A Kenyan proverb that I think summarizes well the political conflict occurring in Mozambique.
On Tuesday, FREELIMO, the political group controlling the government in Mozambique surrounded a RENAMO (another political party) base in the Gorongosa Mountains (Satinjura) in Sofala Province. This siege resulted in RENAMO fleeing to another town, Maringue, where the RENAMO soldiers successfully took control of the local police station. RENAMO claims FREELIMO was attempting to not just take their base, but also assassinate their leader, Afonso Dhlakama. RENAMO then announced later that day, that they were officially ending the Peace Accord signed 21 years ago that ended the Mozambican Civil War (1975-1992).
Renamo spokesman, Fernando Mazanga, told Reuters news agency, "Peace is over in the country... The responsibility lies with the Frelimo government because they didn't want to listen to Renamo's grievances,”
Unfortunately this was not the first instance of political violence to occur this year. Tensions between the two groups have increased significantly since last year when Dhlakama left Maputo, and moved to Gorongosa to live with the supposed, couple hundred, RENAMO soldiers who were living at the base camp, in the mountains there in the. In April and July small skirmishes led to at least 11 civilian deaths. And since the raid on Tuesday there has been reports of violence in other towns in Sofala province (including a rumor that 3 civilians were killed in a random car attack by rebels). So although peace remains in most areas of the country the overall situation is tense and people are scared, and there is talk of the war.
Mozambique’s 17-year civil war resulted in over a million deaths, and although it ended two decades ago the results of the war are still clear in many communities. My students for example, are too young to have lived during their war, but many of the parents survived the years of conflict, and as a result were not educated. Entire communities exist today in areas that were ravaged by years of fighting; a friend of mine living in a small town in the north claims that his village did not exist until after the peace accord, and that today, people are still incredibly suspicious of outsiders because of their horrible experiences from frequent raids during the war.
I am not sure what will happen in Mozambique, most sources (international reporters, the US embassy and our PC staff) believe RENAMO is too weak to start another war; they lack foot soldiers and overall support throughout the country, but if they continue to provoke small-scale acts of violence, it is innocent civilians that continue to suffer. The fear they have evoked in communities in Sofala, such as Muxungue (where shootings took place a few months ago) or Maringue, (where soldiers took the police station) is real and people are suffering. This outlash from RENAMO is the result of months of failed/stalled peace talks, and years of feelings of exclusion from political power and benefits in Mozambique’s growing economy.
Like the Kenyan proverb summarizes so well; this conflict is the result of poltical tension between two groups in Mozambique, but the individuals who bear the brunt of suffering are innocent civilians. Mozambique is an incredibly poor country, it ranks 185 out of 187 countries on the Human Development Index, and although issues of corruption, HIV/AIDS and inequality are rampant here, the culture is incredibly welcoming and friendly, and in these past twelve months I have felt completely safe. I really hope that situation does not change. I also do not think that this violence will lead to a war, but violence is violence no matter how large or small the casualty pool is and I really hope that the country that I have come to call home, is able to find a way to peace.
Estamos juntos Mocambique!
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Saturday, October 12, 2013
English Club!
Here is a story.
On Monday afternoon one of the students from my English theatre group showed up at my house and asked for help with a class presentation. Usually when a student comes to ask for help and I get out a text book we just read through the answers and they leave, happy with what they’ve “learned.” Well this day was different. This student, Bon-Bons, not only wanted to read about his topic (types of agriculture in Mozambique) he wanted help understanding it, and then wanted to create a speech for his presentation. Using most of the information from my book we talked about this topic, came up with relevant, local examples and Bon-Bons practiced his speech. After all this was done I expected him to say thanks and rush on home, but no, that didn’t happen. Instead Bon-Bons decided to flip through my textbook and proceeded to read out loud random sections of text; reading first in English, then translating into Portuguese to make sure he understood everything. After this, we’d go through the reading comprehension questions together. As a side note, before Bon-Bons showed up (randomly) at my house I was tutoring another student for 2 hours. Well Bon-Bons stayed for 3 hours and then finally decided it was time to go home, but he said he’d be back the next day.
The next day, Bon-Bons did come back, and he brought a few friends. This group of 3 or 4 students returned each afternoon this week and together we practiced English for 3-4 hours. What amazed me the most was not just that these students wanted to practice, but that even by 7 PM (when its dark out and most people are eating dinner) these guys wanted to keep practicing. It was me asking them if they wanted water, a snack or to take a break. They never got tired or wanted to give up, they were just so excited to be speaking English.
A typical afternoon with these students consists of some general grammar practice (I asked their teachers what grammar I should review with them for their finals) followed by a session where each student reads a passage out loud (first in English, then self-translated into Portuguese) and finally, my favorite part of the lesson, when one student acts as the teacher and asks the others random questions. On Friday, I was supposed to have a late night meeting at school so we met at school to practice (and I assumed when my meeting started I could leave them with my books at school to continue their lessons). Well, when I returned from my meeting I found one of them writing notes on the board and the others anxiously participating in the lesson…and words cannot begin to describe how happy it made me.
Yes these are all great students, they are the ones who usually participate in lessons and at least one of them is the class chefe de turma, but being labeled as a leader doesn’t do justice to their overall personality and ability. They are quick and anxious learners. It’s amazing how much they remember from day to day and how excited they are to continue to learn. One of the students, Joe, stuttered with just about every word he said on Monday, and by Friday he was speaking in sentences—yes I know not every student progresses this quickly but its amazing to see how much they progress when they practice and are pushed a little. And they have so many questions! These vary from ‘madaam, what is the difference between love and beloved, or how would I say make in the past tense (made), to what is this (points to his elbow)” they are just so curious! Yesterday, at 7:30 PM I literally had to kick them out of the classroom because I, after 4 1/2 hours of English was beat and wanted to go home and cook dinner…and even though today is a Saturday they asked if we could meet to practice.
I have no idea where this new enthusiasm for learning English came from but I’m going to do everything I can to keep it going. The students keep telling me how next year, we will meet like a real English club and today I told them that they already were an English club. I should also explain that finding students who are this excited about learning is kind of rare. It’s not that students here don’t care about school, because they do, but school is not the first priority. I remember growing up in America and it seemed since first or second grade (when I got my first college regalia, a Muhlenberg College sweatshirt) I knew that I would continue my education…and then I was continually encourage or pushed to do my best in school so I could go to university and eventually find a good job. Well, here in Mozambique things are a bit different; students come to school everyday in their uniforms, take notes and sometimes participate but they have many other responsibilities (working on their family farms or in the market, supporting younger siblings, or paying rent for their school housing). Put simply, school is not the first priority, and it’s impossible for it to be the first priority. So for me to find a group of students; wait, I should correct myself-for a group of students to seek me out to practice their English for an extra 15 to 20 hours a week (3 to 4 hours every afternoon) is kind of amazing, and I am going to do everything I can to keep them interested!
