Better Late Than Never.

Well this post is about two months overdue but I figured it’s better late than never.

I kept my return date to America a secret because I wanted to surprise my family.  They thought I’d be home “for Christmas” so I figured I'd try and be home for Thanksgiving instead and surprise them and the plan worked wonderfully. I will tell you all about it below, but first I want to share my last week or so in Mozambqiue.

My last week at site is actually a blur.  I was still teaching but had planned for my students to give presentations instead of taking tests (much less grading and a lot more fun).  My students had to either memorize and present a poem or sing a song in English.  I was so impressed with the final results; the majority of my students actually prepared and some of them went all out, making up dances and singing  with harmony/melody, they love music and theater so this was a great way for everyone to end the school year with a good grade as long as they actually tried.  I tried to upload a video here of some students singing Thriller but the file was too large, here is the link to see it on my facebook page:

Turma B's Thriller Performance 

When I wasn’t teaching I was visiting friends.  I spent a lot of time with my friend Bea, who had a baby just a few days before I left.  In her culture, when a woman has a baby the baby cannot leave the house for 30 days and the woman and baby are only allowed to be visited by other woman.  I spent my last few days sitting on Bea’s couch, holding the youngest baby I’ve every cradled and just telling stories and making promises to keep in touch with both her and Sophia.

In Mozambique it’s very important to have a despadida, going away party, when you leave.  Even if you are only leaving for a few months or a year, you should throw a going away party.  Well I didn’t want to have a big party because I didn’t think it would look good if, after telling everyone I was a volunteer and didn’t receive a salary, I spent a lot of money on a party.  Additionally, I thought it would be awkward for Thelma because then people would expect her to throw a big party. I also just hate attention.  All of this fell on the deaf ears of my colleagues who pulled some money together and approached me to see how we could organize something.  I went out and bought all the food (and of course some was donated) and my colleagues paid for drinks, and negotiated for us to have the party at a bar in town so that it wouldn’t be at my house and therefore at school. 

The party would be on Friday and then I’d have Saturday to pack and really say goodbye to my best friends and Sunday I’d leave for the airport early in the morning.  On Friday morning a number of women from school came to my house with pots and pans and charcoal and knives and I got out all the food and they set up a kitchen in my front yard.  They cooked for hours and I tried to help but anytime I so much as picked up a knife they told me to relax.  Apparently I wasn’t allowed to help out with my party so instead I was forced to go to school to "despadir" (officially say goodbye) to everyone.

That day, I stood in from of all the morning class students (who I didn’t teach but tutored in English Theatre and sometimes co-taught with Simao or Derreck).  After I gave a little speech that went something like: I arrived two years ago and you welcomed me with open arms.  You were patient with my Portuguese and you didn’t laugh when I made mistakes.  You let me teach you and in turn you taught me about your culture and your town and your country.  Thank you for your friendship and please continue to go to school and keep trying to learn English. Then, My boss, an assistant principal at the school, started giving a little speech about me.  He reminded the students that I lived more than 24 hours away by PLANE and that I had not been home in more than two years and he shocked them by reminded them that I never received a salary, I was just there to help.  There were some gasps and then everyone started clapping and then before I knew it, some of the students I tutored and some of the kids who were involved in English club walked out of the crowd and presented me with certificates.  There was one student to represent each grade (9, 10, 11 and 12). They each gave speeches thanking me, in English and Portuguese, and then shook my hand and kissed me on the cheek. I was crying it was so embarrassing  (Mozambicans rarely cry in public) but also very thoughtful, I brought my certificates home and will eventually frame them.  

In the afternoon I refused to go to school to say goodbye to all the afternoon students (I had already said bye to each of my classes and didn’t want to cry in front of my own students again) so I hid at home and tried to help with party preparations.  Some of my students came over and surprised me by singing a Beatles song as a way of thanking me and saying goodbye.  Thelma had told them that I love the Beatles and had been secretly practicing with them and they did great.  I also cried while they sang this because I was so proud of them and couldn’t believe they were singing a Beatles song.  Some of the kids singing are good at English but others are very shy and didn't speak all year, yet they had learned the song and were proudly singing it for me... Here’s a short little clip of their song it sounds odd without instruments but it was great:

The girl who is proudly singing in front is Graca, our water girl who is a student at school that we sort of adopted and take care of.  She's incredible, Thelma and I are trying to get her on a scholarship to study in South Africa next year.

