First 6 Weeks

Oi! Happy New Year. So my first month and a half have been relaxing and challenging, and have brought energy and hopelessness. My community is actually extremely large, in terms of area. From my house, 7 Kilo to the south, 7 to the west, 8 to the north and 26 to the east. There are 32,000 people but the mud huts are spread out over the vast land of mountains, hills, and valleys; dense with plentiful fruit trees and small machambas (farms). I live in between the market and the health center. my first few weeks were building things for my house, which is actually not bad minus the horrible leaks, ant problem, low metal ceiling which bakes my house, lack of windows (3) which limits the flow of air and contributes to the baking of the interior and the doors which are used to enter the house and my bedroom that are about 5 foot 6 inches tall. People spent a lot of their free time when I first moved in stopping by to see if I wanted to give them anything (quinhentos for a cigarette, equivalent to 2 cents; or 50,000 meticias, $2,000, to purchase an electric saw in order to gut the beautiful countryside of its natural resources and sell the trees to the Commie/Capitalistas in China to support their booming economy), also food, medicine, or books. It was also during the holiday season and they would say 'boa festa' and expect money from me, those who know me can picture my response in their heads and laugh. I left for Xmas and went to Ile about 100 kilos away and visited some German Missionaries. There were extremely nice and welcoming and even bought me Xmas presents. Ain't nothing in the world like singing Silent Night in German. People in my town would also come by with American money, a quarter or dollar or 5 dollars and want to exchange it for Meticial, Eu nao sou um banco.
When I returned to my house before New Years I had a couple pesky black snakes in the ole' crib. One was about 18-20 inches and the other was a baby, I actually enjoyed chopping their heads off with my machete. The top of my house is run by a few lizards and one really large lizard that looks like an iguana, I don't mind their presence, the keep my house clean by eating a lot of cockroaches and other bugs, but not the darn ants. Since I don't have electricity I usually head to bed around 730 or 8 and try to make it out to the water pump, about 40 yards from my house by 5am, but not later than 530, muitas pessoas will be there. I pump my water and carry it on my head back to my house. The men tell me not to do it because it is a shameful act, but since it is a rampant patriarchical society where women are subjugated to the rule of men, I happily defy their blessings. It is the closest I will ever be to that great revolutionary spirit of the 60's in the ole US of A. I can just see Bull Connor telling his kids not to do things because there are certains orders in this society which all people must respect and conservately conform too. Anyways...
I forgot to tell of my ride to the German Missionary house for Xmas. I jumped in a chapa with this doctor i was chatting with and this car would take us half-way, which in Africa is like almost being there. He said if I would mind the fact the chapa would have meat which people were bringing to the capital city. I said no. The chapa arrives and in the back is a cow, killed and skinned the night before, laying in the back with its head on top of its body. Prolly thousands of flies and a family of 5 sitting in the back with it. Along the way we stop for an hour and help people with their car. I walk to a mango tree and eat some breakfast with the trusty knife Mr. Rizzo gave me (it gets better here Mr. Rizzo, haha). We continue to the half way point and we stop and the chapa begins selling chunks of this meat that have been sitting in this boiling hot chapa since the night before (See, federal regulations are stupid). The doctor asks to see my knife and without thinking I handed it over and he began to chop up this cow with the 4 or 5 inch knife.
On the way back from Xmas i wait at that same halfway point for 4 hours until this nice Zimbabyan white couple pick me up. They tell me of their story about how Mugabe took their land last September and they were forced to leave the country. Now they help people in northern Mozambique with crop rotations to replenish their soil. That week I began walking around more to meet people and introduce myself. I ran into Carlos and Carlisto, brothers which handcrafted very beautiful furniture. I drew them a dresser and a large work bench for cooking and placing dishes and other things, we agreed on a price and they agreed to make them. I am still waiting for them to finish but I am sure they will be beautiful.
