the papas and a lot more to eat the final product. After the food preparation, I talked at length with the president of the PLWHA group about the possibility of sending a few of the group members out to Nauela to teach some people out there how to make the papas and she seemed excited about the possibility. Since Vinhane is sponsored by FGH and FGH makes weekly trips out to Nauela, it shouldn’t be too hard to find a day where we can make the program a reality…
Finishing up with the Papas Enrequecidas program around 10am, I still had some time to kill before having to head back to Nauela. Thinking about other resources in Alto Moloque, I remembered IBIS , a Danish education-based NGO, where I had used the internet weeks earlier. Already dressed for the occasion with a spiel in mind, I figured I’d go and formally introduce myself to them, offering my services if they were looking for any partners in the Nauela area.
This go around the meeting went really well! (It pays off to keep trying, huh?!) Daniel, the director, almost immediately agreed that we could work together and introduced me to one of the organization’s community development specialists, Florentino, to talk about the details of our partnership.
Florentino and I met for only a few minutes, but during that time he informed me that he was slated to make a trip out the Nauela area tomorrow to visit an elementary school that had just completed an IBIS-led training a few weeks prior and was due for a visit to see how things were going. I quickly accepted his invitation to join him on the visit and, with this in mind, we left a lot of the partnership discussion for the next day’s adventure. At any rate, Florentino told me that when we get to the school I can see what IBIS has been doing, talk with the community/school leaders and see what they think still needs to be done, and then try to formulate a plan about where I fit in.
Typing this all out, I’m not really sure what to make of it all. Melissa (the Moz 14 Health PCV in Moloque) expressed her concern that I might be getting myself in over my head trying to work with all these organizations, but I figure that I’d rather be a little stressed by the amount of work than bored because I feel like I’m doing nothing. We’ll see… starting tomorrow!
(On a small, unrelated side note, Nauela has had electricity for a few hours every night ever since the start of February. Yay! It’s such a stark contrast from January when the town only had 2 or 3 days of energy during the whole month… I hope everyone is keeping my supply of electricity in their prayers… I mean, f it wasn’t for that I’d be even less communicative with you all back home than I am now!)
Wednesday March 17th, 2010
Today I woke up bright and early, my mind filled with hope and excitement about the field trip with IBIS. Moving around my house with a purpose, I did a quick yoga routine, took a bath, got dressed before taking some time to sit down and eat breakfast while waiting for Florentino to show up. Well 9am (our agreed upon meeting time) came and went and before I knew it, my wrist watching was letting me know that it was almost 10:30! “Gah! So frustrating!” I thought to myself. And I had such a good feeling about Florentino from the day before too… oh well! I had nothing else pressing to do at the moment though so I figured I’d wait it out a little longer and see if he came around.
Sitting on my front porch reading as it approached 11am, I heard the faint buzzing of a car in the distance, but I stayed intent on reading, not wanting to get my hopes up. As the car neared, I could hear the engine slow and only then did I look up from my book to see Florentino waving at me to come join him. I jumped in the car alongside him and we were off, making our way out towards the partner elementary school in Metxaiane (Me-Chi-Aan-Ee).
Driving as we talked, Florentino, unprompted, jumped right into what IBIS been doing in Metxaiane with the elementary school and community. IBIS is currently implementing a project called “escolas felizes” or “happy schools” , where they are trying to improve the overall education experience of the student and thereby reduce the number of dropouts at selected model schools. The hope is that after a number of schools have become “happy schools”, neighboring schools will mimic at least some of the practices and the knowledge will spread throughout the area school system. As fortune has it, IBIS led a training in Metxaiane just a few weeks earlier and the purpose of today’s visit was to monitor the school’s progress since. Ultimately, Florentino needed to see how the school’s different projects were coming along and if the local leaders needed any specific guidance regarding any one project in particular.
Upon arriving in Metxaiane, Florentino had very specific expectations of what tangible improvements he would see at the school. Projects that IBIS encouraged them to do at the training included: building a perimeter to mark the school’s boundaries, creating designated play areas where kids can enjoy themselves and be creative, building a school library where kids can read the books provided by IBIS, building more classrooms to accommodate more students in more space, starting a school machamba to both teach and help feed the students, and implement interactive methods of teaching.