So, that’s my story, sorry it is kind of long but I’m just so excited. If you had talked to me a month ago I would have told you that (for the first time since arriving in Mozambique) I wanted to go home. I was so frustrated with trying to start projects, I was so bored with my lack of work, and the cultural norms were driving me insane. I missed my friends and family, and I wanted nothing more than to go back to America and find a job with real hours, a real job description and a salary. Well, fast-forward to now, and I am happy. Don’t worry mom and dad I’m still coming home next year but I can finally say confidently that I am happy to be here, I understand my job and what I need to do and, I finally feel like I belong here in my community.
And it’s a pretty wonderful feeling.
Bon-Bons acting as the teacher and writing sentences on the board with words the students found "confusing" or that sounds the same.
On Monday afternoon one of the students from my English theatre group showed up at my house and asked for help with a class presentation. Usually when a student comes to ask for help and I get out a text book we just read through the answers and they leave, happy with what they’ve “learned.” Well this day was different. This student, Bon-Bons, not only wanted to read about his topic (types of agriculture in Mozambique) he wanted help understanding it, and then wanted to create a speech for his presentation. Using most of the information from my book we talked about this topic, came up with relevant, local examples and Bon-Bons practiced his speech. After all this was done I expected him to say thanks and rush on home, but no, that didn’t happen. Instead Bon-Bons decided to flip through my textbook and proceeded to read out loud random sections of text; reading first in English, then translating into Portuguese to make sure he understood everything. After this, we’d go through the reading comprehension questions together. As a side note, before Bon-Bons showed up (randomly) at my house I was tutoring another student for 2 hours. Well Bon-Bons stayed for 3 hours and then finally decided it was time to go home, but he said he’d be back the next day.
The next day, Bon-Bons did come back, and he brought a few friends. This group of 3 or 4 students returned each afternoon this week and together we practiced English for 3-4 hours. What amazed me the most was not just that these students wanted to practice, but that even by 7 PM (when its dark out and most people are eating dinner) these guys wanted to keep practicing. It was me asking them if they wanted water, a snack or to take a break. They never got tired or wanted to give up, they were just so excited to be speaking English.
A typical afternoon with these students consists of some general grammar practice (I asked their teachers what grammar I should review with them for their finals) followed by a session where each student reads a passage out loud (first in English, then self-translated into Portuguese) and finally, my favorite part of the lesson, when one student acts as the teacher and asks the others random questions. On Friday, I was supposed to have a late night meeting at school so we met at school to practice (and I assumed when my meeting started I could leave them with my books at school to continue their lessons). Well, when I returned from my meeting I found one of them writing notes on the board and the others anxiously participating in the lesson…and words cannot begin to describe how happy it made me.
Yes these are all great students, they are the ones who usually participate in lessons and at least one of them is the class chefe de turma, but being labeled as a leader doesn’t do justice to their overall personality and ability. They are quick and anxious learners. It’s amazing how much they remember from day to day and how excited they are to continue to learn. One of the students, Joe, stuttered with just about every word he said on Monday, and by Friday he was speaking in sentences—yes I know not every student progresses this quickly but its amazing to see how much they progress when they practice and are pushed a little. And they have so many questions! These vary from ‘madaam, what is the difference between love and beloved, or how would I say make in the past tense (made), to what is this (points to his elbow)” they are just so curious! Yesterday, at 7:30 PM I literally had to kick them out of the classroom because I, after 4 1/2 hours of English was beat and wanted to go home and cook dinner…and even though today is a Saturday they asked if we could meet to practice.
I have no idea where this new enthusiasm for learning English came from but I’m going to do everything I can to keep it going. The students keep telling me how next year, we will meet like a real English club and today I told them that they already were an English club. I should also explain that finding students who are this excited about learning is kind of rare. It’s not that students here don’t care about school, because they do, but school is not the first priority. I remember growing up in America and it seemed since first or second grade (when I got my first college regalia, a Muhlenberg College sweatshirt) I knew that I would continue my education…and then I was continually encourage or pushed to do my best in school so I could go to university and eventually find a good job. Well, here in Mozambique things are a bit different; students come to school everyday in their uniforms, take notes and sometimes participate but they have many other responsibilities (working on their family farms or in the market, supporting younger siblings, or paying rent for their school housing). Put simply, school is not the first priority, and it’s impossible for it to be the first priority. So for me to find a group of students; wait, I should correct myself-for a group of students to seek me out to practice their English for an extra 15 to 20 hours a week (3 to 4 hours every afternoon) is kind of amazing, and I am going to do everything I can to keep them interested!
So, that’s my story, sorry it is kind of long but I’m just so excited. If you had talked to me a month ago I would have told you that (for the first time since arriving in Mozambique) I wanted to go home. I was so frustrated with trying to start projects, I was so bored with my lack of work, and the cultural norms were driving me insane. I missed my friends and family, and I wanted nothing more than to go back to America and find a job with real hours, a real job description and a salary. Well, fast-forward to now, and I am happy. Don’t worry mom and dad I’m still coming home next year but I can finally say confidently that I am happy to be here, I understand my job and what I need to do and, I finally feel like I belong here in my community.
And it’s a pretty wonderful feeling.
Bon-Bons acting as the teacher and writing sentences on the board with words the students found "confusing" or that sounds the same.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Holidays & English Theatre
Holidays and English Theatre
There are so many national holidays here I honestly can’t keep track of them anymore. Whenever there is a holiday though many students travel back to their villages (usually just a couple kilometers/days travel away) and skip school for the entire week. This of course is really frustrating but I’ve come to learn that I just cannot teach any new material on weeks when there is a holiday.
Aside from students skipping school, a holiday means an entire day (or couple of days) of people day drinking and hanging out. Usually when there’s a holiday I would escape and go to Chimoio to hangout with the other volunteers or I’d spend the entire day cooped up in my house reading a book and hiding from all the drunk people. Well last week, for FADM day I spent my day a little differently. I met my English theatre group at school and they practiced their skit a couple of times, then we walked to the town praza and they performed their piece for the community. Because their play was in English, one of the students also gave an introduction and summary in Portuguese before and after their piece, and it went so well! Even though people couldn’t understand what they were saying, they were very interested. When one person speaks English, people are curious, but when a whole bunch of high school students start acting and speaking in clear English, everyone runs to see what is going on. It was really neat, while my students performed there was a big huddle of people around them trying to listen in and see what was going on. After my students performed, and the little celebration was over everyone left the praza to go visit friends, eat food and likely day drink.
