Highlights
for the last month and a half in Mozambique
-Oct 4th – Oct 6th: Machanga for an inter-group exchange with my
REDES group!
-My maid and her husband
-Halloween in Rio Savane!!! – October 26th -29th
-One full year of teaching
-Canoe Ride on the Buzi River
Hello everyone,
After a month and a half of being busy with wrapping up the
school year I’m finally ready to write another blog!
Troca in Machanga!!!!
In early October I brought my
REDES group, a group of 10 very excited girls, on a trip to perform a theater
and dance piece to a neighboring Mission school in the district of
Machanga. Machanga is a small town/
district on the boarder of Sofala and Vilankulos, and is about a 5 hour car
ride south from my site of Mangunde.
The first thing I would like to
say about the troca is that it was AWESOME, 4 different schools from
surrounding schools were invited and it was a wonderful experience to see all
of the girls from the different schools show off their dancing, singing, and
acting skills. In a country where the
majority of women you meet are extremely passive, shy, and generally
subservient. Seeing this group of girls
being lively, laughing, and talking about important issues was a fantastic
thing to see.
After all of the fantastic
performances (Side note: some other volunteers and myself also got in there and
broke it down Mozambican style…SO MUCH FUN) the night wrapped up with a dance
party followed by some Xima(Corn flour cooked in a way to give it the texture of
firm mashed potatoes) and beans, then off to bed. The next day all the girls went to church in
the morning (Us Peace Corps volunteers did not get up and go to church, and
boy-oh-boy did our girls make us feel guilty, apparently they had a big
announcement at church that morning and wanted to thank us for the work we were
doing….we didn’t get the Memo :-/ ). After
church Mac (The PCV who lives in Machanga and who organized the whole event (Good
work btw Macky boy!)) had all of the girls get together for one last
event. He got three nurses from the
hospital to come in and talk to our group of about 70 girls about pregnancy,
contraception, and general female health (Mac and I as the men stepped out for
this part, nothing makes Mozambican women more uncomfortable than talking about
Menstruation and female condoms in front of two white American men). All and all the workshop was a stunning
success, most of the girls had no idea about the options available to them at their
local hospitals and for some of them it was their first experience with
anything related to formal sexual education. With an HIV rate as high as 33% (1 out of every 3 people you see could have
HIV) and with families that have 8
children and barely the ability to feed 2,
Sexual Education is VERY necessary.
Another wonderful experience
One slightly comical revelation I
had on how different life in Mozambique is to that of the states was when my
REDES girls and I were getting into our vehicle to head to Machanga. We excitedly packed 10 girls, my counterpart,
myself, and the driver (13 people) into a small blue pick-up truck for a 5 hour
journey and were extremely grateful for having a private ride. Can you imagine in the States a school
allowing 10 girls to pile into the back of an open pick-up truck to travel for
5 hours on a highway to get to a school related event. In the states: LAWSUIT, in Mozambique: RIDING
IN STYLE.
My maid and her husband
A few months ago I wrote a blog
about my maid and her son Jacinto, however to put the next story in context I
will repeat myself a bit.
Gracinda is a woman that was
selected by the Priest who runs the mission to help out and assist the Peace
Corps volunteers that work in Mangunde.
Here in Mozambique it is very common for teachers, foreigners, nurses, doctors,
and just about any job that requires a college degree to have a maid. When I arrived here in Mangunde Gracinda was
contracted to fetch water, cook lunch and dinner, wash clothes, and keep the
general house and yard clean.
Gracinda has been the maid here
for about 6 years, she is 25 and has a 2 and a half year old son named Jacinto
(who I adore). Gracinda’s niece Inoria
and nephew Jose live with her and Jacinto in small wood house just a step or
two off of my back porch.
Gracinda, Jose, Inoria, and
Jacinto basically have full run of the kitchen and the back yard of my house
and because of this I have had a hard time in the past year dealing with
personal space issues. I mean seriously
I live in a house with 1 American roommate and an entire Mozambican family. There are parts of this which are wonderful,
but there are also parts that I thoroughly dislike and want to change. A few things that aggravate the situation are
that she gets paid far more than the work she does is worth, she doesn’t do a
very good job, and no matter what I offer her she makes me feel as though I’m
not doing enough. It doesn’t help that
I have never actually wanted a maid, and the only reason that I’m giving her a
job is because I have the ability to single handedly help her and her child
make a living for themselves with a job that wouldn’t have existed otherwise.
