I want to write a blog entry about all the flooding in Gaza but now that I am sitting down and trying to write, it is proving to be incredibly difficult.
The overall situation is that last Tuesday night (after weeks of rain) the Limpopo River, which is just 1k from my house flooded. The water was really high and the river was humongous, it looked so swollen and enlarged by this point just from all of the rain BUT the rain in Mozamnbique is not what actually caused the flooding. It has also been raining a lot in South Africa and Zimbabwe and basically there are two main dams that were so full of rainwater they could burst, in order to prevent that, the government opened the dams to flood the rivers and because the dams are so close to Chokwe, that was the first town to get hit. The water in Chokwe was up to the roof level of many houses, and because the flooding happened so quickly many people did not get out of town in time and were thus stranded on their roofs or in trees. People that did get to flee set up camps about 20-30k outside of the city and are now living under tents but the camps are short of supplies and cannot accommodate everyone. The flooding in my town has apparently gone down (it was also at roof level) but I just read a news article, which stated that the bridge to get into my down was destroyed, and my village is currently only accessible by boat. The people living in Guija have been without food or clean water since last Wednesday and as a result have resorted to eating dead livestock, bugs, basically anything you can find and drinking dirty water…which of course could lead to the spread of diseases, such as cholera.
Overall around 40 people have died, and over 100,000 people have been displaced. Because the water level was so high, many people lost family members during the flooding and have not been able to get in contact with them. There are crocodiles and other dangerous animals that live in the Limpopo, and have killed people in the past, with the water levels so high, they just add to craziness that I am sure has now ensued in many areas affected by the flooding.
Last Tuesday my sitemate, Elisabetta, sent me a text saying that the Limpopo River was really high and she was afraid it might flood that night. We had already planned to go to Macia, the next closest town, the following day but she thought leaving the next day would be too late, so even though it was already getting dark out (and therefore not too safe to travel) we agreed to pack quickly and try and get out. I threw a change of clothes, my macbook, camera and a toothbrush into my backpack and also grabbed some food for amendoim and we left. I got quite a few funny looks from people while walking to meet Elistabetta; people did not understand why were leaving, it wasn’t even raining. I did not take many precautions for potential flooding because I had no idea how bad it could be and frankly I did not have time. So Elisabetta and I were able to get a bolea out of town (which was perfect because I had Amendoim) and once we got to Chokwe we caught a chappa to take to Macia. When we left Macia I was shocked to see so many people out and about; everyone was trying to leave that night. The lines to get into the gas station wrapped around street corners and people were running around the streets with bags of their belongings. It was around this time that I got a little nervous about the threat of flooding. Like I said I had absolutely no idea and could never have imagined that the water would get so high.
On our chapa to Macia, Elisabetta and I sat upfront and Amendoim sat on my lap. He wasn’t too excited about the chapa ride though and he kept trying to move around and jump at the window, finally after about 45 minutes he sat on my lap, put his head on my shoulder, and sat perfectly still the rest of the way. We got to Macia late that night and stayed at another PCVs house. The next day I decided to try and go to Chissano where another one of my friends lives. There were already 6 of us staying in the house in Macia and I knew more volunteers were likely to show up as the floodwater moved to other towns. After waiting for 3 ½ hours on the side of the road I was able to catch a huge open-back truck bolea to Chissano. The bolea was awesome and I was so happy to get Amendoim somewhere safe. If I had left him in Guija he would have died, there’s no doubt about it.
I stayed in Chissano with a friend for a night and the following day Peace Corps told us we were going to be evacuated to Maputo. It was predicted that another town, Xai Xai would flood, and if this happened PCVs would be stranded at their sites, safe from the water but unable to move north or south. Many people living in villages between Xai Xai and Chokwe (the two towns that were flooded) get food, and produce from those towns, or need to go into those towns to use the bank or buy phone credit..etc So PC decided that in order to ensure we were all safe it would be best for us to be in Maputo together and close to staff. This meant I had to say bye to Amendoim (I am paying someone to take care of him while I’m in Maputo so hopefully that is going alright) and since last Thursday I have just been staying at a hotel in Maputo with a ton of other volunteers.