Although the school hadn’t finished all the projects yet, most of them were well underway and Florentino and the community leaders were all looking very pleased with the results thus far. Have a look at some of the pictures below and see what you think for yourself:
The elementary school in Metxaiane with the new school building pictured on the left.
Some older students playing soccer on the recently cut field.
The students cheering behind their new soccer goal.
The students pouring back to school through the school's newly constructed fence.
Some kids taking a break near the recently planted cassava plants in the school garden.
A group of young girls enjoying some of the books provided by IBIS.
Enjoying swinging on the newly constructed swing set.
Some kids trying to play volleyball. It's tough, but they are having fun learning!
Before leaving Metxaiane for the day, Florentino and I sat down with the school advisory council and a few of the teachers seeing what needs they felt still weren’t being met. After talking for 30 minutes or so, we agreed on working on three small trainings: environmental and personal sanitation (latrine construction/usage, hand washing, and general cleanliness), permaculture, and an introduction of children games geared toward involving both sexes that require little or no materials that need to be brought in. I’ll let you know how they end up going!
Friday March 19th, 2010
Well I’m off to Nampula for the first time since the supervisor’s conference back at the beginning of December. The Peace Corps has a thing called reconnect or IST where all the other first year health PCVs gather to talk about how things have been going during the first 3 months at site. I’m excited to hear about other’s experiences, share my own successes and express my frustrations. I also can’t wait to see all the other PCV’s (especially the 7 health PCVs who are flying up from south)!
***A quick note for all those of you who are reading this blog from the comforts of your inbox. I would encourage everyone to please take the time to go visit the actual gatorinmozambique website and see all the updates I've made. I uploaded some cool new graphics, created new stand-alone pages within the blog, and even put up some music in Lomwe from the Easter service (all of which you don't see from your inbox). It's a work in progress for sure, but I hope you all get the time to enjoy it!***
The day after our unanticipated early arrival in Gurue (when we were actually supposed to be making our way back to the city after hiking up Mount Namuli), Noemi, Yohko and I slept in on Aditi and Camille’s comfy beds, nursing our aching bodies. My calves and quads were sore, but it was the lingering tendonitis in my left knee that was overwhelming (that said, I feel that I came away from the hike the best of the group because I didn’t get any blisters!). Even though the sun had long ago risen, I rolled away from the window and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to milk a few more minutes out of the calm, peaceful morning. A moment later, however, that tranquility was abruptly shattered by the next door neighbor, deciding that (it being 7:30am and all) it was high time for some partying, flipped on his stereo and cranked it up to full blast.
Soon following the rude awakening, we collectively stumbled out of the bedrooms and were surprised to find Camille slaving away in the kitchen making some wonderful, home-cooked blueberry pancakes! After a lazy morning snacking on the pancakes as they came hot off the skillet, we wandered through the city a little before bidding each other farewell at the chapa station. Noemi and Yohko were lucky enough to almost immediately find a chapa heading south that was ready to leave. They jumped onboard the exiting chapa and sped off, leaving me behind staring at the only chapa slated to head east toward Alto Moloque which was looking quite empty.
After nearly an hour of waiting by the vacant truck, the driver took pity on me and informed me that (if I couldn’t already tell) the car wouldn’t be leaving any time soon so if I wanted to walk around and come back in a few hours, he’d surely still be there. Noting that I had nothing better to do, I aimlessly left the chapa stop and started meandering around Gurue, admiring the beautiful surroundings. After 30 minutes or so of wandering, I was reminded of the missionaries in town, the Fosters , that the visitors in Mehecane had told me about a few weeks earlier. After asking around about their whereabouts, I made my way over to the school where I was told their house was located. A guard was on duty at the school’s gate and after only a little apprehension permitted me to enter the school compound. I’m not sure if he thought I’d get lost, if it was something just to occupy his time, or if just didn’t trust me, but he insisted on accompanying me all the way through the compound to the missionary’s home.