On my walk home I stopped to visit a neighbor, Joanna, who is an incredibly friendly woman who saw me walking one time, and just wanted to be my friend. Now I visit her about once a week just to catch up and sometimes we go to the market together. Well this specific visit turned into a pretty long visit in which I was fed breakfast and coffee and met her husband who was in town for the holiday. After eating and chatting we all watched the Mozambican women’s basketball team play on TV, that was kind of strange, I never watch TV here! After having breakfast with Joanna and her family I wandered home and picked up Amendoim so we could walk around town some more. I spent the rest of my morning visiting neighbors and talking to people. Then I went to a friend’s house and helped her cook this huge feast, which we shared with some of her friends from Zimbabwe. Overall it was a pretty awesome day, it helped me realize that I do have friends in my community. I don’t gossip with them, talk about sports or politics and I certainly don’t drink a beer with them but they’re my friends and they’re pretty wonderful. Oh I also ate some chicken and I didn’t get sick so that was pretty exciting. Talk about integration.
Three days after FADM day I took my students to Chimoio for the provincial English theatre competition. My students didn’t win any big awards; their piece was twice as long as it was supposed to be and they got a little carried away in their partying scenes but they had a really great time. (Some of the other volunteers told me they were really impressed with my groups English speaking skills too!) Initially my students were disappointed not to place in the competition but I reminded them that this was their first year competing and that many of the schools they competed against had been doing this for years. This seemed to lighten their mood a bit, and they are already talking about how much better their skit will be next year! So overall, even with the stress of having students show up hours late everyday for meetings, and completely ignore some of the advice I gave them, and feeling like my colleagues completely abandoned me with this project I think English theatre was a great success. Aside from actually practicing their English, my students got to spend a day in the city, meeting other students and teachers. I also met a teacher who works at the primary school in my village who wants to collaborate on projects next year and is actually reliable and excited about teaching! Oh and they are adamant about finally starting and English club. Cool, I can’t wait for next year!
My english theatre group...the guy on the right (in the tan jacket) is the awesome English teacher, Derrick, who helped me with the group.
Just some acting...
And of course they all wanted a picture with their certificates :)
There are so many national holidays here I honestly can’t keep track of them anymore. Whenever there is a holiday though many students travel back to their villages (usually just a couple kilometers/days travel away) and skip school for the entire week. This of course is really frustrating but I’ve come to learn that I just cannot teach any new material on weeks when there is a holiday.
Aside from students skipping school, a holiday means an entire day (or couple of days) of people day drinking and hanging out. Usually when there’s a holiday I would escape and go to Chimoio to hangout with the other volunteers or I’d spend the entire day cooped up in my house reading a book and hiding from all the drunk people. Well last week, for FADM day I spent my day a little differently. I met my English theatre group at school and they practiced their skit a couple of times, then we walked to the town praza and they performed their piece for the community. Because their play was in English, one of the students also gave an introduction and summary in Portuguese before and after their piece, and it went so well! Even though people couldn’t understand what they were saying, they were very interested. When one person speaks English, people are curious, but when a whole bunch of high school students start acting and speaking in clear English, everyone runs to see what is going on. It was really neat, while my students performed there was a big huddle of people around them trying to listen in and see what was going on. After my students performed, and the little celebration was over everyone left the praza to go visit friends, eat food and likely day drink.
On my walk home I stopped to visit a neighbor, Joanna, who is an incredibly friendly woman who saw me walking one time, and just wanted to be my friend. Now I visit her about once a week just to catch up and sometimes we go to the market together. Well this specific visit turned into a pretty long visit in which I was fed breakfast and coffee and met her husband who was in town for the holiday. After eating and chatting we all watched the Mozambican women’s basketball team play on TV, that was kind of strange, I never watch TV here! After having breakfast with Joanna and her family I wandered home and picked up Amendoim so we could walk around town some more. I spent the rest of my morning visiting neighbors and talking to people. Then I went to a friend’s house and helped her cook this huge feast, which we shared with some of her friends from Zimbabwe. Overall it was a pretty awesome day, it helped me realize that I do have friends in my community. I don’t gossip with them, talk about sports or politics and I certainly don’t drink a beer with them but they’re my friends and they’re pretty wonderful. Oh I also ate some chicken and I didn’t get sick so that was pretty exciting. Talk about integration.
Three days after FADM day I took my students to Chimoio for the provincial English theatre competition. My students didn’t win any big awards; their piece was twice as long as it was supposed to be and they got a little carried away in their partying scenes but they had a really great time. (Some of the other volunteers told me they were really impressed with my groups English speaking skills too!) Initially my students were disappointed not to place in the competition but I reminded them that this was their first year competing and that many of the schools they competed against had been doing this for years. This seemed to lighten their mood a bit, and they are already talking about how much better their skit will be next year! So overall, even with the stress of having students show up hours late everyday for meetings, and completely ignore some of the advice I gave them, and feeling like my colleagues completely abandoned me with this project I think English theatre was a great success. Aside from actually practicing their English, my students got to spend a day in the city, meeting other students and teachers. I also met a teacher who works at the primary school in my village who wants to collaborate on projects next year and is actually reliable and excited about teaching! Oh and they are adamant about finally starting and English club. Cool, I can’t wait for next year!
My english theatre group...the guy on the right (in the tan jacket) is the awesome English teacher, Derrick, who helped me with the group.
Just some acting...
And of course they all wanted a picture with their certificates :)
Sunday, September 15, 2013
good friends, cave art and english theatre.
I’m finally kind of busy at site and it’s awesome!
Although nothing is set in stone or very established yet it’s pretty exciting. Since returning to site I’ve been trying, really trying, to be more involved in my community. I have a few more weeks left for this school semester and then it will be summer vacation. Most teachers and students travel during this break (and just about every PCV I know is returning to the states for the holidays) but aside from a week or two of traveling I am planning to stay at site. I know most of my students and colleagues will be gone but the community members will still be around so I’ve been trying to find things to do to keep me busy when I don’t have school next month. This has resulted in:
-Forming an English theatre group. (finally!) Although it was like pulling teeth to get all of the interested members to actually show up for a meeting at the same time, last week they finally did and we got to work and it was awesome! I now meet with these students twice a week to practice a theatre piece (they wrote in English!) which they will perform in two weeks at a provincial competition that’s being sponsored by the U.S. embassy. I think that this group will morph into my English club/juntos group because the students seem to enjoy theatre and want to continue with it even after the competition AND since working with them, many of the students have started asking me for extra homework help/tutoring or just stopping by my house to practice their English. Its been so great.
-Tutoring random people in Vanduzi (who aren’t students). This group includes my alfaiate (tailor), who wants to write his own English-Portuguese dictionary, along with a 10-year old boy from Zimbabwe, whose father is adamant about teaching his son English.
-Working with one of the primary school teachers to lesson plan/better prepare her students for secondary school AND just helping her practice her English and hang out. Yay for making more friends that are around the same age as me!
-Finally, although this project has not started yet I am just so excited I need to write about it. I recently met a Somali man in my town who owns a small halal restaurant (its also the only restaurant in Vanduzi that has beans and rice (popular market food) without meat in it!) anyway, I am hoping that I can meet this man for lunch one or day days a week and that he can tutor me in Swahili! As a side note, when I got my post in Mozambique way back in January of 2012 I was so excited because I thought I’d be able to live in the north of the country where I could learn Swahili and then after Peace Corps I could move to Kenya and get a job dealing with Somalia/current events in the horn. Well, I didn’t get sent to the north and my dreams of learning Swahili were temporarily put on hold BUT now I might have a tutor and I am so excited! I haven’t actually met with this man yet for lessons but I am sure if he isn’t too busy he’d be happy to teach me.