All in all, as you can probably tell it was very difficult to say goodbye to my students. I’ve kept in touch with some of them but the majority of them don’t even have cell phones.  I had a lot of “favorite” students but I don’t know how many of them will go to college, and even if they do I don’t know how many of them will get real jobs.  I can only hope that those kids who made my day every time I walked into the classroom don’t lose focus, and that all their hard work really does pay off in the end.

Turma D: I taught most of these kids both years and although they were my youngest and most immature class they were a lot of fun and always made me laugh.

Turma B: My best class by far.  All but one female student passed at the end of the year and the males did almost as good. I knew almost everyone's name and LOVED teaching them.  They were so much fun and made showing up at school, even on rainy days or hot days or days when I was sick, completely worth it.

Turma A: I taught a number of these students both years and although they were loud and difficult to control at times there were some real gems, like Neto and Manual who joined my JUNTOS group and worked harder than another other student I taught in my two years. 

Neto and Manual.  The nicest, most responsible and hard-working students. Also, easily the best note-takers.  I have no doubt that they will be doctors, engineers or teachers one day.

Turma E: My "I think I can, I think I can" Turma. I read them a losely translated version of The Little Engine That Could and then told them that the story was their class. They showed up last January and were so far behind and most of them shouldn't have passed but somehow, they all decided to actually write notes and study and they made so much progress, they were all doing extra credit assignments and begging to come read English books at my house by the end of the year.  

*I did teach one other Turma but they were so terrible I didn't say goodbye to them or take their picture...unfortunately they can't all be great classes.

School aside- the ladies at my house cooked up a feast and by the time the sun was setting I was ready to go have a fun night with my colleagues.  At the bar we set up all the food, and most of my colleagues came with their spouses and children.  I invited some friends to come, like Labson and my neighbors, and left a big plate of food aside for Charles, my neighbor’s house boy who cooked all the meat!  People gave speeches, I cried some more.  My bosses thanked me for my service and asked me never to forget Vanduzi and they presented me with some very thoughtful presents.  Then we ate and drank and danced until it was really late and I finally went home very happy and sad all at the same time.  I had a great time with my friends but couldn’t believe everything was really ending.

Myself with the two Asst. Principals at school presenting me with a woodcarving of Mozambique, for my desk at my next job so that I can show everyone where I lived.

So much food and it was all delicouse and cooked in proper Mozambican style.

My neighbor Massango posing with the book he made me and had every teacher sign so I could go home with my own little yearbook. 

Some of my colleagues.

All the wonderful women who cooked the food!

On Saturday I cleaned my house, walked to my school director’s house to say goodbye to his wife and then just hungout on my porch all day with Amendoim.  At night I walked to Bea and Sofia’s and sat on their porch, gave presents to their kids and watched them cook up a feast for my final night.  It seemed fitting that I stayed in Vanduzi my last night and ate dinner with the two women who were waiting for me when I first arrived in that wonderful town two years ago.  They welcomed me into their lives, literally took care of me, and became my closest friends.

Gael, Eva and Panoshe...my favorite criancas and constant companions.

Dinner at Bea and Sofia's.

On Sunday I woke up very early and found Labson waiting outside my house.  He knew I was leaving early and he didn’t want to miss saying goodbye.  He waited patiently while I got my stuff together to leave and then he, Homisio, Mario, and Charles (all boys that lived around me and constantly watched my house and Amendoim) came over and we drank juice and shared bread and waited for my ride to come.  I was grateful they were there to see me off but it was also so strange to be sitting with them like everything was normal and we were just eating breakfast together like we usually would on a weekend.  Amendoim sat on my feet the whole time as I scratched his head and rubbed his back and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  But when the car pulled up, the tears started streaming again and I gave everyone hugs, ran to Bea and Sofia’s to say goodbye to them and then gave Amendoim one last big hug before climbing in the car.  I remember closing my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see Amendoim make his “you’re leaving me face” or see the rest of my friends looking sad.  The car drove away and I sat in shock that I was actually leaving and that this wonderful little village was no longer my home.

Amendoim got to sleep on my bed my last night at site. What a lucky guy.

Labson, Charles, Mario and Homisio.  My neighbors, my Mozambican brothers and likely the reason why no one ever broke into my house or did anything to harm Amendoim.  These guys took such good care of me and Thelma and really watched out for us.