Stuart Foster was on the front porch when I showed up with the accompanying guard. Surprised, he gave me an odd look, but then greeted me heartily and dismissed the guard after finding out that I was a local Peace Corps Volunteer. Alerting the family, his wife, Sindia, was quick to join us with some fresh squeezed lemonade and peanut butter cookies (YUM!). My visit lasted most of the early afternoon, but seemed to go by in a flash. I let on that I was very intrigued to hear their history here in Mozambique and they were kind enough to oblige by sharing several of their stories that they’d amassed over the years.
As it turns out, the Fosters arrived in Mozambique back in 1986 (the same year I was born!) and have been living in here ever since (now, that doesn’t mean they haven’t left the country in 24 years, but they usually only make it back to the states every 4 years or so). In fact, with the country’s population distribution heavily weighted toward youth (due to high fertility and low life expectancy rates), the Fosters figure that they have been in Mozambique longer than at least half of Mozambicans! At the same time, they have a really good appreciation for how the country is constantly changing and, thus, are constantly seeking to learn new things about the current state of the country.
Although they weren’t always based out of Gurue, the large majority of their time in country has been in the beautiful, secluded mountain town. As a result of their strong connection to the local people, they have both learned to speak, read, and write in the local dialect of Lomwe, which has played a tremendous role in their work as missionaries here in Mozambique.
In fact, Stuart’s primary project is working with the local religious organizations who are translating the Bible into Lomwe. In reality, most of the work lies in translating the Old Testament because the New Testament was translated to Lomwe nearly 40 years ago and has long been available to the area churches. That said, 40 years is a long time for any language and thus there is considerable work being done to update the New Testament translation. At any rate, there is a team of Mozambican translators who are fluent in Portuguese and Lomwe, but Stuart’s role is to come back through their translations taking into consideration the original Hebrew and Greek texts. The work is slow, but there are hopes that the full Bible will be translated into Lomwe in the next 3-5 years.
Going hand in hand with making the Bible available in Lomwe (a language that until relatively recently existed exclusively orally), the area churches recognize that it is essential to work towards building the Lomwe literacy rate. Sindia has taken this task up on her own accord and works by building up the availability of children’s literature in Lomwe.
Sipping on the lemonade and taking generous bites out of the peanut butter cookies, Stuart assured me that the living wasn’t always as cushy as this. Arriving in Mozambique during the civil war between FRELIMO and RENAMO , the couple almost didn’t even make it to northern Mozambique due to reported food shortages. They eventually got approval to travel from Maputo to Nampula, but were greeted by a reality harsher than what they had imagined. The city was packed with refugees from the war-torn countryside and, to say the very least, food was scarce! In fact, for essentials food items that you likely take for granted (i.e. bread) one’s name had to be on a list just to receive a small ration. It took nearly six months of asking around, but finally they were able to make it on the coveted list. Bringing home the first loaf, Stuart didn’t even make it through the house’s yard before his wife and daughter ran up to him and tore into the blessed manna.
Staying in Nampula, the Fosters were removed from the actual fighting of the war, but constantly felt its impact. Communication was difficult and rare within country, but possible internationally. Although they never had to, it was a comforting thought that, if they needed to, they could go to the communications center in town and place an emergency call back home to the States. That’s a stark contrast to what Mozambicans at the time had to do to communicate with one another. Every once in a while, local Mozambican friends of the Fosters would sneak behind battle lines for emergency visits home and come back to Nampula where they’d be asked to update other anxious families about their loved one’s stuck behind. Oftentimes misinformation got passed by word of mouth and people mourned the loss of a loved one they later found to be alive.
Flash forward 20 years, the civil war is long over and the arrival of mcel is well underway. Although it seems like mcel coverage won’t expand fast enough for us PCVs who are used to 3G networks everywhere we go, talking to the fosters I can see that the communication network is making leaps and bounds. It was just 2 years ago that the only way you could get reception in Nauela was by climbing a nearby mountain. I figure that since I now only have to climb a mango tree, things are dramatically improving! Who knows, maybe by the end of the two years I’ll have reception sitting at this desk… I can dream, can’t I?
I bid farewell to the Fosters after a long afternoon of chatting, promising to visit the next time I’m in town and encouraging them to hit me up if they are ever passing through Nauela on the way to Alto Moloque. Stuart walked me to edge of the school compound and gave me a firm handshake as I passed through the gate. Smiling and then looking away, I was suddenly brought back to reality when remembering the fact that I was still hoping to get back to Nauela today. Amidst hurried steps, I glanced down at my watch and I saw that it was nearly 3pm. “If I want to make it back home before nightfall I’ll have to hurry… and have some luck with the chapas,” I thought.
