It’s hard to believe that I can honestly say I have been away from home and here in Mozambique for more than 6 months now. I’m amazed at how different my life is here in comparison to the states and how much I’m acclimated to it. Just the other day my ride to Chimoio (a 5 hour trip) was delayed by 2 hours and half way through the trip we got a flat tire which took us another 30 minutes to resolve, this put me entering Inchope (a Hopp’n Mozambican truck stop) after dark. When I first got here something like that would have made me very uneasy, and even just a month ago I would have been a little stressed, but this time around I barely noticed, it was just another day traveling in Mozambique.
O Dia das Mulheres Mozambicanas
About 30 years ago here in Mozambique named Samora Machel. He was one of the people held principally responsible for the liberation of Mozambique from Portugual. He died tragically in a plane crash around 25 years ago and is a hero here in Mozambique. He was a very important man, but he wasn’t the only member of his family who had great influence, his wife Josina Machel is also a very important woman in Mozambican culture. She was a sergeant in the military and died in the war against colonialism. She was and is an important reminder to Mozambican woman that they too are strong and able to do anything that a man can do. It is very important that women in Mozambique have role models like this, because it is all too often the case that women here suffer serious oppression due to cultural norms and the expectations of men. Once a year there is a day set aside for the Mulher Mozambicana (Mozambican woman), this year it feel on Saturday April 7th and was one of my favorite days thus far in Mangunde. Ian ( my house mate and “bro”) and I planned an all girls soccer tournament, which included an opening song from my REDES group which was wonderful. It was a fantastic moment to see the girls in this club a started put on such a great performance. There was also a mid tournament theater performance by the REDES group which was aimed at fighting discrimination against women being victimized for not producing children. The girls in my REDES group told me that it was a serious problem for the communities surround Mangunde, that if a woman did not produce children she could be abused by her husband and eventually left (even though it could well be the man’s fault). The theater performance went very well and the whole school seemed to enjoy the show. Lastly there was a presentation from Ian’s JUNTOS (Jovens Unidos no Trabalho para Oportunidades e Suceso, Youths united in working for Opportunities and success) which was a wonderful finally to the tournament. With then gave out prizes; notebooks, coca-cola, pens, gum, and cookies and then we called it a day. It was a wonderful experience and all of the kids at the school, both boys and girls enjoyed the festivities.
REDES this trimester has been a wonderful surprise. I was nervous about starting a new club and I was filled with worries and doubts as to whether any or all of my work with the club would come to fruition. The girls in my REDES group have been wonderful and highly motivated in their own right, I think the only thing these girls really needed was an outlet. I have high hopes that next semester will be even more successful than the first.
My Mangunde Family
My living situation is a unique one amongst Peace Core Volunteers. I have a housemate (Ian) another Peace Core volunteer who has been wonderful to live with. Usually after dinner we usually get roped into some sort of conversation or the other. The conversations topics have ranged from deep conversations about the level of poverty here in Mangunde, to talks on theoretical physics, and as to the critical question of which is more important in the Salsa and chip combo, the Salsa or the chip?
When I say my living situation is unique I am talking about the fact that not only do I live with Ian but our empregada (maid), her son Jacinto, her niece Enoria, and her nephew also live with us. They don’t live directly in the house but there is a hut outside of the main structure which they claim as their own. Since Gracinda normally cooks for us we basically share all of our food, our kitchen, and our water with them. What this translates to is we go through food 2 or 3 times as fast as we would if we were cooking for ourselves, we go through a liter of oil a week, and there is not a lot of personal space. When I first got to site the whole situation bothered me a bit, but I went in with the mindset that adaptation was key. After a few weeks I found out that Ian wasn’t completely satisfied with the situation and since then there have been talks of changes to the living arrangement(did I mention she gets paid twice as much as any other PC volunteer empregada, when you make 300$ a month every bit counts). I like Gracinda, Jacinto, Enoria, and Jose a lot but It has definitely been a person struggle acclimating to an entire household.
