Jeannette, Erin, Maria, and I elated over our gelato, crepes, and chocolate sauce.
We arrived in Nampula at about 9 am and then took a chapa
(kind of like a bus, but way more crowded) to Ilha de Mocambique, where we met
our host Saranya. Ilha has a lot of
history because it was the first place the Portuguese landed in
Mocambique. It was the capital of Portuguese colonial East Africa until 1898. It has a very
European feel because a lot of the original Portuguese architecture is still
around. It is a great vacation spot for
anyone wanting to relax and enjoy some good food and beautiful beaches. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of Mozambique's fastest growing tourist destinations.
Rayna and me on the pier at Ilha.
A satellite dish on top of a grass-roofed hut. Welcome to Moz.
A woman carrying water in front a good example of Portuguese architecture.
We spent two days at Ilha and then took a boleia (basically hitchhiked)
back to Saranya’s site, a small town called Carapira. We took three forms of transportation to get
to Carapira. First, we took a rickety
pickup truck jammed with about 25 people across the bridge from the island to
the continent. Then we climbed in the
back of a big truck transporting barrels of gasoline with about 20 other people. I was sitting with my back against a drum of
gasoline and next to a woman with an adorable baby boy who kept grabbing my
finger. A woman next to Saranya asked
for her phone number and called her later that night to make sure we got home
ok. Mozambicans are so great. The last form of transportation we took was
by far the nicest. We hopped in a brand
new truck heading west to Carapira. We
got to sit in the cab this time which was super comfy. That’s the great thing about boleias—sometimes
you luck out and get a ride that is much faster and more comfortable than a chapa,
all for free!
In Carapira we toured Saranya’s school, toured the hospital,
had lunch with other visiting volunteers from a neighboring town, and observed
some events at the school, such as a review session for an English exam and
conselho de notas. Conselho de notas
happens at every school at the end of every term. It is where all the teachers get together and
read off grades of students in their classes.
It is also a time for the teachers to discuss particular students and
decide if they should pass or not. Corruption
in schools is a huge issue in Mozambique and definitely the subject of a future
blog post.
Saranya's backyard
Carapira
Overall, our trip was exhausting, but I was so glad to get
out of Namaacha for a bit and see the life of a real volunteer. The northern part of the country is extremely
different from the south. While the
south is mostly Catholic, the north is predominantly Muslim. While the south has decent infrastructure,
the north has close to none. The poverty
in the north is much more extreme than in the south and while education isn’t
great in the south, it is even worse in the north. Also, almost everyone speaks Makua, the local
language, instead of Portuguese. Rayna
and I had an interesting experience on Ilha when we were sunbathing at the pier. A guy came up in his dugout canoe and started asking us what certain words
were in Portuguese, such as sea urchin and fishing line, because he only knew
them in Makua. We had to tell him we
didn’t know because we’d only been speaking Portuguese for one month!
On Monday we have interviews about site placement and on
Thursday we get our sites! I can’t believe that in 5 days I will know where I
am spending the next two years. I can’t
wait!
No comments:
Post a Comment