Lots of people haven't seen me in over a month told me i lost weight, which is probably true, but I feel healthy. Exercise enough and eat an enormous amount of fruit everyday, along with beans twice a week. But it is difficult to acquire meat or other fatty foods in the bush of Africa, and 90% of the people in my community survive on less than a $1 a day (guestimation).
On to work, Muguluma suprisingly has a rather extensive volunteer 'army'. Made up of over 30 people, whom most have been trained by the government or other NGO's, and are scattered across an enormous range of territory. Next week I begin visiting all of them by bicycle to introduce myself to the area leaders and speak with other locals. My goal is to increase the amount of people who get tested every Monday for HIV. Though I have secondary concerns: educating citizens on the best methods of treating diarrhea; how to cook greens and not lose the nutrients, which is evident in the bellies of 95% of the children under 5; and depending on my community, many other things. For instance, when a mother lets her 3 year old go diarrhea on my lawn while I am reading the Federalist Papers on my porch, I use that as a good chance to explain the best thing to combat diarrhea is lots of water, preferebly boiled, for a day with bananas. No medicine is needed (Where There is No Doctor is a great resource guide, I wouldn't mind it being taught in grade schools in the states, it would save us from weakening our bodies for future generations with the substantial use of pointless medicines which we can buy way to easily and are abused by millions...but I forgot, that book speaks to the truth about the unequal distribution of land and resources, so people would think we are trying to brainwash children in public schools and instead of having an intellectual debate founded on the curiosity of the human mind, fear-mongering would ensue and the debate would be undertook through the passion of man instead of his reason, scratch that idea).
Let's indulge into a little International Development, World Economy and International Law (or as Hamilton, Madison and Jay referred to as "The Law of Nations" dozens of times in the Federalist Papers). First, I remember a man talking to me in my homestay community of Mafuiane about the manufacturing and textile industries, or lack thereof in Mozambique. He wanted to know why Mozambique doesn't produce cheap clothes for their poor and in the mean time create jobs and lift some of the poor out of poverty? Instead, this country receives the clothes American's did not wish to buy in the goodwill, which originate from Taiwan, China or the Phillipines, and this clothing apparel floods the markets here and there is now way for Mozambique to compete with it. Let's look at another sector, health. We got urselves (they tok' ur jobs...for you nelly) a little problem here in the ole Africa. Many societal factors contribute to the poor situation of health but I do not seek to swim to the bottom of the ocean of those problems in this blog. Let's say you live in a community in America of 32,000 people (and America happens to be the 7th poorest country in the world). This community has one health center (3 rooms) and a maternity. They have 2 nurses and a few helpers who prolly do things they wouldn't be allowed in a well-regulated environment. Women walk 5, 10, 15, 25, 30 kilometers with a baby on their back, no shoes and under the sun of Africa to this health facility. It sounds as if this little 'posto de saude' could use a little help, eh? I would say so. Now let's pretend an international body which is run by the richest country in the history of mankind told your country that they are not allowed to hire more than a certain amount of public health workers because that country doesn't want us to exhibit any Marxist tendencies! There is no point in showing my disillusionment through typing swear words using other symbols. any reasonable person (not one compelled by passion), can see the complex issues underdeveloped countries face. And, Your country along with its neighbor, are unable to retain the brilliant minds which are developed by our countries every so often because they would rather leave for the developed countries pay scale. Let's go on to the agricultural sector. Your country has an amazing array of territory which is Blessed By God to be in a climate suitable for the growth of an array of fruits and vegetables. Why not share (sell) these with the world, we sure as heck know the richest country in the world could use a little more fruit (except for Laura, she eats real healthy, love you) and a little less fast food. But once again, these 3 countries which control so much of the world market, are viciously controlled by the interests of the agricultural sector of the country and addicted to subsidizations (Britain and France the other 2). They protect their farmers through tariffs and through the use of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, and disallow governments to subsidize their farmers. You've got to be thinking: When am I truly going to share the fruits of pure sovereignty with my countrymen? Once people who control the affairs of the world have enriched their minds and souls through cultural exchange and understanding.
Talk with you soon.
Bryan