Aside from getting excited about projects one of my good friends from training was visiting last week. I got to show off my site a bit (and he helped me brainstorm some of the above projects) and we also hung out with some other volunteers that were in Chimoio for the week for a conference.
(here's to hoping its not another 6 months until I see you again!)
A few of us went to the town of Manica one day to see this old cave art drawings, which are apparently really really old and date back from a tribal war that caused villagers to flee into the caves up in the mountains for safety. Although some of the drawings looked pretty neat there was also a row of drawings that looked almost stenciled in. regardless of whether the drawings are actually real, the hike to the top was fun and the view was fantastic. We spent the rest of the day in manica, which was a nice little town about an hour away from my town, Vanduzi. Here’s some pictures:
The mountain we hiked to get to the caves....
The cave drawings...
Our guide? For lack of a better title, this woman is the daughter of the either the village elder or the old tribal queen...I actually don't quite know her exact title but she is the only one that could take us up the mountain to see the drawings.
What better way to cool off after hiking up a mountain in the middle of the day than to enjoy a MANICA beer in the town of MANICA in MANICA province. Cool eh?
I'm trying to be better with this blog so hopefully I'll write again next week, until then have a great week everyone!
Although nothing is set in stone or very established yet it’s pretty exciting. Since returning to site I’ve been trying, really trying, to be more involved in my community. I have a few more weeks left for this school semester and then it will be summer vacation. Most teachers and students travel during this break (and just about every PCV I know is returning to the states for the holidays) but aside from a week or two of traveling I am planning to stay at site. I know most of my students and colleagues will be gone but the community members will still be around so I’ve been trying to find things to do to keep me busy when I don’t have school next month. This has resulted in:
-Forming an English theatre group. (finally!) Although it was like pulling teeth to get all of the interested members to actually show up for a meeting at the same time, last week they finally did and we got to work and it was awesome! I now meet with these students twice a week to practice a theatre piece (they wrote in English!) which they will perform in two weeks at a provincial competition that’s being sponsored by the U.S. embassy. I think that this group will morph into my English club/juntos group because the students seem to enjoy theatre and want to continue with it even after the competition AND since working with them, many of the students have started asking me for extra homework help/tutoring or just stopping by my house to practice their English. Its been so great.
-Tutoring random people in Vanduzi (who aren’t students). This group includes my alfaiate (tailor), who wants to write his own English-Portuguese dictionary, along with a 10-year old boy from Zimbabwe, whose father is adamant about teaching his son English.
-Working with one of the primary school teachers to lesson plan/better prepare her students for secondary school AND just helping her practice her English and hang out. Yay for making more friends that are around the same age as me!
-Finally, although this project has not started yet I am just so excited I need to write about it. I recently met a Somali man in my town who owns a small halal restaurant (its also the only restaurant in Vanduzi that has beans and rice (popular market food) without meat in it!) anyway, I am hoping that I can meet this man for lunch one or day days a week and that he can tutor me in Swahili! As a side note, when I got my post in Mozambique way back in January of 2012 I was so excited because I thought I’d be able to live in the north of the country where I could learn Swahili and then after Peace Corps I could move to Kenya and get a job dealing with Somalia/current events in the horn. Well, I didn’t get sent to the north and my dreams of learning Swahili were temporarily put on hold BUT now I might have a tutor and I am so excited! I haven’t actually met with this man yet for lessons but I am sure if he isn’t too busy he’d be happy to teach me.
Aside from getting excited about projects one of my good friends from training was visiting last week. I got to show off my site a bit (and he helped me brainstorm some of the above projects) and we also hung out with some other volunteers that were in Chimoio for the week for a conference.
(here's to hoping its not another 6 months until I see you again!)
A few of us went to the town of Manica one day to see this old cave art drawings, which are apparently really really old and date back from a tribal war that caused villagers to flee into the caves up in the mountains for safety. Although some of the drawings looked pretty neat there was also a row of drawings that looked almost stenciled in. regardless of whether the drawings are actually real, the hike to the top was fun and the view was fantastic. We spent the rest of the day in manica, which was a nice little town about an hour away from my town, Vanduzi. Here’s some pictures:
The mountain we hiked to get to the caves....
The cave drawings...
Our guide? For lack of a better title, this woman is the daughter of the either the village elder or the old tribal queen...I actually don't quite know her exact title but she is the only one that could take us up the mountain to see the drawings.
What better way to cool off after hiking up a mountain in the middle of the day than to enjoy a MANICA beer in the town of MANICA in MANICA province. Cool eh?
I'm trying to be better with this blog so hopefully I'll write again next week, until then have a great week everyone!
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Eurotrip.
A PCV’s trip back to the “developed” world = CULTURE SHOCK.
I’m sitting in my bed writing this blog post and playing music and I can hear giggling…lots of giggling. My bed is pushed up against my window and as I peer out around my capulana sheet/curtain I see 4 little criancas laughing and trying to listen to the wonderful sounds of Wagon Wheel (yes Shane, I know you’d be so proud). So I am back in Vanduzi and it is nice to be home but let me tell you all about my trip!
I left site on a Saturday morning, met up with old sitemate from Guija in Maputo and the two of us spent the weekend at a friend, Mindy’s house before I headed out to Europe. Just a side-note, this was my first time back in Maputo after 7 months and boy was it weird! Driving from the airport into the city was more than overwhelming, I forgot how weird a city skyline looks like…and there were so many cars! Luckily, Mindy lives on the outskirts of the city, near the fish market (a quieter area) so aside from a walk in town to the craft market for some souvenir shopping I was able to avoid the chaos of the city. Although I forgot how crazy it can be just to physically be in a city again it was cool to be in Maputo right before my trip because I could compare European cities to it, and it also helped lessen the initial culture shock of seeing buildings that were more than two or three stories tall.
After a weekend in Maputo I set out on my journey to Europe. I flew to Johannesburg and from there got a direct flight to Paris. In Paris I spent one day alone wandering the city, shopping, going into beautiful churches, sitting in random parks/squares people-watching and of course eating some delicious food (yes I did in fact go to the chipotle in Paris for my first real meal!) I ended my first day in Paris with a “picnic dinner” of a mozzarella, tomato and basil on a baguette, a delicious peach and a glass (or two!) of cheap, good, red wine on the balcony of my hotel room where I sat watching the busy train station and reading the most recent issue of the economist. After the sunset (around 9:30 PM) I collapsed in my bed, which felt like sleeping in the clouds, and slept so wonderfully!