I flew to Maputo for the week and that was even more of a blur.  I had interviews with staff, did some medical tests and attempted to apply for jobs.  I stayed at Mindy’s house with Ari and that was nice because we could cook and tell stories at the end of each day and I was happy to be in the company of good friends at a place I was familiar with, instead of at a hotel.  I was the first volunteer from my group to officially receive my “R” and finish my service, and after I was done, I took a trip to Namaacha to see my host family off one last time.  My host mom made matapa, I surprised her with wine, myself, Cleiton and Yusara made cake and we had a little party.  I gave my host mom a capulana and she also surprised me with a capulana and asked me to give it to my mom.  It was a really fun visit. After a weekend in Namaacha, I got in a chapa and went back to Maputo to meet my best friends from my Peace Corps group for one more night together before I flew out of the country. 

The neighborhood kids playing with the frisbee I brought them.

Making cookies to surprise their mother with.

When Graca said goodbye to me she thanked me for being her "daughter, sister, and her friend" Last time I called her she said she was setting up a facebook account and Cleitnon was teaching her how to use her new smartphone so we could keep in touch :)

Ari, Rich, Victor and I were all friends throughout training and have spent the last year traveling together on our breaks.  It seemed fitting that I spent my last night in Mozambique at the fish market with them, eating a feast, and then sharing a bottle of wine in their hotel room.  The next day I woke up, packed, got on a plane and left.  I kept thinking I would cry and be so sad, but honestly after leaving Vanduzi there were no more tears left.  Everyone I said goodbye in Maputo I knew I’d see again, and I’m sure I’ll even return to Mozambique one day and I’ll be in Maputo (and could easily visit my host family) but the life I lived as a volunteer in Vanduzi, well that was something special.

Group Shot at the fish market with our waiter who loved Ari's bartering skills...

From Maputo I flew to Addis Ababa and spent a week with a good friend from college, Erin, who was also working with the Peace Corps but in Ethiopia.  Erin and I had so much fun catching up, exploring Addis together (going to museums, shopping, eating pizza, being tourists and making new friends).  We also took a short trip to Harar, which is the 4^th holiest city I the world and it was beautiful.  We had one fun night out in the capital too and it was great to meet Erin’s friends and see how her PC life compared to mine. 

FINALLY DRINKING REAL COFFEE. 

So on my first day wandering the city I asked Erin if we could go to a coffee ceremony and she said she didn't know anyone in the city we could go with.  A woman walking behind us overheard this and invited us to her house...well on a whim we decided to take her up in this invitation.  She fed us lunch and roasted us fresh coffee and we made a new friend.  Her name was Mercy and she was so sweet, Erin still visits her often in Addis.  Proof that you can really make friends with anyone, including a complete stranger you meet on the street.

Feeding a hyena in Harar.

We stayed at a traditional guesthouse in Harar and it was beautiful.

From Ethiopia I flew to Cairo where I met 3 of my very best friends for a week.  Sara and Nadia, both roommates from DC were now living in Cairo, and Farley, another roommate from DC was visiting them.  Farley and I spent our days being tourists (going to museums, seeing the pyramids, exploring mosques and bazaars and visiting Alexandria) and then met up with Sara and Nadia each day after work to drink tea and smoke hookah, see live music, or ride a faluka and have a fun night out. 

Swimming in the Red Sea.

Typical way to end an evening: in a cafe with hookah and sweet tea.

We tried to walk like Egyptians...

The Al-Hakim Mosque. 

Another great thing happened in Cairo, I was able to stop taking my malaria medicine for the first time in two years and I turned into a different, much happier person.  I got pretty sick in July and took medicine but my symptoms never went away and I was miserable.  Everything I ate hurt my stomach, I couldn’t workout, I didn’t drink and I had no appetite.  Well turns out, my malaria meds were making me sick and when I stopped taking them it was like night and day.  Aside from no longer having stomach problems I was happier, less anxious and had more energy.  The girls noticed right away too that something was different about me and everyone was happy I could really enjoy my last few days in Egypt and seemed like my old self again!

Best friends regardless of where in the world we're living.

The week in Cairo was so much fun but went by too quickly and by the end of it I did not even want to leave.  Cairo is an incredible city with a rich history, beautiful beautiful architecture, delicious food and a very warm culture.  Going to tourist places and not speaking Arabic was frustrating and I hated being ripped off because I was clearly a foreigner but if you know anyone in Egypt, visit them! Or if you’re feeling adventurous and can afford a tour guide then you should go because it was such an amazing country.  After a week of fun in Egypt I finally boarded a plan and landed in NYC 16 hours later.  I met my sister and best friend Keri in the airport and we drove home and surprised my family and boy were they surprised. Needless to say we had a great Thanksgiving.

