work, more despedidas & political instability
Hi friends!
Wendels here, with a brief update on mihna vida here in Moz.
What's new?
It's November and work is winding down. Not sure if I can say that work is slow, because it's actually always slow. Work is slower. Do you all remember my original placement, TIOS? Well, last month they finally admitted that they're not real. haha jk. They finally admitted that they have no work for me (after almost a year of nothingness and wasting my time). I'm not bitter, though. It saves me the hassle of walking to the other side of town just to bullshit and talk about the weather... The agreement turned out to be that they would call me when things 'resume' back up again. Will their projects actually start up again? Mmmm. Don't want to be a Debby Downer... but from what I've seen in that association- I doubt that they will rise back up and be the organization that they once were.
Things at my other organization are fine. My counterpart and I have finalized the activity book that we've been working on and I actually put together the finished version todayyyyy! The activity book focuses on hygiene lessons for primary school-aged OVCs (Orphans & Vulnerable Children). In addition to hygiene and water & sanitation, we have some sections on Nutrition and Malaria. The book contains some drawings from a Canadian NGO, CAWST (Center for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology) and some other clip art bits here and there. I intent to scan the book and share it with other PCVs who would like to carry out the project in their communities. At the moment, I am waiting to hear from a German donor to see if our proposal was accepted. If everything works out, we will receive funds in January to reproduce the activity book and carry out activities with children in the community. If my German connection falls through, I will explore other sources.
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| Cover page |
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| Hygiene, Water & Sanitation |
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| Nutrition |
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| Malaria |
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| Marcos o Mosquito ^____^ tee hee |
In other news, my heart is a little shattered, for I had to say goodbye to yet another one of my best friends, Joanna. Joanna was a Moz17 Education volunteer whose site was about 2 hours North from me. Joanna was pretty much the chillest girl you'll ever meet. It was so refreshing to have her around; She was someone that you could have a serious conversation about whatever heavy social issue, but she was also someone that you would be ecstatic to hitch-hike down to Swaziland with and party into all hours of the night. Joanna was among the group of volunteers that I first met when I arrived at site, the O.G. central crew, if you will. Everyone that I met when I first arrived has either COS'ed (finished out their service- Close of Service) or will be doing so in the coming weeks. It's weird and I am sad. Not very eloquent, but I don't really know how else to put it. In the PC, we joke about having "government issued friends," because in reality- you're in a situation where you're kinda forced to befriend a couple personalities that you otherwise wouldn't. There's people that you have reservations about and who you later grow to like; There's people that you don't absolutely love and never really get, and then there's people you like at first that later prove to be kinda nuts. There's a whole spectrum of acquaintances, colleagues, and government issued "friends"- Jo was not one of these. Joanna is one of the handful of volunteers that you can see yourself maintaining a friendship with, even after you're not coerced into it because you're lonely as fuck in some random-as site in Africa (Mozambique).
I'm really gonna miss that girl (**breaks down into tears & pours one out for the dead COS'ed homies**, LMAO)
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| Carolyn, Jo & I |
What else?!
Well, aside from rising political and social instability, life is pretty much the same. I've been a little hesitant to mention the ongoing, and recently, more regular confrontations between the government, FRELIMO, and a small guerrilla group-slash-opposing political party, RENAMO, because a) I don't want to alarm my friends and family (looking at you, Ma) and b) I don't really know how to feel about it yet. Since April, there has been a number of attacks between the rivals. Sadly, the violence has spread and the guerrillas have started targeting civilian vehices. It's unknown whether these specific attacks were ordered by their leader, Afonso Dhlakama, or if these incidents are the result of opportunistic vandals. It's a fragile situation considering that many Mozambicans still have fresh memories of the brutal and destructive 15 year civil war that devastated the country between 1977 and 1992. If you care to read more about the situation, here are some links:
Like I said, I don't really know how to feel about this situation. I notice that many of my fellow PCVs are visibly nervous and alarmed. Peace Corps has been in close contact and have asked us to remain calm. Embassy analyst presume that RENAMO lacks the resources and civilian support to wage a full-scale civil war; Many ex-pats seem to agree. On the other hand, I went into work this last week and all my counterparts talked about was 'the war'. They are convinced that the war has started. When I mentioned the foreign embassy analyst, my counterpart exploded in a rant about how fragile society is here in Mozambique. According to her, people are easily corruptible and even though they may say that they support FRELIMO (the party in power), they can quickly shift. People are hungry, destitute and desperate, in her view, and it wouldn't take much to recruit or build support among the civilian population. As a young child, Virginia lived through the civil war and has retold some of her most vivid memories to me.
Although I respect the views of the locals, and understand that their past is something I could never relate to- part of me wonders how much weight I should place on their analysis of the current situation. There is a lot of fofoca (gossip) that gets spread after an incident and it's often hard to get the facts. News coverage is faulty and not always reliable in a developing country...
Overall, I personally feel pretty safe... The incidents have not (yet) reached my province and luckily, I live 10 minutes away from the central regional office. If anything were to happen, I know that Peace Corps has resources to evacuate us out at a moment's notice.
Sadly, this is not a privilege or a choice that my counterparts, coworkers or the vast majority of Mozambican society has.
OMG your activity book is so cute! What a great idea! So happy to hear from a later post that you received the grant!!!
ReplyDeleteNot happy to hear about all the social conflict, but I know you're a warrior and trust that your judgment will keep you safe.
It's interesting that in quite a few of your posts you seem very disconnected and/or undecided emotionally in regards to certain things, which is a slightly different Wendy than I know. But I guess that's what the corrupt atmosphere generates. You can't fully invest in something emotionally when it's unreliable and unstable. I would think it would make me feel sort of lost a lot of the time, but it certainly builds resilience and buoyancy which is extremely powerful when projected in a positive light.
I can't wait to see you again- to laugh with the old Wendy and to learn from the fortified and more experienced newer Wendy :) xoxo