It’s hard for me because I do like
her and I love Jacinto but she effectively makes me feel like a stingy rich
person who just isn’t willing to help her out, when in fact she receives so
much help from the Peace Volunteers and from me personally that she lives very
respectably compared to others in the community.
Anyways, as of October 10th
I had decided to reduce her pay, reduce significantly the amount of work she
would be doing, and if she still wanted to stay in Mangunde she could, if it
wasn’t enough she could choose to move on. (Did I mention that she gets 100%
free housing out of this whole deal). I
had decided on this because 1. I could hire some students who were struggling
to pay for school from the surrounding community to help me out around the
house, and 2. Gracinda has a husband who lives about an hour away and has a
decent job as a primary school teacher which would mean her and Jacinto would
be supported. This seemed like the best
option for me, I get to help out a few students who are truly struggling to go
to school and who will appreciate what I would give and I would regain control
over my house.
HOWEVER, things never quite turn
out the way you expect. Everything
changed the weekend Gracinda’s husband came to visit. Her husband Lino is someone I have never
liked, from the first moment I met him he walked into my house like he owned it
and made me feel like I owed him my full hospitality.
The night he arrived I went to bed
without any thought of the events of the following day. When I woke up the first thing my roommate Ian
said was “did you hear them fighting last night!?” I sleep like a brick but was surprised to hear Ian recount being kept
up late into the light with Lino and Gracinda’s fighting.
Gracinda looked really upset the
next day so I asked her about it and she proceeded to tell me how Lino has repeatedly
been hitting her when they get upset with each other and how she was tired of
their situation. She then showed me her mouth which was
swollen due to almost having a tooth knocked out. To sum up, her husband beats her. This immediately put me on full alert and
made me very angry. I told Lino off and
then spent most of my morning facilitating a “marriage counseling session”
between Lino’s Godfather, Gracinda, and Lino. This entire situation was very awkward
because I just wanted Lino to leave and Gracinda to never talk to him again;
however things are different in Mozambique and being punched in the face by
your husband, does not mean a divorce it means a long conversation where a
bunch of promises are made and only half will actually be kept .
The story ends here, I don’t like
Gracinda’s husband, they are still together, and I CAN NOT take away her only
way to support herself while she has a husband that beaters her. Therefore she has got a full job for next
year, though many things are going to be changed (I’ve already talked to her
about these things) and I think over all next year will be for the best. It might not seem like the situation has
been resolved for me, however there are a lot of little of little things that
changed for me after I found out about Gracinda’s husband. I’m now in a comfortable position with Gracinda
and my living situation and get to see Jacinto grow up for another year.
Halloween 2012 - Rio
Savane
Rio Savane is a beautiful Beach/ River located just outside
of Beira (the second largest city in Mozambique). A bunch of Peace Corps friends and I all met
up at a small island resort to say good bye the volunteers who have finished their
two year service and are heading to the USA during the following weeks.
The place we stayed at was on an Island just off of the
mainland where the Savane River lets out into the Indian Ocean. This place was amazing on one side of the
island was a long stretch of white sand and a stunning view of the ocean that was
accompanied by the constant crash of waves coming in. On the other side was a winding river with
tons of vegetation, crabs, and a wicked current. The whole place had an untouched feel to it
which made it a wonderful refuge after a busy trimester.
The weekend was filled with costumes (I was a flamboyant Donatello
from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), beer, and goodbyes. It was nice to see everyone (about 15 of the
people who came were set to leave) one last time in the Peace Corps setting,
before they embark on their post Peace Corps life. It made me realize that I have in fact been
in Peace Corps for over a year (definitely an odd revelation). A shout out to all of the Moz 15ers, Mozambique
will certainly miss you!!!
One full year of teaching!!!