Since returning home I’ve spent a lot of time with my family and am of course applying for jobs.  I am hoping to start a career in human rights work, preferably focused in the rights of refugees and people living in conflict areas.  I know one day I'll return to Africa but for now, I want a career back home.

Amizade

Amizade, friendship in Portuguese.

Throughout my Peace Corps service, whether it be when talking to people in the community, colleagues at work or just random people who gave me rides when I hitch-hiked, I was constantly asked..."You spend two years away from home, don't you miss your family?" And although my answer was always yes, that I do indeed miss my friends and family back home every single day, that I have also been so fortunate to make great friends here.  My neighbors and colleagues constantly remind me that I am never actually alone and that I now have two families, one in America and one here in Mozambique.  So I wanted to take the time to introduce you all to the people who have taken care of me, and made my time in Mozambique so enjoyable.  Here is my Mozambican and Peace Corps family:

My host family who I lived with during Pre-Service Training.  My host mom, Graca, is an incredibly strong, independent and also warm and welcoming woman.  Although my Portuguese was terrible and she probably thought I was such a weirdo for not eating meat, she loved me all the same and took such great care of me my first 3 months of training.  And, although I don't keep in touch with her much, whenever I am planning to travel to the southern part of the country, I always include a visit to see her and her children and she ALWAYS welcomes me with open arms...and a fresh plate of matapa :)

Elisabetta! So, Elisabetta was my sitemate in Guija but we really only shared a town for a week before the floods happened, and aside from spending a month in Maputo together while awaiting new site placements, we spent the next 2 years hundreds of kilometres apart but Elisabetta became my big sister and best friend here, she inspired me to try my absolute best to create sustainable projects in my community and to integrate and make friends in Vanduzi.  Even though she's a west-coaster I know we will continue to stay great friends once we are both back in the states together.

Bea and Sofia.  When I first arrived in Vanduzi these two were sitting at my house waiting to greet me, I'm sure my director asked them to be there to welcome me because they both speak English and were to become my neighbors but after that first day at site they became my constant family in Vanduzi.  My first year at site I ate meals with them at least once a week and if I went more than two days without stopping by to visit them and chat they came to my  house to make sure I wasn't sick or missing home.  These women were easily the nicest, most hard-working, and hospitable people I met and I am so grateful for their friendship.  

I also was able to visit both of them at their actual homes (where their families live) as opposed to the school houses they rent during the school year and that was a really special treat.  On the left is Bea (with her daughter Eva) in Manica, and on the right is Sofia with her husband Belimo and their daughter Shanasia, at their home outside Beira.

Wendel and Shane!  Although these two have both finished their service and returned to the states they were such good friends to me my first year.  When I moved to Vanduzi I was pretty sad.  I was 3 months behind on work, my Portuguese was terrible and I was also just frustrated and jaded by my whole experience with the flooding but these two showed me how to have a good time and how to jump back into my Peace Corps service.  We spent countless weekends out in Chimoio, traveled together (Wendel our friendship clearly started in that openback to Maputo lol) and celebrated a COESAO victory at beer olympics.  May the Boggle drinking game live on...

Causha (on the  left) and Laete (on the right) are both very good friends and colleagues of mine.  Causha is our neighbor and basically big brother...he has our spare key and calls us when we forgot to leave a light on a night, he helped us start our JUNTOS club at school and also let us come watch world cup games at midnight at his house.  Laete was my counterpart for Science fair and the two of us used to get beers and discuss politics and mozambican culture and argue over everything. It was fun.  In this picture Thelma and I had spent the day hanging out and chatting and teaching them how to play beer pong :)

Mindy and her adorable little son Sebastian! I stayed with Mindy in Maputo for a few weeks while Peace Corps looked for a new site for me after the Gaza floods, and her, Elisabetta and I became good friends.   Every time after that, when I needed to come to Maputo she opened her house to me and really made me feel at home.  Having a place like this to escape to, and a good friend to hangout with when I'm in the capital is so nice, and makes trips to a "big city" much less overwhelming.  In the above picture Mindy and her son are helping to paint the mural Elisabetta organized in Guija last January.