Passing by one of the main parks in Gurue on the way to the chapa stop, my rushed pace was brought to a halt when I noticed a large sign on my left advertising the Lurdes Mutola Foundation office. Backing up a bit for you all reading this, ever since arriving at site I’ve had the desire to start a program teaching life skills through sports in Nauela. After doing some research online and asking around, I’d learned about the LMF which does just that in the northern Zambezia districts. However, up until now I’d been unable to make direct contact with them or even find out where they are based out of. Needless to say, despite my rush, I knew right away that I had to at least make an attempt at talking to them right then… and for all my efforts I was rewarded!
The new area LMF director, Chauchane (Shaw-sha-ni), only spoke with me briefly, but was really excited about the possibility of working with me in the near future and invited me to an upcoming LMF meeting in Alto Moloque this Saturday. He might even be passing through Nauela on the way and be able to give me a ride! We’ll see how it goes…
In the end, I only spent a few minutes with the LMF and got back to the chapa station with the chapa, predictably, still filling up. I’d like to say the chapa ride home was something special or exciting, but for the first time in a long while, the ride home was smooth and relatively uneventful. How boring… ;-)
Thursday March 11th, 2010
Today marks the official start date of my rapaz , Bento. You can click on that link your eyes just passed by, or just continue on reading this… either way, I’ll tell you that he is basically a live-in maid, but instead of paying him money, I will buy him all the supplies he needs for school, he gets to eat the food we prepare in the house, and he gets a place to sleep for free (ie the straw mat on my yoga room floor). That last perk sounds bad (maybe it is!), but the fact of the matter is that he is sleeping on a straw mat in his current set up and having to pay to live there. So in that light, I feel that this is the better deal! Not to mention the fact that my house has electricity (when Nauela has gas to run our generator) and I’m positive that he’ll be eating better here than where he’s currently staying.
It was funny walking around my house with him today showing him where everything is located, being patient as I explained things to him and let him experiment with cooking. Hopefully things go well! I’ll keep you updated!
Friday March 12th, 2010
Well all good things must come to an end, right? I just didn’t know it’d be this soon! Only a day and a half after Bento starting as my rapaz, I had to “fire” him! Now before you get all judgmental, you need to realize that it wasn’t really much of a choice actually... Last night he had the bright idea to take several of the neighborhood girls, including the owner of my house’s 14 year old daughter, over to the local barraca to go dancing for a few hours. They left without telling anyone where they were going and, to make matters worse, they lied about it when they came home (granted the bedtime for most people in Nauela is no later than 10pm so all this happened at the ungodly hours of 8-10pm). Janiero, the owner of my house, lit into Dulce, his daughter, when she got home and eventually found out what had actually happened.
During all of this, I was up in my mango tree making phone calls (minding my own business!) and when I finally came down Janeiro was anxiously waiting to speak with me. It was a short conversation, but very powerful! Normally a calm, collected man, you could easily tell that tonight he was fuming mad. He vehemently insisted that I kick Bento out of the house immediately, but I managed to bargain to let him stay until morning assuring Janiero that I’d make him leave then. It was sad saying goodbye to Bento the next morning, but I figure that it definitely isn’t worth having Janeiro mad at me for things that someone else is doing.
Whew! Drama! Now that Bento’s gone hopefully things won’t be weird between me and Janiero… Regardless, though, I still need/want a rapaz! I’ll be on the lookout for better prospects over the next few weeks and let you all know what ends up happening.
Sunday March 14th, 2010
So the meeting this weekend with the Lurdes Mutola Foundation went really well! It started off rough, the number I had in my phone for Chauchane wasn’t right, so I never got to confirm with him whether or not I would be able to get a ride with them. Not wanting to risk missing the meeting, I ended up having to catch a ride into Alto Moloque on Saturday morning on a chapa and ask half a dozen people once I got to Moloque just to find out where the meeting would be held.