Being in Maputo is really weird. I feel like I am on vacation because I am staying at a place with running water and electricity and I am getting an allowance while I’m here to pay for things like food, bottled water…etc. A lot of other volunteers are in Maputo right now too and this has been a great distraction from the events back at site. I can’t help but feel incredibly guilty that I was able to be picked up and dropped off to in a big city with so many amenities while many other people from my village are either stranded in Guija or trying to get by in an overcrowded tent camp. I also feel terrible because I can’t stop thinking about all my stuff that had to have been destroyed at site. I’ve gotten over the shock that all of my clothes and shoes and things like spices, decent pots and pans and cooking knifes, and even stuff like good hair products and tampons are all likely to be destroyed. My electronics chargers, my iphone, my other phone sim cards, and all of my books are surely ruined from the water damage but the things that make me most upset are the things that I can’t replace even when I go back to America. Things like my journal, photos and letters from people back at home, my baseball gloves, my running sneakers and my teddy bear---I left all of those at my house and I don’t know how they could be salvaged BUT I still have some hope that not everything is gone.
I go back and forth between feeling incredibly guilty for being upset about all these material objects because at the end of the day they are just things but when you come to the Peace Corps you don’t bring much. Two overstuffed bags and whatever you start to collect in country are all of your belongings so to have them destroyed so quickly is just shocking. Even worse I can’t stop thinking about my village and everyone living in the Chokwe district. I have never witnessed a natural disaster first hand before and it is so scary. These people that were affected the most, the ones stranded on roofs or in trees, no one cares about them. Maybe you read a news article and feel bad for them, maybe someone feels so guilty they donate money to an NGO but at the end of the day there is no way all of these people can be compensated. Aside from losing their homes, having their land destroyed (the majority of people here rely on agriculture to make a living) and being torn apart from family, I am sure that not much will be done to really help them, it would be impossible. I can only hope that after the waters recede that the government is able to do something to help people get back on their feet. Their livelihoods have been completely destroyed and because they live in more rural areas no one sees it, no one has to see it. When food prices increase over the next few months, and there are shortages of products it will become more noticeable how much the province was hurt by the flooding but until then this just another news story about some crazy catastrophe that happened in Africa. You have to dig to find the news on it and that is just so incredibly frustrating.
To end on a more positive note, thank you every one who has gone out of their way to send an email or a message. I really am doing fine. It is nice to be in Maputo right now with friends, and I’ve gotten to eat some really great food :) I have come to terms with the fact that I have probably lost everything from the flooding but I know I am very lucky that I was able to get out safely. I might even be moved to a new site and although that will have plenty of challenges it could also be really exciting. I promise to keep you all updated with news over the next couple of days as I learn more about the actual damage in Guija and how it will affect my Peace Corps service.
Thanks again everyone for thinking of me and for reading this. If anyone is interested I am including a few links to articles about the flooding:
Al Jazeera: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/01/20131268208905951.html
http://www.aljazeera.com/video/africa/2013/01/201312622523811225.html (video)
BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21206347
African Sources: http://allafrica.com/stories/201301260402.html
http://allafrica.com/stories/201301250264.html
Monday, January 28, 2013
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
MANGOS.
I feel inclined to write a post about mangos because they are now a very large part of my life.
I eat 6 to 10 mangos a day, not even kidding. They are small though, and stringy, so when you cut up 3 or 4 its maybe how much fruit you’d get from a large mango back in the states. Mangos were already one of my favorite foods to eat back at home, I’d splurge and buy them when they were on special at Whole Foods; 10 mangos for $10, so good! Well here they grow on trees right in my back yard and its awesome! So far I have made mango chutney, mango salsa, mango curry…and I eat mangos for breakfast, for snack and after dinner as dessert. There are always plenty of mangos to go around. The kids that live around my house come by everyday to raid the mango trees of their ripest fruits…everyone here loves mangos. Today while I was running I met a guy who was walking into town with a basket of mangos on his head, he tried to give me a bunch but I just took two and explained I didn’t want to carry them. He smiled and said okay but then I felt dumb…because he had to carry them all too.
The end.
Tomorrow I start work! Well kind of, I am meeting with the other English teacher at the school so we can coordinate or schedule and start planning the curriculum. So far I know that I will be teaching 11th grade, and then next year I will teach 12th grade, this way I can work with the same group of students both years, COOL. Hopefully there won’t be too many troublemakers because I’ll be stuck with them for 2 years :)
I eat 6 to 10 mangos a day, not even kidding. They are small though, and stringy, so when you cut up 3 or 4 its maybe how much fruit you’d get from a large mango back in the states. Mangos were already one of my favorite foods to eat back at home, I’d splurge and buy them when they were on special at Whole Foods; 10 mangos for $10, so good! Well here they grow on trees right in my back yard and its awesome! So far I have made mango chutney, mango salsa, mango curry…and I eat mangos for breakfast, for snack and after dinner as dessert. There are always plenty of mangos to go around. The kids that live around my house come by everyday to raid the mango trees of their ripest fruits…everyone here loves mangos. Today while I was running I met a guy who was walking into town with a basket of mangos on his head, he tried to give me a bunch but I just took two and explained I didn’t want to carry them. He smiled and said okay but then I felt dumb…because he had to carry them all too.
