Week 2 & Onwards In Moz

Ok, Almighty and all righty then…week 2 and onward has been quite challenging and interesting at the same time. 

Let me begin by stating that Maputo’s increase in cars and traffic is because you can order cars online here from Japan and it gets delivered to your door.  There are old and news cars but the older models can be very cheap from about $500.00 to $1, 500.00.  What is also pretty incredible here is that you can get a cell phone that has 2 sim cardholders just in case you have a sim card from another phone company.  Can you imagine buying a phone in Toronto and putting either a Rogers sim card or a Bell sim card or any sim card you have?!  However, I must say I do miss my ipod no one here walks around with their ipods, you have to actually pay attention to your surroundings and people here do give eachother eye contact.  Everyday you say and are told Bom Dia for good day, Boa Tarde for good afternoon and Boa Noite for good evening.  I realized the other day that I must have said greetings to mostly all complete strangers 50 times in that one day.  This instantly puts you in a great mood and you realize that this is what I do not miss in Toronto the lack of communication around the whole city.  If you do not ask someone here about his or her family before you get down to business you are considered rude.  If you do not have time to stop and chat with someone you are not a nice person.  People will actually yell and belittle you for this.  Of course I love this part about the culture because I truly do love people and this makes me feel so close to everyone and their families here.  I look forward to hearing news about my colleague’s son, daughter or girlfriend. 

I had a flood in my lovely temporary apartment and thank goodness I had a volunteer from the UK staying with me, Andrea - who was only here for 1 week and moving up north for the next 3 months.  Our bide busted and water did not stop flowing out from the pipes.  Everyone told me to bring a good torch, just in case the electricity went out but what I should have brought was a good wrench! Serio!

Anyways, the great thing was that my new roomy and I stayed in a really nice and quaint hotel with an Arabian night theme that had a piscina and air condition. Whoohoooo!  The best 2 days of my life I tell ya!! LOL

So after my 2 nights of bliss and sun bathing every chance I got, Andrea left and I moved into “The Palace” with 3 other volunteers.  The Palace is what every other volunteer call this home because it basically looks like a typical new condominium with new fixtures, nice showers and NO holes in the walls or bad ass bides or crawly friends.  The only drawback to this wonderful new dwelling of mine is that the owner wants her place back and VSO has to find us a new home in 6 weeks.  I will be moving again and hopefully the next stop will be my permanent residence for the long run.  I have gotten use to living out of my suitcase actually and living very basically seems second nature now.  All that recent chaos might have just been one of those quick lessons in life, that no matter what trust and the universe will always take care of you.

I am still taking Portuguese lessons that are going well and at the same time I am still trying to find my ground.  My Portuguese teacher has already asked if we can fall in love & if I can take him back to Canada with me and I can not repeat on this family oriented read article how I responded in sign language and taught him the word in Italian for don’t ever ask me that again.  I told him what it meant in Portuguese and he then asked me to write it down for him.  I did with a smile on my face hahahahahaha!  The British would say Bug Off!

  I don’t know exactly what my role is at my new placement, however they tend to throw a lot of proposals in front of you and ask if you can help them apply for funding for many different projects.  A lot or most of the VSO volunteers end up in fundraising roles for the organization they are placed at.  One of the projects that I agreed to help with is with some of the university students at AEFUM who want help funding a project to attend 4 universities in 4 different municipalities and help raise awareness about the HIV/AIDS epidemic by training, workshops, presentations and handed out condoms.  They want to recruit 20 students from each university, 80 students in total.  I agreed to help them do this but I needed to know some background and I discovered that there are mostly girls and some boys who are prostituting in the universities because they need the money for school, to feed their families etc.  The girls don’t have many choices when it comes to protected sex unless the male decides to wear the condom.  For instance, if a girl denies her husband sex because he will not put on a condom (because you never know or you know where your husband has been) he can literally and physically bring her back home to her family and even though a recent law was passed I think around 2005 or earlier that domestic violence is illegal here it still very much does exist.

Another shocking piece of the puzzle the youth told me was that there is a lot of students that experience sexual harassment with the professors in university.  If a professor asks for sex than the students must give him sex in order fro the student to pass.  So, I asked what about the student going to the “directorio” of the school to report the professor.  The youth looks at me and says very nonchalantly the student wouldn’t do that or they will fail.  Still adamantly I state “But the professor can’t do that it’s not right, why can’t the professor be stopped?”  The youth still looking at me with a puzzled look on his face, “But that is why we want to educate the professors too to use condoms, he replies.”  I replied, “Can we teach the girls to carry guns to school instead?”  Of course with a huge smile on my face hahahahahahaha!!!  The youth replies and shakes his head “No.”  Unfortunately, the realities here are quite gloomy and trust me I will not write that we will promote this behavior by handing out condoms in the proposed proposal.   I was talking to another volunteer about this, she works helping to promote girls in the education field and she says that 10 to 12 year old girls are asked sexually active questions and some respond, “Yes the man I sleep with uses a condom.”   I can’t stop thinking about this situation and how unprotected the children are here and how unfair the little girls are treated here.  I just want to yell at all the women here and say “Stand Up!”