Ian and I have decided that starting the new trimester we are going to start cooking for ourselves, and we are going to be separating the food, i.e not sharing. Now from a capitalist stand point we have greatly reduced her work load, she now doesn’t have to cook lunch and dinner for us anymore and therefore her pay would decrease. However because we are going to be separating food, she wanted and wants a raise to offset the cost of food. Now since she already makes quite a bit more compared to the maids of other PC volunteers we are reluctant to give her a rise after decreasing her work load. This is a much more difficult situation that it may seem , Ian and I have the ability to make life easier for Gracinda and her family by giving her more money than her job actually requires. However we would have to sacrifice some of our standard of living. Now compared to America Ian and I would be considered to be living an impoverished life. We have no running water, we eat basic food that can be stored for long periods of time, it takes at least 3 to 4 hours to get anywhere, and all of the little comforts of America, having internet, being able to go out to eat, having reliable energy, and just being able to regularly communicate with friends and family are basically none existent. But compared to Mozambican standards we live like kings, we have enough money to buy all of the food we want no matter how simple it is, we can travel when we want to or when is necessary, we have electricity, we can afford new things when old things break, and we have adequate health care. So from an American stand point I’m poor, and from the Mozambican stand point I’m wealthy. This of course leads to the confusing emotions of feeling guilty because I have so much here, and frustration for what I don’t have here. We’re between a rock and a hard place as it would seem.
Teaching English and Computers
I have just recently graded all of my 250 final trimester exams and I am happy to say that my first trimester teaching has been a success. I have a lot of improvements to make for the upcoming year but over all I am happy. Everyday teaching English gets a little more enjoyable, I would still like to be teaching physics or math instead of English but I’m acclimating. Check out my facebook for pictures!
I also had a successful trimester teaching computers; it is nice to see immediate results. When I first started my class most people didn’t even know how to hold a mouse properly now they are writing simple documents and able to access the games when I am not looking.
Showing movies in the Internato
A fun an interesting thing that has been a tradition in Mangunde for the past few years, is the showing of a movie on Friday and/or Saturday nights for the boys who live in the Internato (basically the dormitories). As their only source of entertainment on a Friday or Saturday night they are normally super psyched to watch a film. We have won major brownie points by showing them movies, and it’s fun to watch them get so excited. However there is a catch, now I enjoy a good action movie with some nice fight scenes, but the guys in the internato LOVE them. They love them so much that they simple are not appreciative of any other type of movie that get’s put on the screen, The collective moan from 100 Mozambican teenagers when I put on “Wall-E” the other day was astounding. They were so aggressive about having to watch an animated film (which I thought was a nice change to the blood and Violence that their used to seeing) that Ian and I are now reluctant to show any violent films. It was an annoying moment because it was just a few selected students who were complaining and ruining the movie for the rest of the kids. We eventually resolved the issue by talking to the guys about giving every movie a chance, and a lot of kids came up to me afterwards and said that they really enjoyed the film.
Random thoughts
So after 6 months in Mozambique the weather is starting to change and it is cooling off bit by bit! I hear it gets to the insanely cold temperature of about 50 degrees here in the winter time, and I couldn’t be more excited!!!
For the past few weeks my distractions here in Mangunde outside of the busy work schedule that I have has consisted of watching the 4th season of “Dexter” a FANTASTIC show that I recommend to everyone. I have also been reading “The long walk to Freedom” the autobiography of Nelson Mandela. My friends Mary and Landon back in the states recommended this book to me ages ago and I have finally found a copy and the time to read it. It is a fantastic book! Nelson Mandela was simply an amazing person. I now am furthering on the recommendation to this book to anyone who would be so interested.
Lastly I would just like to through some shout outs to people and things I miss from the states. Shout out to my family, Jeremey, Dad, and Mom <3, Maria and Jackie I hope everythings going well in Buffalo! A shout out to Akeeme and Lauren, I miss you girls! Shout out to Landon, Caroyln, Keelan and Mary. Shout out to my former Urge group, Bobby, Matt and Devanshu especially! Shout out UB Physics department! Shout out to subway subs, Hershey bars, Snickers, Thai food, Cheddar Cheese, and all of the other wonderful foods I miss so much from the states. And lastly shout out to everyone who in my haste I have forgotten to mention. J