The end.
Tomorrow I start work! Well kind of, I am meeting with the other English teacher at the school so we can coordinate or schedule and start planning the curriculum. So far I know that I will be teaching 11th grade, and then next year I will teach 12th grade, this way I can work with the same group of students both years, COOL. Hopefully there won’t be too many troublemakers because I’ll be stuck with them for 2 years :)
Sunday, January 6, 2013
The Holidays in Mozambique + A Big Snake.
You know you are in the Peace Corps when it’s 7:30 PM on a weekend night and you are eating dinner alone, by candlelight, and that after dinner you will probably take a cold bucket bath, read a little or watch a TV show and then be in bed by 9. I guess I’m not techinally alone because Amendoim is sitting right beneath my chair but still, all this alone time is nice but it does take some getting used to.
Today was pretty eventful, I woke up around 7 (that is LATE!) and while eating some bread on my front porch a visitor stopped by to come chat, his name was Junior and he was definitely drunk. He used to be a teacher and knew some of the previous PCVs in Guija, and he spoke great English so I chatted with him a little but then told him I was busy. He promised to come back later in the day so we could talk. Shortly after he left a kid ran into my yard and said ‘consensa mana, consensa…cobra!” I didn’t really understand what he was actually saying but I caught the word cobra and got nervous, he was afraid to come in my yard because of my dog so I put amendoim inside and then walked out to meet him and asked him if there was a snake, he said yes, and I asked where, he said the trees…well my yard has a lot of trees.
So I got my neighbors to come help and sure enough we spotted the snake that had scared this boy and it was HUGE. Not only was it a big guy, 4 or 5 feet he was also fat and everyone was terrified of him. By now there was a nice-sized crowd gathered in my yard staring at the snake. I started to feel uncomfortable standing outside in my running shorts (totally inappropriate) because lots of people were all dressed up as they were coming from church. Aside from feeling awkward I was anxious to prove to my neighbors that I was not scared of the cobra and asked if I could kill it by throwing a large rock at it, one of my neighbors nodded. I walked closer to my house to try and find the perfect rock but then two men came running, literally out of nowhere, and they each had very large sticks…one of them ran right over to the snake, yelled and them BAM slammed the stick down and ended that black cobra’s sad little life. Everyone gasped a little and the guy continued to whack the snake to make sure he was good and dead. Then he picked up to now-dead snake to show everyone and threw it onto a pile of dead weeds. Problem solved, everyone went home, but not before telling me that I needed to cut my front hedges and weed around them.
I already knew I needed to weed these hedges and I actually paid someone to come clean my entire yard last week but there was a clear language barrier (the woman I hired didn’t speak any Portuguese) so somehow my attempt to ask her to trim my hedges and weed under them got lost in the crazy sign language/having another neighbor translate all of my requests into Changana for her. So I was a little reluctant to have to start this large project because I felt like someone else should have done it for me…but yea I didn’t want any more cobras so I got out my wheel barrow, broom and machete and got to work. I did a good hour or so of weeding (the machete was too dull/I am not strong enough to use it to cut hudges) and then the kids that live next door showed up. They didn’t even ask if I needed help they just started raking weeds, picking up branches and the oldest one started whacking away at my hedges.
I was shocked, I kept trying to talk to them in Portuguese and they just smiled but were pretty quiet…I kept thinking that tonight, when I was done, I’d go inside and make them some delicious cookies as a thank you and I could also give them a little money for all their hard work. When we were about halfway through all the work one of the kids asked me if I was going to pay them, I hate talking about money here, especially with kids, because EVERYONE thinks that because I am white (and therefore either American or South African) I must be rich. I was planning on paying the kids for helping but it did sour my mood a little that they just expected it. I told them yes, but also said they had to help me finish and then I would pay them tomorrow. They smiled and got back to work. By the end of the day they had helped me chop away almost all of my front hedge, which was awesome; now it doesn’t exactly look aesthetically pleasing but I could rake out all the dead leaves and weed easily, and it’s a hedge so it will grow back a lot nicer. I am a little bummed because the hedge offered a great buffer between the school and my house and gave me some privacy and now it is completely gone but I’ll take a lack of privacy instead of cobras any day. It was also fun to work outside all day with my neighbors, even if they were motivated by money.
