Chibuto part 2

Oiiiee, tudo bem?

Time for more news from Southern Africa! I have been here for exactly a month now…and it’s been two weeks since my last blog post…so here goes…

Last time I wrote, I was feeling somewhat ill…luckily I was all better within a week time and before going back on my second fieldtrip to Chibuto! In that week I had planned a couple of interviews with two Mozambican associations, i.e. AMOPROC (Associação Moçambicana para a Promoção da Cidadania) and Fórum Mulher. Fortunately I didn’t have to cancel them or anything! I got to talk to the executive directors of the associations, which was really nice! In that week (so I am referring to the week of 2-8 March), I also had quite a few social engagements. I met up with a new German girl, Suzanne…I was introduced to her by Lena, an IDS buddy that is currently in Peru (gracias Lena!!!). They already know each other from an earlier travel/internship period in Latin America…Together we went to the “Maputo Young Professionals” drink. Really nice, because there were not only foreigners, but also some Mozambicans. Most young professionals are actually working for embassies, UN agencies or other NGOs..quite nice to hear about everyone’s story!

In that weekend I also went to a “mostra de filmes de lingua Portuguesa” (a small film festival with Portuguese spoken films) in the Theatre Scala. I went with the Brazilian girl, Sofia, and Dorien (Dutch friend from Leiden). But before arriving at the theatre, we (Dorien and I) had our first encounter with corruption! We got a ticket for taking a wrong turn…it was dark, so we couldn’t see very well. So suddenly, a police car came out of the blue, without its lights on and made us stop. Dorien showed her driver’s license, etc. and, at first, the police officer seemed very friendly and relaxed…as if he was going to give us a warning or so. But then he demanded money (more than you would normally have to pay as a fine)…and Dorien remained very calm and actually wanted to call someone to check upon the amount…but suddenly the officer became all nervous and very unprofessional…he claimed that if we didn’t pay now, he would take in Dorien’s driver’s license and even the car…so he was saying like, “pay now, just pay now, or otherwise…just give me what you have, and don’t show the money…hide it!! Hide it!!”…so some dodgy business was going on if you ask me. In the end we gave 1500 Meticais, which is like 45 Euros. Not too much, but it was quite funny to see the officer turn into a nervous man that didn’t really know how to handle his business well hehehe.

After the film festival I met up with Mareike and some friends of her to go to Rua d’Arte, which is a small street in the Baixa area that is closed down at night in the weekends, and turns into an “open air bar”, with live music and dance shows. Really nice! That night, a group from Inhambane was performing…playing music, dancing and singing. Afterwards, the place turned into an open air little dance club…some cool old skool music was played…some reggae, then suddenly some Michael Jackson and then rock ‘n roll…let’s say…very mixed! But fun!

On Sunday I had quite a relaxing day, studied a bit and washed some clothes by hand (we have no washing machine unfortunately!). In the evening I met up with Anna and Mareike and some others to go to the Núcleo de Arte…the artsy place where I had been the week before with Anna. Apparently on Sunday they always have live music from 07.00 p.m. onwards…so we went…listening to some sweet reggae, appreciating the art of the Mozambican artists…observing all the rastafari’s, integrating with the Mozambicans! Nice way to end the weekend!

In the week of 9-15 March (last week) I prepared my second fieldtrip to Chibuto and on Tuesday, off I went at 06.00 a.m.. It took me quite long to get there, since I first took a big comfortable bus and then got off at a certain point to carry on by chapa…only, it took almost an hour to fill up the chapa! Upon my arrival, I settled into my room, then had a “prego” and went to the Municipality to present myself to the President of the Municipal Council. I also spoke with the Councillor of Social Action, Mr. Carlos Ofisso. When returning to my accommodation facility, I ran into another guest, Albertina. She is working for “Save the Children” and has recently been transferred to Chibuto. Hooray for making new friends in Chibuto! That day I went to bed with a terrible headache though…must have been an exciting day!

The next day I spoke again with some municipal staff members and with some local institutions that deal with women’s and gender issues. I also found myself an assistant to translate from Changane (the local language) to Portuguese, and vice versa…the local population really speaks a lot of Changane between them (I can only say “Kanimambo”, which is “Thank you”). Anyway, my assistant is called Salmina Jeremias, she’s 27 years old and is finishing high school in the evenings. So during the day she is available to work with me! She’s really friendly, so I am happy to have found her…the Councillor of Social Action recommended her…it’s his sister ;).

