Where the Sun Shines

Since 2003 I have worked with Canada World Youth and Change for Children in many places throughout Africa and Latin America. This website has served as a medium to share my experiences, to tell my stories from "the field". This year (2010) I will be returning to Mozambique to work as a project supervisor again with Canada World Youth.

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Christmas in South Africa

This Xmas I was lucky to have the opportunity to spend it in South Africa. I went to the incredible city of Cape Town to celebrate Xmas with Nicholas, a fellow project supervisor. It was quite an experience, as I haven’t really spent much time in South Africa, and on this trip I got an insider view as to what life is like for most Black South Africans, as I stayed with Nicholas in a Black Township. If you aren't familiar or are unaware under the old apartheid system (when the white minority was in power and controlled the country) the government made Black South Africans live separately from them away from the city in townships. In the township where I stayed for my 5 day stay I didn’t see any other white person and so since I was a rare sight people would stare at me and wonder why I was there and what I was doing in a black township!

The first two days we stayed mostly in the township away from town celebrating Xmas with his family, neighbours and friends. They were all very curious as to what life in Canada was like and how I liked Cape Town and South Africa. Asking all sorts of questions and hoping that I was enjoying their country!

After Xmas dinner one of Nicholas' friends offered to take us on a tour of Cape Town, and I was shown many of the beautiful sights the city has to offer: such as Table Mountain, Waterfront, Camps Bay, Clifton Beach and the downtown core. I was completely impressed. Downtown Cape Town is unreal -sophisticated, modern, trendy and highly developed. Easily comparable to Vancouver, or the finer areas of Los Angeles, definitely a step up from good ol' Edmonton.

I must say though it was hard to see what lies past the townships: the bright lights, the fancy dinners, white sandy beaches, modern infrastructure, etc and then come back at night to the township where many people live below the poverty line, in slum-like dwellings, houses or shacks made from scrap materials. In some areas of the township Nicholas explained to me how many of the homes don’t have running water, or proper toilet facilities. In one area that we passed you could see there was a set of outhouses every 15-20 meters, which would apparently serve any number of 5-8 households. As we would take the public bus into the city every day we would pass by several shantytown communities where it would look as though thousands and thousands of people were living in sub-human conditions.

Interestingly enough despite the conditions that many of the people I met in the township they are all very proud to be from Cape Town and would expect that I had a great time in their city. I definably did have a great time and look forward to returning after the program, however, the inequality and disparity that exists here is hard to see and hard to accept as it is racist when it is only one segment of South African society the race of the majority who must face and live this reality, now not due to government policies but due to economic hardship and lack there of alternatives. Maybe when I return I can do more research into what is currently being done to reverse this situation and improve opportunities for all, but for now I all do is wonder what can be done and what are some solutions to this reality?

Friday, December 29, 2006

Photos from Mozambique

I am posting a couple photos of my host family, and other sights here in Mozambique. Enjoy!




Here is a great photo of my host great grandma "Avo" and my host cousin. We have had several family relatives come for the holidays.



Here is Celeste, a 16 year old girl who lives with us and works for my host family, doing the cleanign and cooking. She has been a lot of fun and very helpful, especially when I need someone to help me chase the frogs out of the bathroom or fetch water for bathing!




This is a photo taken at the Beach- Praia Belene( about 1hr drive from the host community). We went as a group 2 weeks ago! The water was so warm and wonderful!I took my host mother as a special treat!





This is a photo of the river that runs along the host community. There is a great little hangout where the participants often go to hang out and enjoy the breeze!





This is a photo of my host mother- Maezinha! She is a lot of fun!

Friday, December 15, 2006

HOT HOT HOT!

It.s Friday, thank goodness, and all I can write is that its so darn hot 38degrees!! I cant wait to get home to take my third bath of the day at 5pm!

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Beautiful Mozambique!

You will hardly believe it but after we left Edmonton with its horrible winter weather on the 30th of December it wasnt until the 3rd of December that we made it to Mozambique! We travelled first to Vancouver then to London and then later south all the way down the continent of Africa to the most Southern tip - South Africa. In Jo'brg we stayed the night and the participants got a chance to explore South Africa's capital city- Pretoria. It was supposed to be day to relax as we still had another major leg of the trip to cover, however, most of the participants were far too excited to get some sleep and instead chose to explore the city and sightsee. The heat in Pretoria was intense and for me I could barely handle it coming from a record breaking minus 40 degree weather in good ol' Alberta. Nonetheless I managed to get a little bit of sleep in order to prepare myself for the next leg of the trip. Luckily Canada World Youth's partner organization in South Africa- Volunteer Centre had hired someone to help me and Sheeneen look after our two teams as that allowed us a little down time and more importantly time to ourselves.

