Moz life

Lipelile!! (good evening in Changane)

What’s up? I hear the weather is getting better and better over there! It was about time huh? ;)
Here I can finally wear the bunch of long sleeves I brought with me, supposedly “to protect myself from mosquitoes in the evening”; but the truth is that it’s getting a bit more chilly at night!

Ok, here goes another one of those updates I know you have been craving for…right!? ;) This time I promise I am going to keep it nice and concise, although, as you may know already, it is not one of my strongest points…not even while interviewing…(sigh). But at least I can partly blame that on the whole interpreting process…:-)

So, I just came back from my fourth trip to Chibuto and I can proudly say that I’m starting to get a good feel of what life’s like there. Not only am I getting used to my daily outside-bucket-of-water-showers, latrine-toilet, cockroach pets (one even managed to get trapped in my mosquito net and crawled over me, ieuuuh) and regular electricity cuts, but I’m also accepting (there is no other option than to do so) people’s slow pace and way of life.

Some Chibuto rituals are that, in the mornings, I usually wake up at around 06.00/06.30 a.m. with my “natural alarm clock” …a true orchestra of roosters! After these lovely natural sounds, I start hearing loud hip hop/R&B and rap songs coming out of my neighbours houses....so I could actually be dancing in the shower if I felt like it! A pretty nasty habit though, is that we burn our trash! Since the waste collection services of the Municipality do not reach our neighbourhood (which is actually 25 de Junho, the one I am studying)...we have to dig a hole, dump our trash in it and light the whole thing on fire...sorry mother nature, forgive us!

Anyway, research-wise, I really enjoy talking to the locals…it’s a really interesting experience and I’m learning a lot from it! I’ve continued doing some one-on-one interviews at the household level, but also some more focus group discussions (which are sooooo time consuming to transcribe!). Some women even said that they were happy to have had the group conversation, because they had actually learnt something out of it (have I unconsciously done some “action research”?). For example, some didn’t know that they too have the right to register their land in their names. It’s also striking that, whenever I ask about what they see as their rights, they all (both men and women) start to talk about having a job and good working conditions (especially with respect to their “machambas” or farms). This is of course an important right, but they can’t really think of other basic human rights, such as the right to education, the right to participate as a citizen, etc. Only when I suggest these options, they say “yesss…that is also our right”!

Another thing that struck me is that so many people just die in families. Whenever I ask about the household structure, it is really normal that one or two sons or daughters of the head of household have already passed away and that they themselves are raising the little children of their passed away sons or daughters. Apart from that, apparently one in four people is infected with HIV/AIDS….and I heard that Chibuto (District) has been seeing some cases of cholera. Oh oh! This makes me extra careful with water, washing hands, etc! Also, so many people are living without real jobs…they just live off of their subsistence agriculture and are happy if they can get money to buy water. Whenever the women get water, they often go to the “fontenárias” or wells at 02.00 a.m. in the morning, to wait in line and to come back at around 06.00 a.m. Sometimes they don’t even manage to get water. Apparently the Municipality is trying to fix the problem of water, but the population doesn’t even want to know anything about it anymore…they are sick and tired of complaining and not seeing any progress. This is also why they sometimes say that it is not worth participating actively in the popular neighbourhood meetings…because speaking out loud or keeping your mouth shut doesn’t matter; the result is the same. Another reason for not participating actively, is that the citizens are afraid to be seen in a negative light…they don’t want to be put on a “black list” and risk not getting anything done anymore by the Municipality. Next to the living off of subsistence culture, a lot of male citizens from Chibuto go to South Africa to work in the mines…as such, I always see a lot of South African number plates in Chibuto.

Anyway, during my stay in Chibuto I spent a day at the beach of Xai Xai (with Gracey and Abby,) which is the capital of Gaza province. This has actually been my first beach trip in Mozambique and it was very nice indeed! The chapa ride to Xai Xai was not so nice though...it even crossed my mind that this could have been my “last chapa ride ever”! The chapa driver was racing like crazy, overtaking another chapa on places where you should not overtake...but I guess they were racing for passengers along the road or something. Well, I did collect some nice shells on the beach and I bought a cute shell necklace from this little kid! But maybe I’ll make another beach trip soon, to the town of Vilankulos…the only thing is that it takes almost a day to get there from Chibuto…and obviously another day to come back. But apparently there are lovely, turquoise-ocean-beaches over there…which makes it very attractive to go. My American roommates are going for some Peace Corps event, and they invited me to come along….shall I, shall I not…shall I, shall I not…?! What do you say?

Uhmmm, I also spent the national holiday “Dia da Mulher” in Chibuto (on the 7th of April), organized by the OMM (Organização da Mulher Moçambicana). This date is the day on which Josina Machel died. She is a real national heroine, because she was a prominent freedom fighter. She was the wife of Samora Machel (the first president of independent Mozambique). It was really nice to accompany these festivities. At first the Governor put some flowers in Chibuto’s park, named after Josina Machel. Then there was a march up to the Bairro 3 of the city and some new classrooms were inaugurated. Then a lot of groups held speeches, danced/played music and did some acts on domestic violence, etc. (see facebook pictures).

Ok, I know, limited space is left….When I returned to Maputo on Friday, I went straight to the Moçambique Jazz Festival. Unfortunately the show only started at 10.00 p.m., while I was already there at 07.00 p.m. with Anna. Apparently there was some technical problem. Next to that, it took the organization / artists about an hour between each performance, to change instruments, etc.! Typical…hehehe The next day (last Saturday) I first went crazy on the crafts market (bought a capulana dress, bag, some bracelets and earrings, eheheheh) and also bought some Mozambican cds (Shopaholic? Me? Naaaahhh) and then later on we went again to the Jazz Festival. We saw a couple of Mozambican bands, playing some Marrabenta (national music style) and jazzy sounds…but also some American bands and a South African guy called Hugh Masekela…the crowd really went crazy during his performance! I must say that he did steal the show…he had some funny dance moves (reminded me a bit of Bill Cosby…the dancing part I mean). On Easter Sunday I had lunch with the family I stayed with the two first weeks. It was really good…some nice Portuguese dishes and even some Indian (Goan) food. In the evening I went to Núcleo de Arte with a group of people to hear the usual live music…that was a lot of live music for one weekend…lots of trumpets and saxophones!

This week I’m staying the whole week in Maputo, because I am elaborating another question list and also doing some interviews here. I must admit that coming back to Maputo is kinda nice! :-)

Ok, have a good evening everyone and I’ll get back to you soon. Check out my pics:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=113352&id=566821030&l=c1519ea4c9

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=113366&id=566821030&l=5765faeeb3

Beijinhos!