The next morning I met up with my family (and the Muhlenberg basketball team players and family members) and we embarked on an 8-day trip through France, Germany, Belgium and the Nethlerlands. In the course of 8 days I got to see so many historically important/famous tourist spots I stopped keeping count of them. In Paris I marveled at the size of the Notre Dame, in the louvre I admired works by Luise Jaques David, I watched the sunset from the Eiffel tower, stood under the triumval arch and was essentially star struck by the amount of detail/beauty and gold that went into constructing the Palace of Versailles. I also did some shopping, drank red wine with my mom and got lost in the endlessly changing, winding alleyways of Paris. It was wonderful.
(jacques louis david aka one of my favorite artists!)
After 3 days in Paris, we traveled to Valkenburg where we would stay for the next 5 days. From this small border town in the Netherlands we did day trips into Germany and Brussels, as well as towns in the Netherlands. Although I loved Paris this part of the trip was much more enjoyable to me. Aside from Amsterdam and Brussels (both of which I loved!) the towns we visited were smaller, and there was a significantly less amount of tourists which is always a relief when you’re used to living alone in a small African village :) Instead of detailing all the places I traveled to (you’ll just have to check my pictures on facebook) I will write about my favorites. In Cologne, my family and I sat in a beautiful, open square and ate lunch while people-watching and enjoying the local craft beer (which was likely my favorite brew of the trip!). I also found a tiny hole-in-the-wall Lebanaese restaurant and bought falafel. After lunch we wandered to the more touristy area and I found a DUNKIN DONUTS. So excited, I got real iced coffee.
(hanging out at a bar in Vaalkenburg with my dad and Morgan)
Also in Germany, we went to a small vineyard, which was adorable. The vineyards are so neat in Germany because the grapes are grown on these huge hills that are so steep they almost resemble a cliff. I wondered how it was possible to actually pick and harvest the grapes, but the wine was good and the view was magnificent.
We also went to a small town called Aachen, which had the most beautiful church (in my opinion) out of the whole trip. Outside the church resembled any other large, medieval cathedral, but inside it was covered in mosaics reminiscant of Byzantine culture/similar to the style in Istanbul. It was so pretty!
(family picture in front of Charlemange's castle in Aachen)
In the Netherlands, we traveled to another town, Maastricht, where although it was rainy and cold it was also probably one of my favorite days. it was the one day, where we were not with our tour group for the entire day. We had no schedule and could do whatever. This of course resulted in shopping and some really great food. Also in the Netherlands, we went to Amsterdam and that city was just so cool! I wish I had more time there because it seemed like such a neat, fun, free-spirited place but even a few hours in the afternoon were better than nothing. We ended our day there at the Heinekin brewery where I teased my dad for not finishing his beer fast enough (which resulted in me getting his second beer) and us both agreeing that the Heinekin actually tastes good when you drink it at the brewery.
In Belgium, we just spent a few hours in Brussels, which I’m really glad we got to do. The city has a beatuful square, with buildings trimmed in gold and decorated with intricate designs and statues. We ate delicious Belgian waffles and also drank some good beer at the delirium café. Yum.
So overall, I know it sounds like all I did was shop and eat and look at pretty historical things…and maybe that is true but because we were with a large tour group it was difficult to do things outside of the allotted schedule. This was frustrating at first, being myself, I wanted to wander aimlessly in every city and go into every possible museum/historical building but that of course wasn’t possible, there simply wasn’t enough time. A few days into the trip I decided that instead of being frustrated with the lack of time to see all these things/places, I should view the tour part of my trip as a preview of Europe; a quick taste of each city so I could decide if I wanted to return one day…and instead of focusing on the lack of time to do everything and see everything I just enjoyed the time I had with my family and it was wonderful! It was so nice to tell stories, hear about home, drink beer with my dad, giggle and shop with my mom and gossip with Morgan. I still can’t believe it will be 16 or 17 more months until I see them again—sure you guys don’t want to visit me here? And Nikki, believe when I say you were definitely missed.
After 8 days with the family I said my goodbyes and traveled to Bologna in Italy to meet up with a good friend from college, Joanna, who was starting her first year of graduate school (at SAIS) abroad. Traveling to Bologna was exactly what I needed in-between the eurotrip and return to moz because it was so much more relaxed. I got to enjoy all the amenities of the developed world without feeling guilty for sleeping in, or going for a run because it would mean I was missing out on doing something else. Joanna and I explored her city (which is awesome! Bologna is an old medieval town that somehow missed out on the architectural revolution of the renaissance, resulting in lots of small, narrow winding alleyways, plenty of arched, built up buildings that you can’t see over into the next street, and lots of old churches) maybe I didn’t do justice to how cool the town is but there are plenty of pictures to prove it. So Joanna and I explored town, went hiking in the hills outside of town, and traveled to Venice (which was so cool!!!) we also ate really good pizza, plenty of gelato and drank wine that was made right there in Bologna. We also got to catch up and swap stories from our past year in Africa (Joanna was in Benin so it was neat comparing West Africa culture to Moz). It was really fun.
VENICE.
(the old streets of bologna!)
After two whole weeks in Europe, I packed my bags (full of new clothes, non-perishable food, and some cool gifts from my family) and boarded the plane back to Africa. I spent another two days in Maputo and then traveled back to Vanduzi. At the Chimoio airport I was reminded of the culture here when my Mozambican friend who agreed to give me a ride back to site arrived 2 ½ hours late (even though when I called him to tell him my flight landed he said he was just arriving at the airport) and while waiting for my friend to come I couldn’t buy water because the guy at the airport had no change….I was definitely sad to leave Europe so soon and was not feeling too excited to return to site but as my driver pulled up to my house there were 5 kids jumping up and down yelling “OLA AMIGA!!!!” and shortly after I was greeting with a warm welcome from some colleagues at school and a student who ran up to my house to shake my hand and welcome me back. Teaching my first lessons in 3 weeks yesterday also reminded me how much I enjoy living here. I won’t stay here forever but I am happy that I have another year left in Vanduzi. After a very much-needed break in Europe I am ready to jump back into school and try to do some good work in my wonderful little village in Mozambique.
The most surprising things from my trip back into the west (as culture shock)
-how beautiful every single building is. In Europe people construct things that are aesthetically pleasing…in Africa they just build them
-how nice it is to walk around at night and feel safe (note-its safe in my village but walking around at night is a huge no-no)
-that people can drink in public in a casual way…and not be wasted by 2pm
-how pretty, no wait, beautiful and well-fed the dogs are
-how peculiar Americans are about drinking bottled water
-how “skimpy” some people really dress
-how frustrating it is NOT to know how to greet people in their native language; in Paris this wasn’t much of a problem because most people didn’t stop and acknowledge you when you were walking down the street but in smaller towns it was so frustrating! I resorted to just greeting people in Portuguese while I was in italy---hey it’s a romance language I think they got it?
-similar to that previous post, how wonderful it was to finally BLEND IN AGAIN and not be stared at (and yelled at and noticed) by every single person everywhere…it was fantastic!
and just how wonderful it is to have delicious food (and real coffee) available at any hour of the day in pretty much any town I traveled too regardless of how large or small it was!