Ultimately, I found Chauchane waiting outside the local elementary school all smiles to see me (maybe it gave me some validity because so many people here in Mozambique make plans with you, but then don’t fulfill them!) During the meeting (it was with the area coaches that LMF has already trained), I sat in the back of the room and watched as the new director introduced himself to the coaches and spent the rest of the time hearing their concerns/complaints and responding to them. There was a lot of mention about the breakdown in communication between the foundation and the coaches after the training was complete and they were sent off to implement the method. Glancing around the room and making eye contact with me, Chauchane assured them that, under his watch, things would improve.
Sitting there in the audience witnessing all that was going on during the meeting, I felt a rush as I realized that this could be an opportunity for me to make a very tangible improvement on the way the LMF operates with their monitoring and evaluation. After the meeting let out, my presence was rewarded with some time to sit down and talk with Chauchane about a possible partnership between LMF and FGH. Parting ways after 20-30 minutes of talking, we agreed that he’d meet with my FGH supervisor down in Quelimane the follow week and we’d arrange a meeting with the leaders of Nauela in the next month in hopes of soon having a training for coaches in Nauela.
By the time the meeting was over and I had made a quick run to the market to stock up on food supplies, transportation had practically slowed to a halt and thus I wasn’t able to find a ride back to Nauela before sunset. As I was giving up my search for a ride, however, Professor Macua pulled up to the chapa stop on the back of a friend’s motorcycle and, when finding out that I’d be in Moloque for the night, invited me over to eat with him, his wife, and his brother. I gladly accepted and was rewarded with a nice, free meal (a dried fish sauce served over xima) and some interesting conversations about U.S. history (they know so much!).
Tuesday March 16th, 2010
After a brief return to Nauela, here I was coming back into Alto Moloque on Monday evening for a meeting with World Vision, the district Agricultural Office, and Vinhane (the PLWHA group at the Alto Moloque district hospital) all on Tuesday morning.
The meetings with World Vision and the Agricultural Office fell flat. I got oneof those “Thanks, but no thanks” responses after offering them my help with any projects they might have going on in Nauela. The meeting with Vinhane, however, was informative and went pretty well. The purpose of the Vinhane gathering was to make and teach others how to make “papas enriquecidas” , which can increase calorie consumption amongst populations with high dietary needs (babies, HIV positive individuals, etc). There were a number of participants who were interested to observe the process of making the papas and a lot more to eat the final product. After the food preparation, I talked at length with the president of the PLWHA group about the possibility of sending a few of the group members out to Nauela to teach some people out there how to make the papas and she seemed excited about the possibility. Since Vinhane is sponsored by FGH and FGH makes weekly trips out to Nauela, it shouldn’t be too hard to find a day where we can make the program a reality…
Finishing up with the Papas Enrequecidas program around 10am, I still had some time to kill before having to head back to Nauela. Thinking about other resources in Alto Moloque, I remembered IBIS , a Danish education-based NGO, where I had used the internet weeks earlier. Already dressed for the occasion with a spiel in mind, I figured I’d go and formally introduce myself to them, offering my services if they were looking for any partners in the Nauela area.
This go around the meeting went really well! (It pays off to keep trying, huh?!) Daniel, the director, almost immediately agreed that we could work together and introduced me to one of the organization’s community development specialists, Florentino, to talk about the details of our partnership.
Florentino and I met for only a few minutes, but during that time he informed me that he was slated to make a trip out the Nauela area tomorrow to visit an elementary school that had just completed an IBIS-led training a few weeks prior and was due for a visit to see how things were going. I quickly accepted his invitation to join him on the visit and, with this in mind, we left a lot of the partnership discussion for the next day’s adventure. At any rate, Florentino told me that when we get to the school I can see what IBIS has been doing, talk with the community/school leaders and see what they think still needs to be done, and then try to formulate a plan about where I fit in.
Typing this all out, I’m not really sure what to make of it all. Melissa (the Moz 14 Health PCV in Moloque) expressed her concern that I might be getting myself in over my head trying to work with all these organizations, but I figure that I’d rather be a little stressed by the amount of work than bored because I feel like I’m doing nothing. We’ll see… starting tomorrow!
