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!
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!
posted by Laura | 10:09 AM
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