And there are probably more but those are the most memorable aside from the fact that I thought every single person’s outfit was fashionable and cute and I wanted to buy everything in ever store, so much for not caring about fashion?
Sorry this post was so long…but it has been 4 weeks?!
I’m sitting in my bed writing this blog post and playing music and I can hear giggling…lots of giggling. My bed is pushed up against my window and as I peer out around my capulana sheet/curtain I see 4 little criancas laughing and trying to listen to the wonderful sounds of Wagon Wheel (yes Shane, I know you’d be so proud). So I am back in Vanduzi and it is nice to be home but let me tell you all about my trip!
I left site on a Saturday morning, met up with old sitemate from Guija in Maputo and the two of us spent the weekend at a friend, Mindy’s house before I headed out to Europe. Just a side-note, this was my first time back in Maputo after 7 months and boy was it weird! Driving from the airport into the city was more than overwhelming, I forgot how weird a city skyline looks like…and there were so many cars! Luckily, Mindy lives on the outskirts of the city, near the fish market (a quieter area) so aside from a walk in town to the craft market for some souvenir shopping I was able to avoid the chaos of the city. Although I forgot how crazy it can be just to physically be in a city again it was cool to be in Maputo right before my trip because I could compare European cities to it, and it also helped lessen the initial culture shock of seeing buildings that were more than two or three stories tall.
After a weekend in Maputo I set out on my journey to Europe. I flew to Johannesburg and from there got a direct flight to Paris. In Paris I spent one day alone wandering the city, shopping, going into beautiful churches, sitting in random parks/squares people-watching and of course eating some delicious food (yes I did in fact go to the chipotle in Paris for my first real meal!) I ended my first day in Paris with a “picnic dinner” of a mozzarella, tomato and basil on a baguette, a delicious peach and a glass (or two!) of cheap, good, red wine on the balcony of my hotel room where I sat watching the busy train station and reading the most recent issue of the economist. After the sunset (around 9:30 PM) I collapsed in my bed, which felt like sleeping in the clouds, and slept so wonderfully!
The next morning I met up with my family (and the Muhlenberg basketball team players and family members) and we embarked on an 8-day trip through France, Germany, Belgium and the Nethlerlands. In the course of 8 days I got to see so many historically important/famous tourist spots I stopped keeping count of them. In Paris I marveled at the size of the Notre Dame, in the louvre I admired works by Luise Jaques David, I watched the sunset from the Eiffel tower, stood under the triumval arch and was essentially star struck by the amount of detail/beauty and gold that went into constructing the Palace of Versailles. I also did some shopping, drank red wine with my mom and got lost in the endlessly changing, winding alleyways of Paris. It was wonderful.
(jacques louis david aka one of my favorite artists!)
After 3 days in Paris, we traveled to Valkenburg where we would stay for the next 5 days. From this small border town in the Netherlands we did day trips into Germany and Brussels, as well as towns in the Netherlands. Although I loved Paris this part of the trip was much more enjoyable to me. Aside from Amsterdam and Brussels (both of which I loved!) the towns we visited were smaller, and there was a significantly less amount of tourists which is always a relief when you’re used to living alone in a small African village :) Instead of detailing all the places I traveled to (you’ll just have to check my pictures on facebook) I will write about my favorites. In Cologne, my family and I sat in a beautiful, open square and ate lunch while people-watching and enjoying the local craft beer (which was likely my favorite brew of the trip!). I also found a tiny hole-in-the-wall Lebanaese restaurant and bought falafel. After lunch we wandered to the more touristy area and I found a DUNKIN DONUTS. So excited, I got real iced coffee.
(hanging out at a bar in Vaalkenburg with my dad and Morgan)
Also in Germany, we went to a small vineyard, which was adorable. The vineyards are so neat in Germany because the grapes are grown on these huge hills that are so steep they almost resemble a cliff. I wondered how it was possible to actually pick and harvest the grapes, but the wine was good and the view was magnificent.
We also went to a small town called Aachen, which had the most beautiful church (in my opinion) out of the whole trip. Outside the church resembled any other large, medieval cathedral, but inside it was covered in mosaics reminiscant of Byzantine culture/similar to the style in Istanbul. It was so pretty!
In the Netherlands, we traveled to another town, Maastricht, where although it was rainy and cold it was also probably one of my favorite days. it was the one day, where we were not with our tour group for the entire day. We had no schedule and could do whatever. This of course resulted in shopping and some really great food. Also in the Netherlands, we went to Amsterdam and that city was just so cool! I wish I had more time there because it seemed like such a neat, fun, free-spirited place but even a few hours in the afternoon were better than nothing. We ended our day there at the Heinekin brewery where I teased my dad for not finishing his beer fast enough (which resulted in me getting his second beer) and us both agreeing that the Heinekin actually tastes good when you drink it at the brewery.
In Belgium, we just spent a few hours in Brussels, which I’m really glad we got to do. The city has a beatuful square, with buildings trimmed in gold and decorated with intricate designs and statues. We ate delicious Belgian waffles and also drank some good beer at the delirium café. Yum.
So overall, I know it sounds like all I did was shop and eat and look at pretty historical things…and maybe that is true but because we were with a large tour group it was difficult to do things outside of the allotted schedule. This was frustrating at first, being myself, I wanted to wander aimlessly in every city and go into every possible museum/historical building but that of course wasn’t possible, there simply wasn’t enough time. A few days into the trip I decided that instead of being frustrated with the lack of time to see all these things/places, I should view the tour part of my trip as a preview of Europe; a quick taste of each city so I could decide if I wanted to return one day…and instead of focusing on the lack of time to do everything and see everything I just enjoyed the time I had with my family and it was wonderful! It was so nice to tell stories, hear about home, drink beer with my dad, giggle and shop with my mom and gossip with Morgan. I still can’t believe it will be 16 or 17 more months until I see them again—sure you guys don’t want to visit me here? And Nikki, believe when I say you were definitely missed.
After 8 days with the family I said my goodbyes and traveled to Bologna in Italy to meet up with a good friend from college, Joanna, who was starting her first year of graduate school (at SAIS) abroad. Traveling to Bologna was exactly what I needed in-between the eurotrip and return to moz because it was so much more relaxed. I got to enjoy all the amenities of the developed world without feeling guilty for sleeping in, or going for a run because it would mean I was missing out on doing something else. Joanna and I explored her city (which is awesome! Bologna is an old medieval town that somehow missed out on the architectural revolution of the renaissance, resulting in lots of small, narrow winding alleyways, plenty of arched, built up buildings that you can’t see over into the next street, and lots of old churches) maybe I didn’t do justice to how cool the town is but there are plenty of pictures to prove it. So Joanna and I explored town, went hiking in the hills outside of town, and traveled to Venice (which was so cool!!!) we also ate really good pizza, plenty of gelato and drank wine that was made right there in Bologna. We also got to catch up and swap stories from our past year in Africa (Joanna was in Benin so it was neat comparing West Africa culture to Moz). It was really fun.