The youth at the centre invited me to a debate at the Ministry of Medicine next week to discuss the injustices in the job market for women.  Bring it on!

A typical day I would like to share that I had in Maputo was when the other day I moved from the hotel to my new place.  That afternoon I was to meet a beautiful Yoga teacher living temporarily in Maputo who was from Kenya, her name is Gatechke.  It started it getting weird when I was in a meeting and NGO’s (non government organizations) were discussing the location of where the organizations logos out to be for the next 10 minutes and I was instantly annoyed and bored.  I wanted to scream “Are we seriously having this conversation, right now?!”  It seems that many people here care more about the titles of their positions or how than can get a better position or if the position will enable for them to travel, if the ministry will hire them or if they know the president, or whose cousin is in the ministry of so and so etc.  Hence the epiphany I had to why all the men work in this field.  There are so many associations here for everything and anything you can imagine.  So after the meeting, while debriefing the events I was anxious to help and I was looking for help to get me started to work because I am starting to get a little stir crazy without being creative and hand on.  I was told that if I thought I was going to be working hands on with children and families like I have for the last 20 years back home that I need to turn around and go back home.  Yes I do understand our roles change here and you have to be “adaptable and flexible” and yes I am very open to all possibilities but I was shocked and hurt.  It was like someone took my paintbrushes away and said you can’t paint but you can have an empty canvas.  Yes we recognize that you have a gift, but we do not want you to use it here.  So I went for lunch with the other volunteers and colleagues and I realized at lunch while everyone was having a conversation about being a messy person or an organized person that I no longer have an identity I can hold onto here, I have been living out of my luggage, moving from place to place, gave up my job, left my friends and family etc.  I can no longer possibly hang on to any identifications, titles, roles or descriptions I have been given myself all these years.  I thought this is friggin harder than I thought, you literally have to let go of all things you never even knew how attached you were to them in the first place.  Oh and it doesn’t even account for all the unhealthy relationships you realize you were in! LOL

I began my long walk to meet Gatechke, and I needed that walk to realize some anxiety that was still in my system.  I meet her in the park and in a very nice area and she asks me if I want to see where her yoga studio is located.  I walk with her and it so happens that the studio is in a crèche/child care.  I am introduced to the owner and we discuss the children with special needs that attend her day care.  I ask if I can come on Monday and discuss a possible volunteering there or maybe doing yoga with the kids there too.  Maria is happy to meet with me then.  Gatecke also offers me to do her yoga class on Monday night in her studio.  I asked Gatechke if I could hug her and she said yes.  I wanted to scream with happiness at the top of my lungs “Thank you UNIVERSE!”

Week 1 in Moz

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My First Flat 

Week 1 in Moz

Wow what can I say!  I have to keep reminding myself I am in one of the world’s poorest countries.  Maputo is alive and kicking all day and all night.  They compare it to Brazil because of the Portuguese culture and traditions that has stayed in Maputo, along with the Portuguese pastries and chicken.  The other day I was bringing my garbage out to a dumpster on my way to meet other volunteers for dinner and I also had a pizza in my other hand that I thought I can bring to the dinner.  The minute I crossed the road to put it into the dumpster a man came up to me and tried taking my garbage bag and telling me he’ll will take care of it for me.  I told him “nao obrigada” and quickly I realized he was hungry.  Ele esta fome.  I have seen other people going through the garbage in the dumpsters, so I offered him my pizza and he thanked me very much.  Muito obrigado. 

My flight was very long it took 3 days for me to arrive and there were a few times I wanted to head back home.  When I arrived 2 lovely volunteers Seija and Biss were at the airport along with a VSO employee Sansao.  I went to the VSO office and then got settled in at my new apartment quickly discover that I am staying alone in this apartment.   The other volunteers that were supposed to be here from other parts of Canada have not as of yet arrived. I am staying in the upper part of town and a 15 to 20 minute walk to the VSO office.  The first thing I noticed about the apartments were the caged and bolted down doors everyone has, right away this brought up fear.  I spent my first night and the rest of the week hanging out with Biss and Seija and getting to know other volunteers from all over the world.  The sidewalks in Maputo look like battleship grounds and if people do not find a parking spot on the street they park on the sidewalks.   There are holes and broken cement everywhere. So not only do you have to pay attention to the cars not killing you when you cross the streets you have to pay attention that you don’t fall while walking on the sidewalk, some holes are very deep.   There is garbage everywhere because if you don’t put your garbage in the dumpster no one will pick it up and there is dust from everywhere.  So the first week I was wheezing, huffing and puffing instead of breathing.  The program director of VSO Quim told me it was because I was very healthy.  So all those allergies to dust, cockroaches, mildew etc have had to disappear or my system had to get use to things very quickly.  I have also sited a gecko in my apartment that has become very brave and friendly with me.  Everyone tells me its good to have one of those in your apartment because apparently they eat other bugs that are not supposed to be there.  So I have named him to Nik the Gecko not even knowing if it’s a she.  The fury and scaly friends here are very brave and relentless.  A woman at VSO Zaida also told me that the city of Maputo did not have this many cars and this much hustle and bustle as of 5 years ago.  This city is so busy with traffic and full of people that there is rarely any moments of peace except for Sundays here it becomes deads-ville (which has been a welcoming break).