So as of October 26th 2012 I officially finished one full
year of teaching in the Mozambican school system. The whole experience had its ups and downs
but overall I would say that teaching in the context that I was put in has been
an invaluable experience that I’m never likely to forget. On top of the craziness that is ones first
year of teaching, I managed to deal with learning and teaching in a foreign
language, and to handle all of the idiosyncrasies of the Mozambican school
system.
The end of the year brought a few goodbyes, a few “see you next
year”’s, and that general “wrapping it up” feeling you get right before summer
break. I thought that these last few
weeks would be smooth sailing, and that I wouldn’t have very many
responsibilities. I was wrong. The past few weeks have been crazy due to the
National exams that all of the students in 10th and 12th
grade must take. My last two weeks have
been filled with helping kids prepare for the exams, than monitoring them while
they take the exams, then grading the exams, absolute craziness.
Some comments on the National exams here in Mozambique: 1. passing
is a 35% on the exam and average passing right per discipline is about
60%. In my opinion there is just
something wrong here. It could be the
teachers, it could be the students, or it could be the test. But, I have a sneaking suspicion it’s all
three. The nuances of the education
system here boggle my mind, but how the ministry rationalizes only having 60%
of its students pass an exam when the passing rate is about 35% is beyond my understanding. Grading these exams is rough, towards the end
I found myself getting excited when a student managed to get 40 or 45% of the
material. L
Anyways, at the time I am writing this blog, my responsibilities
as far as the school is concerned have dropped to zero and I am excited to use
the next few days to catch up on non school related work. Which includes REDES, CLEANING MY HOUSE (an
undertaking worthy of respect and admiration), and preparing for an awesome
month long traveling extravaganza that I will be embarking on in early December. South Africa here I come!!!
Canoe Ride on the Buzi River
I’m going to end my blog on a relaxing note, just yesterday
November 11th my roommate (who will be leaving in just two days, L) and I took a
wonderful canoe ride down the Buzi River.
The Buzi River is only about a 10 minute walk from my front door and
holds a quit and humble atmosphere. When
you get to the river there are usually around 20-30 women washing their
clothes, children playing in the water and people generally just going about
their day to day life.
Ian and I arrived with our good friend Alberto to search out
the Canoe man. We crossed the river and
ended up at a house were the Canoe Man (a very friendly elderly man ) was
helping his friends build a house.
Around these parts people are very poor, and no one has any more for
paying people to build a house. So what
they do is that make a special drink called Ndoro (basically fermented corn
flour) and invite anyone who wants to
help build the house come over and take part in the festivities. Everyone then chips in and helps build the
structure and as their reward they get to get nice and tipsy on this highly
alcoholic Mozambican beverage. Back to
the story, Ian and I arrived and we warmly welcomed, we ended up waiting there for
about an hour for the canoe man’s son to arrive and we also got to drink a
little Ndoro and watch the construction.
The Canoe Man’s sun came and we agreed to pay him 100 meticais (3
dollars) to take us on a 2 hour canoe ride so that Ian could get some fishing
in.
Alberto, Ian, Canoe Man’s Son (henceforth CMS) all piled
into the hand carved canoe and started making our way down the river. Ian tried repeatedly and unsuccessfully to
get the fish to bit, but they just weren’t having it. Eventually he gave up and
we enjoyed the rest of the trip seeing the wilds of Chibabava (the district I
live in) and looking over our shoulders for crocodiles.
Though we didn’t catch any fish, it was a wonderful trip and
honestly one of the last Mozambican adventures I will have with Ian. We had a good year living together and I
couldn’t have asked for a better roommate.
I wish him the best as he leaves and starts his life Stateside. Now I
get to wait both excitedly and apprehensively to meet the next person who will
have to put up with me for the next year.
J
Thanks again for reading up on my Mozambican
adventures! The next blog probably won’t
be for awhile (I’m thinking mid to late January) unless I score some internet
in South Africa. I hope everyone has a
wonderful Thanksgiving, a very Merry Christmas and/or Hanukkah and a Fantastic
New year!!! <3
Sent with love,
Mikey
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