(On a small, unrelated side note, Nauela has had electricity for a few hours every night ever since the start of February. Yay! It’s such a stark contrast from January when the town only had 2 or 3 days of energy during the whole month… I hope everyone is keeping my supply of electricity in their prayers… I mean, f it wasn’t for that I’d be even less communicative with you all back home than I am now!)
Wednesday March 17th, 2010
Today I woke up bright and early, my mind filled with hope and excitement about the field trip with IBIS. Moving around my house with a purpose, I did a quick yoga routine, took a bath, got dressed before taking some time to sit down and eat breakfast while waiting for Florentino to show up. Well 9am (our agreed upon meeting time) came and went and before I knew it, my wrist watching was letting me know that it was almost 10:30! “Gah! So frustrating!” I thought to myself. And I had such a good feeling about Florentino from the day before too… oh well! I had nothing else pressing to do at the moment though so I figured I’d wait it out a little longer and see if he came around.
Sitting on my front porch reading as it approached 11am, I heard the faint buzzing of a car in the distance, but I stayed intent on reading, not wanting to get my hopes up. As the car neared, I could hear the engine slow and only then did I look up from my book to see Florentino waving at me to come join him. I jumped in the car alongside him and we were off, making our way out towards the partner elementary school in Metxaiane (Me-Chi-Aan-Ee).
Driving as we talked, Florentino, unprompted, jumped right into what IBIS been doing in Metxaiane with the elementary school and community. IBIS is currently implementing a project called “escolas felizes” or “happy schools” , where they are trying to improve the overall education experience of the student and thereby reduce the number of dropouts at selected model schools. The hope is that after a number of schools have become “happy schools”, neighboring schools will mimic at least some of the practices and the knowledge will spread throughout the area school system. As fortune has it, IBIS led a training in Metxaiane just a few weeks earlier and the purpose of today’s visit was to monitor the school’s progress since. Ultimately, Florentino needed to see how the school’s different projects were coming along and if the local leaders needed any specific guidance regarding any one project in particular.
Upon arriving in Metxaiane, Florentino had very specific expectations of what tangible improvements he would see at the school. Projects that IBIS encouraged them to do at the training included: building a perimeter to mark the school’s boundaries, creating designated play areas where kids can enjoy themselves and be creative, building a school library where kids can read the books provided by IBIS, building more classrooms to accommodate more students in more space, starting a school machamba to both teach and help feed the students, and implement interactive methods of teaching.
Although the school hadn’t finished all the projects yet, most of them were well underway and Florentino and the community leaders were all looking very pleased with the results thus far. Have a look at some of the pictures below and see what you think for yourself:
The elementary school in Metxaiane with the new school building pictured on the left.
Some older students playing soccer on the recently cut field.
The students cheering behind their new soccer goal.
The students pouring back to school through the school's newly constructed fence.
Some kids taking a break near the recently planted cassava plants in the school garden.
A group of young girls enjoying some of the books provided by IBIS.
Enjoying swinging on the newly constructed swing set.
Some kids trying to play volleyball. It's tough, but they are having fun learning!
Before leaving Metxaiane for the day, Florentino and I sat down with the school advisory council and a few of the teachers seeing what needs they felt still weren’t being met. After talking for 30 minutes or so, we agreed on working on three small trainings: environmental and personal sanitation (latrine construction/usage, hand washing, and general cleanliness), permaculture, and an introduction of children games geared toward involving both sexes that require little or no materials that need to be brought in. I’ll let you know how they end up going!
Friday March 19th, 2010
Well I’m off to Nampula for the first time since the supervisor’s conference back at the beginning of December. The Peace Corps has a thing called reconnect or IST where all the other first year health PCVs gather to talk about how things have been going during the first 3 months at site. I’m excited to hear about other’s experiences, share my own successes and express my frustrations. I also can’t wait to see all the other PCV’s (especially the 7 health PCVs who are flying up from south)!
***A quick note for all those of you who are reading this blog from the comforts of your inbox. I would encourage everyone to please take the time to go visit the actual gatorinmozambique website and see all the updates I've made. I uploaded some cool new graphics, created new stand-alone pages within the blog, and even put up some music in Lomwe from the Easter service (all of which you don't see from your inbox). It's a work in progress for sure, but I hope you all get the time to enjoy it!***
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)!
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