So I was invited to a celebration of the mulher de couragem at the Embassy of U.S. and it was spectacular.  I finally had the chance to see the ocean upclose from the backyard of the embassy and the event was about presenting an award to a strong Mozambican women whose infected with HIV/Aids and fought for her life.  The women has 8 children and when she found out she had Aids her husband left her, but her family stuck by her and she is very alive, happy and healthy today.  She was there to accept the award and to represent the fight for everyone to know that Aids is about us all!  There is so much need but there is also so much help here too, from allot of different countries. 

To my sad –triste discovery I have learned that you cannot go into clean swimming water around Maputo beaches unless you travel about 2 hours outside of the city.  To travel is fine but apparently it is not so easy traveling around Mozambique.  Many people have told me that it is easier to travel to South Africa than it is up north to other municipalities.  No one even advises to walk around the beach at all because it is very dangerous and a lot of homeless people have found residence there.  So my crazy 1^st week is done and I am feeling a little unnerved by staying by myself and I feel like Jiva because I freak out at the littlest noise or sound.  One night I am not sure if I was sleeping or not but I kept hearing a women crying and screaming “Para, para, para, para..” which means stop.  Her cries eventually weaned away into the thickest part of the night, placed above my head and in my pillow. 

On Saturday 2 of the volunteers had a BBQ and potluck party, so it was a chance for me to meet other volunteers.  There is about a dozen volunteers working here for VSO Mozambique and they are from all over the world.  All the volunteers have been very nice and helpful and some I believe have been angels.  Most of the volunteers that are still here have extended there terms for more than 1 year they seem to like it very much that they become flared with Mozambican swag.  The swag is all about taking it easy, if there is a delay, it’s a delay, things will get done when they get done and enjoy your life.  There is a huge “go with the flow” kind of energy and watch how things happen.  Many polarities here too, with events and people too, you can find that you are having the worst time ever and then something very great happens, just like that each and every day.

On Sunday the volunteers invited me to a hidden gem of a pool in the neighborhood and I got to relax and take it easy for 1 or 2 hours. 

Monday was my first day I started with AEFUM a non-profit organization for youth and they have been long anticipating my arrival.  I watched a presentation and became very excited at some of the projects that they are doing.  The project that my heart is already into is the project that has been presented to me a few times that helps orphan and vulnerable children in all municipalities.  I then find out that there is no more money left to fund this program that has been running for about 2 years.  I am going to try to help keep this program going, because I don’t know if anyone has noticed but they are a lot of orphans in this country and they need all the help Africa can give and WE can give.  I have also realized that there is no specific embassy or ministry for children.  There is one for youth, education, employment etc.  Apparently the children fall under the same ministry for women, I was told that women supposedly take care of children.  My guess is that all women are born with maternal instincts here?!

Some thing else that it has been taken me some adjustment to get use to, is that the majority of people that work in the social services field are men!  Men at work surround me all the time, which was the reserve back home.  I don’t know if I like it better at all to be honest.  I think what’s missing besides women running the country (and maybe then we would have no orphans) is the heart and soul of the work.  I am not saying that men don’t have it here because I doubt they do the job for the money.  I actually have discovered that some of the men that work in this field don’t even get paid.  I think I have to delve into the history a bit more but it is definitely because women never had the opportunity to go to school and to obtain jobs.  Even though it is changing but I have also learned that the men where told by the governs what they would do and what they would become in their careers and if they did not follow the path they were given they could get into trouble.

So I am attending AEFUM for my Portuguese classes they are giving me and with one of AEFUM members for 4 hours a day for about 1 month. 

AEFUM

AEFUM is a 5 min walk from downtown.  I have NEVER seen a downtown like this it is beyond crazy in a good way and in a shocking way.  I have traveled to many major cities and there is nothing, nada, ningun city I have ever seen quite like this one.  There are thousands and thousands of people everywhere and there are thousand and thousand of items selling on the floor, pouring out of boxes and the sidewalks.  You can find anything here; people bring their own sewing machines and start pedaling away for business.  Men will shine your shoes or paint your toenails.

Also, women here carry everything and anything on their heads no one uses their arms to carry a sack.  I saw a woman transporting a television on her head.  Not a flat screen, a huge television.  I look at the women in complete awe!  I also had the chance to due my first Kundalini Yoga class at 2 volunteers flat.  Sat Nam!

Aduese from Maputo!!!

VSO Mozambique

Love & Light to you all always

Xoxoxoxoxo MISS YOU xoxoxoxoxo

Send love and light to me in Africa!

Thank You

Rosetta