This is Labson. I met him one day in the market selling fish and he greeted me in broken English and told me he wanted to be my friend.  I was impressed by his love of science and English and his desire to work in order to save up money for college and support his family.  A few months later I saw Labson nervously following a teacher around at school, and being shown how to work the little cantina (snack bar/shop) in front of our house.  Well Labson started working at the shop and basically become Thelma and my little brother.  He is constantly asking to borrow things and for us to boil him water..etc and this would be annoying if he wasn't one of the  nicest people I've met here.  We often eat meals together or swap a little of what we cooked and sit together on our front porch chatting and sharing food.  He also likes to cook and eat with Amendoim aka Amendoim sits very alert in front of him watching him and he randomly says "servido" and throws him some xima.  He is a very good friend and I will miss him a lot when I am back in America.  His dream is to be a Biology teacher and he's been studying Thelma's books all year so hopefully he will pass the entrance exam for university in December!

Dorca and Paulo.  So Paulo is just really nice and he greets me everyday in the market and is very sweet but Dorca is like my Mozambican mother.  I spent countless afternoons sitting with her in the market, helping her wrap vegetables and chatting away in Portuguese.  She spoils me with way too much free produce and whenever I see her in the market she always greets me by yelling "Haleigh como esta amiga!!" and then she proceeds to ask me how Amendoim is too.  

Derreck and Simao, my English teacher colleagues/best friends.  These two are different than anyone else I've met here in that they want to study abroad and see the world and will actually do the work to get there.  Simao told me he will sit in a chair with a bucket of cold water under his feet while he studies that way if he falls asleep the water will wake him up and he can continue reading.  I'm pretty sure Derreck does the same thing.  I don't think either of them sleep much and they use all their free time to study and read books and they are both incredibly intelligent but also social and friendly.  Simao is currently studying in Europe and Derreck is hoping to go to America next year.  These two kept me motivated to do my job well even on the days when I truly hated teaching and Derreck was such a champ working with me on a number of projects, he will take over the English library next year.  

Ari, my best buddy from Moz 19.  We sat next to each other on the plane from NY to Johanassburg and because neither of us could sleep very much we shared wine and told stories instead.  He came to visit me in Vanuduzi and instead of having everyone ask if he was my husband (which happens when any other male visits), they asked if he was my brother...even my village knew we were friend and although our villages were really far apart we kept and touch and traveled together on the breaks, exploring Malawi and relaxing on Tofo beach with some of our other friends.  Ari and I also studied somiliar things in college so it was always refreshing to see him, catch up and then discuss development theories and our work, or politics and corruption here in Moz. Basically Ari is awesome and I know we'll continue to stay friends in America when we both get great jobs in DC!

Thelma! My rooommate, my good friend and basically my little sister here.  I was nervous to get a roommate after living alone for a year but living with Thelma and having her to travel with and go to community events with has been so fun.  We also have joked many times that we're grateful we like the same food and spend almost every evening in Vanduzi eating dinner together on our porch, swapping stories about our crazy students and talking about college, our families and our hopes for life after PC.  She's a great volunteer to be around and she's going to continue to do great work in Vanduzi her second year!

My number one man in Mozambique.  Yes it's silly to love your dog so much and my community definitely thinks I am crazy but you know what I don't care and by the end of my service I am pretty sure Amendoim has made more friends and is more integrated than I am.  We moved to Guija and spent a lonely two months together, we escaped the floods together and we moved to Vanduzi together.  That dog has been my constant companion and buddy when times are rough or I was lonely and he also kept me safe at site when many of my neighbors houses were broken into. I only hope that when I get to America, I find a decent enough job that I can actually start saving money to have Thelma send him to America at the end of her service but if he stays in Vanduzi I also know that my neighbors will keep him fat and happy because they've learned to love him just as much as I do. 

Elections

Yesterday Mozambique had presidential elections and although my feelings about elections were incredibly negative (I'll explain that at the end) I have to admit all-day yesterday I was anxious.  I didn't want there to be any violence and recent international news coverage (rare in and of itself) was predicting a close election race and this was so exciting! Along with the chance of a run-off election, many of my friends and colleagues thought that if elections didn't go as people hoped they would, there would be violence.  So I spent all day today frantically checking my phone, scanning news websites in English and Portuguese trying to find anything about the election results and of course what I could find was predictable and depressing.

Yesterday's elections, although peaceful for the most part, were still full of ballot stuffing, fraud and intimidation towards minority parties.  One minority party supporter was reportedly shot in the foot when he tried to stop an incident of ballot stuffing and there were multiple incidents of police firing tear gas and rubber/live bullets at crowds.  A friend here made a joke that election corruption is like cheating at school, it's barely disguised yet impossible to control, so you do what  you can to control some of it and hope for the best, and I think that's what so many Mozambicans did yesterday.  They went and stood in long lines for hours on end and cast their vote in the presidential elections, fully knowing that the Frelimo candidate would likely win, if not in this election, in a run-off but they still went and cast their vote.