The next day (Thursday), I spoke with the Councillor of Urbanization and Construction and next with the only female Councillor in the Municipality (of Culture, Youth and Sports). I also interviewed two neighbourhood secretaries (of the bairro “25 de Junho” and “bairro 3”). In IDS terms, we would call them the “gatekeepers”, I guess...without contacting them, it is difficult to be able to enter a neighbourhood and to contact the local population. It was really nice to hear their stories about the neighbourhoods...in fact, one secretary, Mr. Luis Numaio, is at the same time the “líder comunitário” of the neighbourhood (or the ancient leader)...nice to hear stories from back in the days...and him calling me “minha irmã” (my sister), hehehe.

Unfortunately these secretaries were too busy to introduce me into their neighbourhoods (to the local structure of chiefs etc. and to the locals), so I am meeting up with them this week (I will return to Chibuto on Wednesday). Later that day I bumped into another guest at my accommodation facility: Gerúsio, a student from Maputo that went to check out a neighbourhood in Chibuto, “Samora Machel”, which is a Millennium Village. He is studying human and social studies, taking a specialization in community development, so he wants to gain some working experience in the field. Really nice to meet him, although I think he has already fallen in love with me after a day...oops! Didn’t see that coming!

Anyway, on Friday, the last day of my fieldtrip , I decided that I couldn’t leave the place without having spoken to some local people...so I contacted Salmina (I am so glad everyone has mobile phones here!), and chartered her to go to the market with me, to informally chat with some women. So there we went, and had a chat with 6 different women, from different neighbourhoods...most of them spoke Portuguese, but Salmina had to translate for two women (out of six). It was a nice first encounter with the locals!

During my fieldtrip I also walked through the centre of town a bit, to get to know the place and ask around for other, cheaper accommodation possibilities. I managed to find something for 1000 Meticais a month instead of 500 Meticais a night (1000 Meticais being around 30 euros). I will be living with Fatima, a 49 year old lady belonging to Chibuto’s Muslim community. Her daughter also lives there and has a baby boy of two months. Sweet (but I hope not too loud, heheh)! But it was really nice to enter all the little local shops, talk with the locals, etc...they were all wondering what I was doing there, immediately wanting to be my friend, asking for my number. I am probably a walking dollar bill for them...hmmm, anyway. And the kids are soooooo cute...they all nicely say “boa tarde” or even in English “good afternoon”, walking around in their cute little school uniforms and carrying blue Unicef school bags. Then they suddenly start following me...smiling at me...asking me for a banana (when I just finished buying bananas)...or some sweets.

Anyway, Chibuto life is very calm and relaxed...I think I’ll have a nice time there!

Ok, I know that I am writing way to much again....but for those that are interested, here are some important first findings of my fieldtrip:

-the main form of participation of the local population in local decision making processes is through “reuniões populares” (popular meetings), which occur in the different neighbourhoods of the city, approximately once a month. Everybody can participate and local problems/preoccupations/priorities are transmitted/communicated by the neighbourhood secretaries to the Municipality. However, the municipal staff also attends these meetings. The Municipality even plans to hold separate meetings for women only. This has not been done yet though, since the Municipality has a new government, since a month. I don’t know whether these “reuniões populares” are entirely a new thing, or if only the separate women groups are new. Next to that, the councillor talked about the Municipal Assembly, as being a platform where the interests of the local population can be defended.
-the Organização da Mulher Moçambicana (OMM) appears to be represented in the local structure and deals with women’s problems/issues.
-one of the biggest problems of Chibuto is the water delivery service. It does not reach the whole population.
-there seems to be a culture of “non formalization of land” in Chibuto, since the land law does not oblige citizens to legalize their lands and thus to pay taxes. On the other hand, a lot of land plots seem to have been registered already. The neighbourhood secretaries of bairro 25 de Junho and bairro 3 said that they tried to mobilize the local population to register their lands.
-a couple of associations/institutions seem to deal with gender issues, such as the “Associação Ntwanano” (groups of women that talk about HIV/AIDS), the “INAS” (employment creation / income generation programmes for women), the DDSMAS, etc. However, I have the impression that the proper Municipality of Chibuto doesn’t implement gender focussed policies/programmes.

And well, so on Friday I returned to Maputo....3,5 hours in a hot chapa! Later that night I met up with Dorien and we went clubbing to “Clube Naval” and “Luksos”, with some Mozambican friends of hers. On Saturday I went to the crafts market with Anna, and then to the Maputo shopping and the Botanical Garden. On Sunday I went swimming with Dorien at the Swimming Pool of Maxiquexique. Very nice and refreshing! And on Sunday evening I went to Núcleo de Arte again, to hear some live music (this time more jazzy like) and catch up with some friends...
And now.....I have to prepare for my third mission to Chibuto...so I guess...this is....to be continued....

See this link for pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=106261&id=566821030&l=cfb9cac086

Beijinhos!!!!