This is what I woke up to this morning. It was great! This is how the Care for Life staff begin their meetings every Monday and this is how we do transportation in Mozambique... well... that is if you are lucky enough to get to ride on the back of a pickup truck. Otherwise you have to hitch a ride on the local mini vans (which are usually very packed), walk, or ride on the back of someone's old bike. Riding on the back of pick up trucks here is an adventure in and of itself. This camper we are in gets really hot and uncomfortable. One time we saw about thirty people crowd onto the back of a truck. When they jumped off the truck it was like the circus had come to town!
Monday, May 19, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Africa is Beatiful
It is amazing to me how beautiful this place is. Today we went to the Praya Savana. It is a beatiful beach and it was the perfect beach weather. I felt like I was back in California eventhough I was enjoying the Indian Ocean. We took a boat to go out to the island where the beach was. On the way back, when we waited for the boat to take us back, I took this picture of the sunset. It was a testimony to me that God is no respecter of persons. He gave us all, white or black, big or small, healthy or sick, rich or poor, the same beautiful sun to enjoy.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Creativity at its Best
The kids here are very creative with their toys. They find ways of making them. Here are some toys I have seen kids playing with...
The kids are even more creative than the adults! (Picture 1) I love this little wire car. The wheels are made out of soda cans and they turn too! Any of these kids would be happy to own a ball some day. (Picture 2) The little rock toy with the door was full of little insects. I think it's like a little insect farm the kids play with. (Picture 3) A hopeful bike with only one wheel.
Miscellaneous
This post is a reply to all the comments posted so far and some extra information on the culture here. I have really enjoyed reading everyone's comments. It keeps my spirits up to read the humorous and inspiring things you have all commented on. Thank you! About the water situation, we just found out yesterday that the water will be out for the rest of the month! Do you know what this means! If you have ever gone camping for a month, you might start getting a bit close to the reality of what the living conditions are like here. I have chosen not to complain. I will probably find a way to wash somehow. It rained a little yesterday and Raquel and I were joking that we should go out to the street and shower while we could. We are beginning to get a little desperate. I won't say the number of days we have gone without a shower. I will reserve that information for only the brave people back home. I have to admit it is at a record high. The funny thing is that everytime we drive past the place where the workers are fixing the pipes, we don't see them working. It's like nobody cares that there is no water. It's sort of funny. Raquel and I really stand out here. The other day we went to a village and one of the little kids got scared when he saw us. He started to cry! They have never seen someone like us before! Most kids warm up to us really quickly. When they see us driving by in a car they wave at us and smile. I love being here. It is nothing like being home. It is such a reality check! I made french toast the other day and cut each slice of bread into four smaller squares. The people had never had french toast. They really liked it. Bread is like gold here.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
The Importance of Evaluation
Yesterday we met with the government here in Mozambique. We were given very little notice that we would be meeting with them. However, I was not nervous because I had written up an evaluation proposal. I showed them my evaluation proposal. I even tried translating parts of it into Portuguese. The lady we met with really liked it. Our interview with the government official was to show them the evaluation I am doing for Care for Life. Care for Life was hoping that by showing the government what we are doing, they will know how serious Care for Life is and offer more assistance to the program. I think we were successful at doing that. We are gathering some great data and I hope to be able to give them an accurate evaluation of their program so they can continue to help people in Mozambique.
Going to the Hair Salon
When I sat down to rest under this tree, I had no idea I was actually going to get my hair done. Yeah. I got an awesome do by this little girl. Her name is pronounced "Myn". She really liked my hair. The funny thing is that I haven't washed it for over four days. Even I don't want to touch it!
A Realidade
The people are extremely poor here. If you haven't been here, you just don't know. It's as poor as it gets. Nobody, nobody in the States is as poor as some of the better off people here. Today our electricity got cut off and again we have been without water for a couple of days now. We have some flour to make some bread and today we bought some chicken. I know many people are starving and I felt guilty eating the small piece of chicken I got today. I know people are dying everyday for lack of food or other illnesses. I am getting much better at speaking Portuguese. It is difficult to speak with the natives since they have their dialects. Today we visited a village community where I made some friends. A group of kids who just followed us everywhere we went. Raquel called it my posee. The little girl in this picture really liked my hair. She gave me the most awesome hair do! I love the people here. This experience has strengthened my belief in education. Many people here are not literate. The problem is knowing how to motivate the people. They cannot relate to many things since all they know is their little villages and the conditions they have lived in their entire lives. The trick is helping them have a desire to read and write and then teaching them in a way that they will relate and see results so that they will feel motivated to improve their lives. On the other hand, there is a small population of the higher class people who are so so smart. I was talking with one of the workers here in Care for Life and he knew SPSS and he was talking to me about pedagogies used to teach the villagers. SPSS! Yeah. Many of them know English too. They know words but they aren't comfortable speaking it.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
A Escola
On our walk through the village, Regina took me to a school. All the children crowded around me like a mini mob. It was crazy!!!!!! They all wanted to be in the picture. Then, after I took the picture they wanted to see it. I thought I was never going to get out. They pretty much attacked me, but I was happy that I could make them happy by just taking a picture. I love the kids.