Throughout the day, random neighbors would pass by and say how great it was that I was cleaning my yard. I thought my yard looked good before but people here like things different I guess and now that my front hedge is lower and looks all choppy and weird it apparently looks better. I also learned this week that I HAVE to sweep my yard everyday or my neighbors will really not like me. My front yard is dirt but Mozambicans sweep their front yards, I think its so strange…sweeping dirt? But its okay its brownie points at this point and need to do these little things to be accepted in my community.
Also random fact, by the end of the day I noticed the dead snake was gone and I’m 99% certain someone took it to use for traditional medicine, COOL.
Oh and at around 5 PM Junior came back to visit. He apologized for being drunk this morning and said he wanted to talk. We ended up sitting on my front porch talking for a while IN ENGLISH WAHOOO about Mozambique, America and South Africa. Junior used to teach at the school where I will be working so we talked about teaching and he asked me all about my experience with PC so far. Apparently he was friends with previous volunteers so he knew a lot about the organization. It was so nice to have a real conversation with someone about things in Africa but to be able to speak in English. Guess I have a new friend.
-----
On a lighter note I will say that Christmas here was so much fun! It was really really hot though, I thought everyone’s sites were hot in Gaza and then my friends came here and told me my site was the hottest. We woke up pretty early each day because it was so hot you couldn’t sleep and slowly everyone would move outside to lay on my straw mats under the big tree in my front yard and just pray for a breeze. Between the hours of 9AM and 4PM it was literally too hot to move, unless you were moving to go get an iced cold refresco (soda). Heat aside it was fun to have people around, we told stories, played cards, wandered around town and made some delicious food. On Christmas we even managed to make a traditional meal with green beans, mashed potatos, chicken (I bought it frozen we weren’t going to kill any chickens at my house) and sweet potatoes. We even had no bake cookies for dessert, wahoo! Overall it was just a great couple of days spent with some friends.
So aside from Christmas things have been pretty slow here. I’ve been doing a lot of work around the house and outside because I am trying to get all these little projects done before school starts, which I am so excited for! These last few weeks have been great, I’ve gotten to relax a ton at my house, I’ve read a couple books, made some good food and overall felt like I was on some weird vacation. I also got to travel a little and visit friends BUT I am ready to start my job and to really start teaching. I am also so anxious to meet people at my school, so hopefully next time I write it wil be about that!
I hope you all had a very merry Christmas/happy holidays and a really fun new years, here’s to 2013 [hopefully] being a year full of lots of adventure and lots of learning and reflection, can’t wait!
Until the next time!
Oh and I should add my new years resolution was to be fluent in Portuguese by next years New Years, think I can do it?
Today was pretty eventful, I woke up around 7 (that is LATE!) and while eating some bread on my front porch a visitor stopped by to come chat, his name was Junior and he was definitely drunk. He used to be a teacher and knew some of the previous PCVs in Guija, and he spoke great English so I chatted with him a little but then told him I was busy. He promised to come back later in the day so we could talk. Shortly after he left a kid ran into my yard and said ‘consensa mana, consensa…cobra!” I didn’t really understand what he was actually saying but I caught the word cobra and got nervous, he was afraid to come in my yard because of my dog so I put amendoim inside and then walked out to meet him and asked him if there was a snake, he said yes, and I asked where, he said the trees…well my yard has a lot of trees.
So I got my neighbors to come help and sure enough we spotted the snake that had scared this boy and it was HUGE. Not only was it a big guy, 4 or 5 feet he was also fat and everyone was terrified of him. By now there was a nice-sized crowd gathered in my yard staring at the snake. I started to feel uncomfortable standing outside in my running shorts (totally inappropriate) because lots of people were all dressed up as they were coming from church. Aside from feeling awkward I was anxious to prove to my neighbors that I was not scared of the cobra and asked if I could kill it by throwing a large rock at it, one of my neighbors nodded. I walked closer to my house to try and find the perfect rock but then two men came running, literally out of nowhere, and they each had very large sticks…one of them ran right over to the snake, yelled and them BAM slammed the stick down and ended that black cobra’s sad little life. Everyone gasped a little and the guy continued to whack the snake to make sure he was good and dead. Then he picked up to now-dead snake to show everyone and threw it onto a pile of dead weeds. Problem solved, everyone went home, but not before telling me that I needed to cut my front hedges and weed around them.