The results haven't been announced yet but most sources are saying Frelimo will pull more than 50% of the vote, so a run-off election will not be necessary.  Even with this year's election problems it was really neat to witness a close election, and all of the campaigning that ran up to it.  Yesterday marked Mozambique's fifth presidential elections since 1994.  Prior to 1994, Moz fought a 20 year civil war after gaining independence from Portugal.  In those first elections, Frelimo took power, and Renamo, the loser of the civil war, was slowly pushed out of politics.

Aside from actually living in Mozambique for the election season, this specific election was anticipated by many because of recent events in Mozambique.  Just over a year ago the Renamo leader, Afonso Dhalakama, returned to a bush hideout/camp in the mountains and his soldiers started attacking civilians and stopping traffic along the national highway.  These attacks, although small-scale, upset traffic and trade along the sole national highway in the country, and forced the government to make some concessions to Dkalakama.  Last month, Dkalakama came out of the bush and finally signed the 1992 Peace Accords (for the civil war which ended 22 years ago) and announced he'd be running again in the recent elections.  Renamo supporters flocked to him, and suddenly I started seeing Renamo posters and flags in the streets alongside all the Frelimo paraphernalia.

Along with renewed excitement for Renamo, another, much newer political party, MDM, also gained a lot of attention for this election.  The party was formed in 2009 by a former Renamo supporter, Daviz Simango, who then became the mayor of Beira, Mozambique's second city, under his MDM party.  Most news sources are reporting that MDM picked up just a small percentage of the vote yesterday but the party has a lot of support among younger generations in the cities, and is predicted to only get more popular in time.

So although there were problems yesterday, and the run-off election is unlikely because Frelimo probably got more than half the votes, I really hope that this election scared the political cronies (or chefes as we say here in Mozambique) into starting to actually run a government that benefits its people.  Mozambique is a country that is immensely rich in resources yet it's one of the poorest nations in the world.  Corruption is so widespread and embedded into people's ways of life it's difficult to see how it could change but if the government started creating more opportunities for employment for youth, or opportunities for more people to further their education and get decent jobs it would be a good start...

Enough of my philosophizing though, I'm sure you're tired of my little history lesson, here are some pictures from election day and the campaigning...

People waiting in lines to vote in Vanduzi. 

My good friend Julio proudly posing with his ink-stained finger to show that he voted.

A Frelimo parade in Chimoio...literally traffic just stopped and then all you could hear were whistles and chanting and all you could see was RED.

Some proud Renamo supporters marching down the main road in Vanduzi, also notice the huge billboard in the background endorsing the Frelimo candidate, Nyusi.

This picture doesn't do justice to the campaign season because every store front, market stall, telephone pole and baraca in Vanduzi (and in cities, and along the road between cities) is covered in political posters, usually for Frelimo.  People drive cars and motorcycles covered in posters with huge flags waving out the back and EVERYONE has a shirt to support their party.

I will leave you with this last picture, which always makes me smile even though campaigning literally ruined the school trimester.  Students and teachers skipped class to campaign, on the weekends students were taught Frelimo songs and paraded through town encouraging people to vote and my colleagues who I greatly respect didn't take this semester seriously because they were focusing on the campaign.  Yet if they don't campaign their salary gets frozen, they get transferred to a school in the bush where no one wants to work or they get fired.  It's terrible and frustrating because all this work goes into campaigning for a party that essentially has an autocracy and doesn't not share power and it makes you so disgusted and then grateful for your own nation's government but then there's this picture: 

This is Erriscado, one of the pedagogical directors at the school where I teach and you know what, he loves Frelimo and he's very involved in the party so for teacher's day on Sunday he didn't wear the t-shirt that all the other male teachers wore, instead he wore this, which can only be described as a Frelimo costume (even his visor said Frelimo), and it was pretty great.  Side-note, Erriscado is a good friend and a very hard-worker at school, I respect him ALOT for the work he does for the students and because of that, I don't care what he wears to show who he supports as long as he still does his day job :)

Here's to hoping Mozambique's elections this year pave the way for more freedom and organization from minority parties in-country so that the nation can grow to fully encourage/support a multi-party, democratic government that works to support everyone regardless of where they live and who they want to vote for.