VENICE.
(the old streets of bologna!)
After two whole weeks in Europe, I packed my bags (full of new clothes, non-perishable food, and some cool gifts from my family) and boarded the plane back to Africa. I spent another two days in Maputo and then traveled back to Vanduzi. At the Chimoio airport I was reminded of the culture here when my Mozambican friend who agreed to give me a ride back to site arrived 2 ½ hours late (even though when I called him to tell him my flight landed he said he was just arriving at the airport) and while waiting for my friend to come I couldn’t buy water because the guy at the airport had no change….I was definitely sad to leave Europe so soon and was not feeling too excited to return to site but as my driver pulled up to my house there were 5 kids jumping up and down yelling “OLA AMIGA!!!!” and shortly after I was greeting with a warm welcome from some colleagues at school and a student who ran up to my house to shake my hand and welcome me back. Teaching my first lessons in 3 weeks yesterday also reminded me how much I enjoy living here. I won’t stay here forever but I am happy that I have another year left in Vanduzi. After a very much-needed break in Europe I am ready to jump back into school and try to do some good work in my wonderful little village in Mozambique.
The most surprising things from my trip back into the west (as culture shock)
-how beautiful every single building is. In Europe people construct things that are aesthetically pleasing…in Africa they just build them
-how nice it is to walk around at night and feel safe (note-its safe in my village but walking around at night is a huge no-no)
-that people can drink in public in a casual way…and not be wasted by 2pm
-how pretty, no wait, beautiful and well-fed the dogs are
-how peculiar Americans are about drinking bottled water
-how “skimpy” some people really dress
-how frustrating it is NOT to know how to greet people in their native language; in Paris this wasn’t much of a problem because most people didn’t stop and acknowledge you when you were walking down the street but in smaller towns it was so frustrating! I resorted to just greeting people in Portuguese while I was in italy---hey it’s a romance language I think they got it?
-similar to that previous post, how wonderful it was to finally BLEND IN AGAIN and not be stared at (and yelled at and noticed) by every single person everywhere…it was fantastic!
and just how wonderful it is to have delicious food (and real coffee) available at any hour of the day in pretty much any town I traveled too regardless of how large or small it was!
And there are probably more but those are the most memorable aside from the fact that I thought every single person’s outfit was fashionable and cute and I wanted to buy everything in ever store, so much for not caring about fashion?
Sorry this post was so long…but it has been 4 weeks?!
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Ihla de Mocambique
I don’t know where to start.
After PDM, I traveled north to meet up with some friends at Ihla de Mocambique—and it was absolutely wonderful.
(Some of the group standing at the pier in Ihla--Lisa get's photo credit for this one!)
The trip to Ihla took 2 full days. Two weeks ago, Kristen (another PCV) and I left Chimoio at 5AM in a chapa that took us to Inchope, the crossroads between north, south, east and west (north to Nampula, south to Maputo, east to Beira and west to Chimoio). This cruzamento is where central volunteers go to start our hitch-hiking. Well, by 7AM Kristen and I were camped out on the side of the road, optimistic that our early start would bring us some luck from the bolea [hitch-hiking] gods. We could not have been more wrong. In the first few hours just 4 other cars drove by, one of which stopped and tried to charge us $20 to go a couple hundred k north. We declined, we didn’t have the money, if did we would have taken a bus, so we waited, and waited and waited. After 5 hours, feeling pretty desperate and not wanting to return to Chimoio, we waved down a semi (a large truck) who stopped and agreed to take us all the way to Zambezia for approximately $6. We agreed and go in the van. So begins my 10 hour journey in a truck with little water, no food and no bathroom breaks (we did pack snacks but we ate them all on the side of the road.) After 10 hours we rolled into Mocuba, Zambezia around 10PM, our driver dropped us at bridge, which we crossed on bikes to meet our friends on the other side who had been waiting for us all day. Thankfully, PCVs are kind of awesome, our friends had waited up for us and had dinner saved for us to eat when we arrived disheveled and exhausted at their house.
(Kristen and I started in Chimoio, and finished our journey at Ihla...it doesn't look to far on the map but it was "la!")
We slept maybe 6 hours that night then woke up to continue traveling north. We got a little luckier that day and got a bolea to the cruzamento for Gurue (a beautiful area in the north I will return to visit!) From there we got picked up by a wonderful French man who drove us all the way to Nampula City. In Nampula we ended up taking chapas/open-back trucks all the way to Ihla and we finally arrived at our destination around 8PM that night. After 2 full days of travel we were beat, but also really excited we made it to the island and were reunited with our friends, some of whom we hadn’t seen since last December.
(A window to paradise, mom and dad are you sure you don't want to visit?)
The next 3 days were just wonderful. Ihla de Mocambique is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it served as the original capital of the Portuguese empire in the region and was a major trading port between Portugal and India. Aside from having pristine beaches with beautiful, turquoise water, the town itself is pretty magical. Unlike most of the country, the Island has a clear Portuguese influence. The roads are narrow and cobblestone, the buildings perfectly white (or faded colors from long ago) and although most of the architecture appears to be crumbling it really is beautiful.
We spent those three days exploring the old Portuguese fort, wandering town and spending lazy afternoons on the pier that extends into the Indian Ocean. At night we ate delicious food (the cuisine is easily the best I have had yet in this country; incredibly fresh seafood, coconut rice and curries seasoned with Indian, Mocambican and Portuguese flavorings, it was truly to die for). And basically just enjoyed our time on the sleepy island of ihla.
The trip back took another 2 full days of travel but I can happily report is was definitely worth it and I can not wait to travel back north and visit this island and the rest of that region again.
(Fresh Fish)
So now I am back at school, starting the third (and final!) semester of the year but I can’t focus much on teaching because I am leaving for vacation THIS SATURDAY and will get to see my family (and some friends) after 11 months away from home! I could not be more excited. So apologize ahead of time if I don’t update my blog until I’m back, but I’ll be traveling without a computer…but I promise to return with pictures and stories!
After PDM, I traveled north to meet up with some friends at Ihla de Mocambique—and it was absolutely wonderful.