I already knew I needed to weed these hedges and I actually paid someone to come clean my entire yard last week but there was a clear language barrier (the woman I hired didn’t speak any Portuguese) so somehow my attempt to ask her to trim my hedges and weed under them got lost in the crazy sign language/having another neighbor translate all of my requests into Changana for her. So I was a little reluctant to have to start this large project because I felt like someone else should have done it for me…but yea I didn’t want any more cobras so I got out my wheel barrow, broom and machete and got to work. I did a good hour or so of weeding (the machete was too dull/I am not strong enough to use it to cut hudges) and then the kids that live next door showed up. They didn’t even ask if I needed help they just started raking weeds, picking up branches and the oldest one started whacking away at my hedges.
I was shocked, I kept trying to talk to them in Portuguese and they just smiled but were pretty quiet…I kept thinking that tonight, when I was done, I’d go inside and make them some delicious cookies as a thank you and I could also give them a little money for all their hard work. When we were about halfway through all the work one of the kids asked me if I was going to pay them, I hate talking about money here, especially with kids, because EVERYONE thinks that because I am white (and therefore either American or South African) I must be rich. I was planning on paying the kids for helping but it did sour my mood a little that they just expected it. I told them yes, but also said they had to help me finish and then I would pay them tomorrow. They smiled and got back to work. By the end of the day they had helped me chop away almost all of my front hedge, which was awesome; now it doesn’t exactly look aesthetically pleasing but I could rake out all the dead leaves and weed easily, and it’s a hedge so it will grow back a lot nicer. I am a little bummed because the hedge offered a great buffer between the school and my house and gave me some privacy and now it is completely gone but I’ll take a lack of privacy instead of cobras any day. It was also fun to work outside all day with my neighbors, even if they were motivated by money.
Throughout the day, random neighbors would pass by and say how great it was that I was cleaning my yard. I thought my yard looked good before but people here like things different I guess and now that my front hedge is lower and looks all choppy and weird it apparently looks better. I also learned this week that I HAVE to sweep my yard everyday or my neighbors will really not like me. My front yard is dirt but Mozambicans sweep their front yards, I think its so strange…sweeping dirt? But its okay its brownie points at this point and need to do these little things to be accepted in my community.
Also random fact, by the end of the day I noticed the dead snake was gone and I’m 99% certain someone took it to use for traditional medicine, COOL.
Oh and at around 5 PM Junior came back to visit. He apologized for being drunk this morning and said he wanted to talk. We ended up sitting on my front porch talking for a while IN ENGLISH WAHOOO about Mozambique, America and South Africa. Junior used to teach at the school where I will be working so we talked about teaching and he asked me all about my experience with PC so far. Apparently he was friends with previous volunteers so he knew a lot about the organization. It was so nice to have a real conversation with someone about things in Africa but to be able to speak in English. Guess I have a new friend.
-----
On a lighter note I will say that Christmas here was so much fun! It was really really hot though, I thought everyone’s sites were hot in Gaza and then my friends came here and told me my site was the hottest. We woke up pretty early each day because it was so hot you couldn’t sleep and slowly everyone would move outside to lay on my straw mats under the big tree in my front yard and just pray for a breeze. Between the hours of 9AM and 4PM it was literally too hot to move, unless you were moving to go get an iced cold refresco (soda). Heat aside it was fun to have people around, we told stories, played cards, wandered around town and made some delicious food. On Christmas we even managed to make a traditional meal with green beans, mashed potatos, chicken (I bought it frozen we weren’t going to kill any chickens at my house) and sweet potatoes. We even had no bake cookies for dessert, wahoo! Overall it was just a great couple of days spent with some friends.
So aside from Christmas things have been pretty slow here. I’ve been doing a lot of work around the house and outside because I am trying to get all these little projects done before school starts, which I am so excited for! These last few weeks have been great, I’ve gotten to relax a ton at my house, I’ve read a couple books, made some good food and overall felt like I was on some weird vacation. I also got to travel a little and visit friends BUT I am ready to start my job and to really start teaching. I am also so anxious to meet people at my school, so hopefully next time I write it wil be about that!
I hope you all had a very merry Christmas/happy holidays and a really fun new years, here’s to 2013 [hopefully] being a year full of lots of adventure and lots of learning and reflection, can’t wait!
Until the next time!
Oh and I should add my new years resolution was to be fluent in Portuguese by next years New Years, think I can do it?
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