Um Dia Com Regina
Today I felt like I went on splits. Regina and I went to visit many people in a village. She would write down on a paper if they were keeping their goals. Their goals include improving their houses, treating their water so that it is clean to use, and making tables so that their dishes aren't laying on the ground. This is Regina and her mom. Her father passed away when she was three years old. She told me she was really sad. She has two children and they live in this little house in the village with her mom. Despite their poverty, it is easy to see that she is really happy with life. When I asked her mom if I could take a picture of her and Regina she asked me if I would give her time to go inside the house and change into her nice blouse. You don't take a picture every day when you live in a village like this. She really liked the picture.
Um Teatro
The women in this clip are acting out a play that teaches the villagers about why it is important for them to learn how to make a toilet next to their little houses that goes deep enough into the ground. The toilets are called "latrinas". The people here know that if they don't build a toilet deep into the ground it poses health hazards for the people such as cholera. The villagers don't know this so Care for Life teaches them. As Machesas are the huts like the one in this clip. The villagers build them but they are part of the Care for Life program and this is where the village meetings are held. The video is a little shaky because I was a little reluctant to record this. Many of them have never seen a camera before so I did not want to disrupt their meeting by taking pictures and taking video.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Futebol
O campo os homens jogan futebol.
The next world cup is in South Africa in 2010. Yeah!!
I thought of Ruthie and Gusvi when I saw these guys play. I wanted to play with them. They were having so much fun! I love soccer!
The Capital
In the capital there was a political demonstration going on. I don't know what it was about, but there were lots of people there and they felt strongly about something.
No Water
The main reason why we haven't had water is because a water pipe broke and the men here are trying to fix it. Today I took my first shower in four days! It was glorious.
A Igresia (Church)
The picture here is of me right in front of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints in Beira Mozambique. I took it a couple of days ago. Today I wore my church clothes and went to church. I have been to church in many different places, but this was by far the most humbling version of our church. Surprisingly, I understood a lot of what was said. It was amazing to hear the sacrament being blessed in Portuguese by the men. They were all wearing white shirts and I knew that must have been hard for them to do. White shirts aren't too common around here. The sacrament was great. Bread and water are commodities here. Sacrament was about families and marriage. It's funny to me how just a week ago I was speaking at church on the Light of Christ in my affluent Belmont ward and now I was sitting in a congregation where I could hardly understand the lesson with spiders on the walls! Crazy how life is. After sacrament we took a little break and then came back into the room to have Sunday School which was more like Gospel Doctrine since many people are not baptized yet and are learning the doctrine of the church. One thing I noticed is that people sang hard and were not shy or ashamed to read out loud and participate. I really liked that. After Sunday School we had Relief Society. The lesson was about sharing our riches and our talents. I thought that it was crazy how these women were being taught to share when they really had almost nothing themselves. We sang "As Sisters in Zion" in Portuguese. I will NEVER forget it. Ruthie, I sat there singing "As Sisters in Zion" and I remembered how you had me memorize it. I truly felt like a sister sitting there with all the Mozambican women. They were beautiful carrying their babies on their backs and listening to the lesson. After the lesson, they were given their visiting teaching assignments on a piece of paper (they were handwritten) and many women were not there to receive theirs. It was so humbling to be there and to see how faithful these women are with how little they have. I love church. Primary was beautiful to watch. The children all sat on the floor and sang. I loved it!!
Friday, May 9, 2008
Bom Dia
The children are beautiful. This is when we were leaving the village. The little girl there, she said her name is Maya. She was so beautiful and kept on giving us high fives. Even the older men and women came up to us and said "bom dia" (good day).
As Crianças
So I was sitting with a couple kids. I started taking their pictures and then I would show it to them on the digital camera. I don't think they had ever seen a camera before because they loved it! They laughed when they would see themselves on the screen. Then I started putting my sunglasses and my shoes on them. They laughed. Their little bare feet were rough and sometimes they had cuts on their legs or feet. It broke my heart. Maybe next time I will bring some lotion with me to the village. They kept on starring at me like they had never seen someone like me before. It was great. I loved the kids. I thought it was so great how the technology immediately drew them to me. Later, after this picture was taken many more came and sat there with us. By the time it was time to go I was surrounded by kids. It was awesome!!! I even got to hold a little baby. Later on in the day we witnessed un teatro. The villagers had a little play out in the open and it was funny. I didn't really understand it because some of it was in Portuguese, but most was in their native African dialect. It was great to be there. I am learning lots of Portuguese.
Airplane View
Airplane view of Mozambique. It is really green here. Not too much civilization as you can see. The airplane view down on Johannesburg was a lot more brown.
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