The trip to Ihla took 2 full days. Two weeks ago, Kristen (another PCV) and I left Chimoio at 5AM in a chapa that took us to Inchope, the crossroads between north, south, east and west (north to Nampula, south to Maputo, east to Beira and west to Chimoio). This cruzamento is where central volunteers go to start our hitch-hiking. Well, by 7AM Kristen and I were camped out on the side of the road, optimistic that our early start would bring us some luck from the bolea [hitch-hiking] gods. We could not have been more wrong. In the first few hours just 4 other cars drove by, one of which stopped and tried to charge us $20 to go a couple hundred k north. We declined, we didn’t have the money, if did we would have taken a bus, so we waited, and waited and waited. After 5 hours, feeling pretty desperate and not wanting to return to Chimoio, we waved down a semi (a large truck) who stopped and agreed to take us all the way to Zambezia for approximately $6. We agreed and go in the van. So begins my 10 hour journey in a truck with little water, no food and no bathroom breaks (we did pack snacks but we ate them all on the side of the road.) After 10 hours we rolled into Mocuba, Zambezia around 10PM, our driver dropped us at bridge, which we crossed on bikes to meet our friends on the other side who had been waiting for us all day. Thankfully, PCVs are kind of awesome, our friends had waited up for us and had dinner saved for us to eat when we arrived disheveled and exhausted at their house.
We slept maybe 6 hours that night then woke up to continue traveling north. We got a little luckier that day and got a bolea to the cruzamento for Gurue (a beautiful area in the north I will return to visit!) From there we got picked up by a wonderful French man who drove us all the way to Nampula City. In Nampula we ended up taking chapas/open-back trucks all the way to Ihla and we finally arrived at our destination around 8PM that night. After 2 full days of travel we were beat, but also really excited we made it to the island and were reunited with our friends, some of whom we hadn’t seen since last December.
The next 3 days were just wonderful. Ihla de Mocambique is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it served as the original capital of the Portuguese empire in the region and was a major trading port between Portugal and India. Aside from having pristine beaches with beautiful, turquoise water, the town itself is pretty magical. Unlike most of the country, the Island has a clear Portuguese influence. The roads are narrow and cobblestone, the buildings perfectly white (or faded colors from long ago) and although most of the architecture appears to be crumbling it really is beautiful.
We spent those three days exploring the old Portuguese fort, wandering town and spending lazy afternoons on the pier that extends into the Indian Ocean. At night we ate delicious food (the cuisine is easily the best I have had yet in this country; incredibly fresh seafood, coconut rice and curries seasoned with Indian, Mocambican and Portuguese flavorings, it was truly to die for). And basically just enjoyed our time on the sleepy island of ihla.
The trip back took another 2 full days of travel but I can happily report is was definitely worth it and I can not wait to travel back north and visit this island and the rest of that region again.
So now I am back at school, starting the third (and final!) semester of the year but I can’t focus much on teaching because I am leaving for vacation THIS SATURDAY and will get to see my family (and some friends) after 11 months away from home! I could not be more excited. So apologize ahead of time if I don’t update my blog until I’m back, but I’ll be traveling without a computer…but I promise to return with pictures and stories!
PDM
(Does anyone actually know what this acronym stands for?)
I attended PDM with 9 other Peace Corps Volunteers and their counterparts, in Garuso (about 15k from Vanduzi). The purpose of the conference was to learn about secondary projects that volunteers can start/continue in their communities. We each brought a colleague from school, who ideally we would work with on these projects, and who could continue them once we finish service and return to the states. Overall, it was incredibly successful, and was the exact forum I needed to show a colleague of mine what Peace Corps really is, and the potential I as a volunteer, have to start projects in our community. It was also great to finally learn about grants that are available for volunteers.
At the last minute I asked another English teacher, Simao, to come along with me to PDM and he agreed almost immediately. The weekend before the conference he insisted on meeting up and discussing potential project ideas-because he only had a few days notice to prepare, he was worried others would think we were weren’t prepared (note: there was no required prep for this conference). Still, his desire to prepare made me even more excited that I was bringing him along. During the conference Simao and I brainstormed a number of different ideas for projects we could start in Vanduzi. We made a list and then decided to focus on one of the easier/more short-term projects, and agreed to return to our list at the start of the next school year, when there would be more time.
We decided we will form a student group at school and together will teach them more about HIV/AIDs. These students then, will have the chance to educate their community about HIV/AIDs through theatre, dance, music and poetry. This group will be very similar to JUNTOS—a nationwide group that many volunteers are involved with in Mozambique. We set meeting dates and agreed to talk to other teachers about our group when we returned to Vanduzi. We also agreed to form an English club and really get started with our English theatre group (today I got a list of interested 8th graders who want to participate!)
Overall, the conference was a huge success. For me, I was able to share with a colleague more about what Peace Corps is, and because the conference was so professional, my colleague was able to trust or understand better what kinds of projects would be possible if we worked together. More importantly, I was able to chat with Simao about what he thought was really needed in Vanduzi, and through these conversations gauge a better idea of what the community wants and needs.
Now that I’m back at site, I’ve met with Simao and we are still planning to meet with our colleagues---it’s the first week of the semester and unfortunately very few teachers, and students have returned to school. I’m excited though I think our student group, along with our English club, is going to come along great. Simao is well-liked as school and the students really respect him, so I think together we will be able to get more participation and excitement from our students. Wish me luck!
I attended PDM with 9 other Peace Corps Volunteers and their counterparts, in Garuso (about 15k from Vanduzi). The purpose of the conference was to learn about secondary projects that volunteers can start/continue in their communities. We each brought a colleague from school, who ideally we would work with on these projects, and who could continue them once we finish service and return to the states. Overall, it was incredibly successful, and was the exact forum I needed to show a colleague of mine what Peace Corps really is, and the potential I as a volunteer, have to start projects in our community. It was also great to finally learn about grants that are available for volunteers.
At the last minute I asked another English teacher, Simao, to come along with me to PDM and he agreed almost immediately. The weekend before the conference he insisted on meeting up and discussing potential project ideas-because he only had a few days notice to prepare, he was worried others would think we were weren’t prepared (note: there was no required prep for this conference). Still, his desire to prepare made me even more excited that I was bringing him along. During the conference Simao and I brainstormed a number of different ideas for projects we could start in Vanduzi. We made a list and then decided to focus on one of the easier/more short-term projects, and agreed to return to our list at the start of the next school year, when there would be more time.
We decided we will form a student group at school and together will teach them more about HIV/AIDs. These students then, will have the chance to educate their community about HIV/AIDs through theatre, dance, music and poetry. This group will be very similar to JUNTOS—a nationwide group that many volunteers are involved with in Mozambique. We set meeting dates and agreed to talk to other teachers about our group when we returned to Vanduzi. We also agreed to form an English club and really get started with our English theatre group (today I got a list of interested 8th graders who want to participate!)
Overall, the conference was a huge success. For me, I was able to share with a colleague more about what Peace Corps is, and because the conference was so professional, my colleague was able to trust or understand better what kinds of projects would be possible if we worked together. More importantly, I was able to chat with Simao about what he thought was really needed in Vanduzi, and through these conversations gauge a better idea of what the community wants and needs.
Now that I’m back at site, I’ve met with Simao and we are still planning to meet with our colleagues---it’s the first week of the semester and unfortunately very few teachers, and students have returned to school. I’m excited though I think our student group, along with our English club, is going to come along great. Simao is well-liked as school and the students really respect him, so I think together we will be able to get more participation and excitement from our students. Wish me luck!
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