The next day at 4:30am we were to be ready at the front of the hotel as taxis were scheduled to come get us and take us to the main bus station in order for us to catch our 5:30am bus destined for Maputo. 4:45... 4:55... 5am... 5:10am and still no sign of the taxis! Finally at 5:15 our bus arrives, we get to the bus station at 5:35am and have missed our bus, as yes in Africa buses are on time and do run according to schedule. Luckily I talked to another bus driver and we were able to board another bus and meet up with another bus in J'berg that would leave at 8am. A little stressful, but in the end no big problem.

Next stop is the boarder between South Africa and Mozambique, going through the South African side isnt too hard there is a structured line and there are no questions nor forms to fillout, however, we reach the Mozambican side and its a bit of a mess, first of all everyone is sweating like nobody's business, then we have these forms to fill out, entry taxes to pay and the lineup isnt exactly clear, but after nearly 40minutes we all manage to get through without any problems.

So after nearly 4 days of travel we finally reach our destination- Mozambique! We arrive into Maputo and many of the Mozambican participant's families are there to greet us and welcome their sons or daughters home to Mozambique. Maputo still isnt quite our final destination as we still have to travel a little more to reach our host commmunity for the program. But we settle in a beautiful, rustic, touristic hostel for two nights in Maputo. Marciana- my counterpart organized a very nice welcome for the team. The first night we were all pretty exhausted, unpacked, settled in and ate a wonderful meal of many of Mozambique's national dishes. Including Matapa- a dish composed of crushed cassava leaves, coconut and crab meat, as well as many other delicious seafood and meat dishes. I swear I ate the best crab in my life that night!

The next two days the participants got an opportunity to explore Maputo and to meet the Director of AJUDE- Canada World Youth's partner organization here in Mozambique. We ate lunch in the municipal garden and learned a little about Mozambican culture by a famous local musician. Later we ate pizza at one of Maputo's most popular restaurant's Mimo's, where I ran into another one of my participants' from last year.

Finally last Tuesday we were on a chapa to Manhica our host community and that night the participants slept with their new host families. I was nervous and excited to meet my new family. Marciana said it was difficult to find a family willing to take just one person due to the small amount of money they recieve to help cover the cost of having us in their homes. Luckily for me a family came through that same day and they have been absolutely wonderful. I couldnt ask for a better living situation. From the very first day I arrived till now I feel so privileged to be on this program and to have been given this opportunity. I am learning so much from living with this family its incredible. They live in a poorer section of the city, where many of the homes are traditional homes made from natural materials (the best way I can descibe it is thick sticks). My family has a nice sized lot which is fenced in by shrubs. Inside this area there are 4 small houses. The kitchen is shaped as a traditional home made from sticks. Next is where I sleep a simple two bedroom house made from concrete. Until today I didnt have a light however luckily they have installed one. I sleep in this small simple house with my host great grandmother, who is amazing. Each day she seems to open up to me more and more and feels more comfortable talking to me. The next house is a small traditional home made from sticks- which I believe they use as a storage but I assume might have been the initial house on their small plot of land. Next is my host mother and father's house. It is also a small 2 bedroom house, however, instead it is not as simple as my little humble home, as they have a TV, DVD player, excellent stereo system, fridge, stove, leather coaches and long dining room table. In each of the rooms there are nice comforable queen sized beds, which is a step and a half up from the cots that me and grandma are on in the other house. In this house my host mother-Maezinha and the domestic 16 year old girl- Celeste sleep. Maezinha's husband- Amando, isnt here as he works in a mine in South Africa and only comes home once every 1-2 months.

The family has been so welcoming and great. I cant believe how much they go out of thier way to ensure that I am happy. We have no running water and have an outdoor toliet, much like an "out-house" in Canada. The first night I arrived they told me they prepared the water for me to take a bath and wash, they had heated a large basin of water for me wash and lit a candle beside it. I thought it was so romantic I took a photo! Not so romatic however have been the regular neighbourhood frogs I have been finding in my bathroom. As much as I try to push myself to do it, I cant go to the bathroom with them in there and usually have to call Celeste to help me chase them out. The cochroahes on the otherhand I believe I have become accustomed to and now take action on any that I find in my room or in the bathroom.

To conclude this marathon blog entry I feel like commenting a little about the group. I think for the most part things are going well, however, for some participants this has been a major shift and their comfort zones have been pushed to their limit. I can understand that feeling since it can not be easy to go from the standard of living that some of the host families we had in Camrose to some of the very basic living conditions most families have here in Manhica. All in all, I continue to keep a certain level of optimism and confidence that they will have what it takes to overcome this challenge and learn from this opportunity which I feel blessed and honored to have. Mozambique is so beautiful and has so much to offer!