April Adventures Pt. II: The Gurué Tea Fields & Maputo

Continued from April Adventures Pt.I:

Unfortunately, we did not get to spend too much time in Gurué, but we did approveitar our time there to explore the hike that leads you to a waterfall. Along the way, we admired the yards of endless tea fields, the bamboo jungles, and the local community that lives on the mountain. This hike was hands down, the most beautiful and stunning hike I've ever been on! These pictures are pretty great but it doesn't even compare to the beauty that we witnessed firsthand. It was unreal.

At one point of the hike, we were taking turns singing a terribly off-key rendition of Colors of the Wind, ahahah! 



Tea fields as far as the eye can see
Women washing laundry by the river

Jay & Brian

Bamboo!

Truck transporting Tea

The trek up...


Steven making his way up


Waterfall!

Bros being bros @ the TOP

on top of the waterfall, looking down

CAC!

the crew!

Heading back down the hill and looking back at the waterfall

Local women making their way through the tea fields. One of my favorite pictures I've taken in MOz.

Another favorite

Children playing on top of the creek

3am start on our travel back

Cuddle pile on the way back

12 hour ride back to Chitown on an open back and a few chickens to keep us company

CAC!

:)

 Soon after getting back from the trip, I jetted off to Maputo for two back to back conferences:

 First stop- REDES Registration Meeting

 REDES, which has been a Peace Corps secondary project for 10 years, has been researching the steps necessary to register itself as a Mozambican led association. Funding for the project comes from PEPFAR, but looming budget cuts have gotten us thinking about moving the project towards a more sustainable model. This process has been ongoing since last September. In the past months, we identified 11 founding members and planned a 3 day conference in Maputo to finalize the paperwork needed. We arrived to the capital on Monday and conducted the Meeting from Tuesday to Thursday.


Vilma and I arriving in Maputo

View from the PC office in Maputes

REDES founding members working hard on revising and preparing the necessary
documents necessary for registration.



Lee, Taylor and I w/ the 11 board members after concluding the meeting!

The meeting ran pretty smoothly and the project is now officially on it's way to becoming a Mozambican led association. This process will take a few months or even perhaps a year to finalize, but the members that form this board are incredible women with inspiring strength and determination, so I will stay optimistic and wish them much success in the coming years!

Distribution of volunteers throughout Mozambique :)
We ROLL DEEEEEP!


Now that the registration meeting is over, I have a few days in between waiting for my COS conference to start on Monday! COS (Close of Service) conference usually takes place three months before we actually leave and it's purpose is to discuss the logistics of closing out our service and the process of returning home. 

For those of you who are not on facebook, I received my COS dates and I will be leaving site on July 27th. I will be closing out my service in Maputo on the 28th through the 30th and I leave Mozambique on the 31st!

Aaaaaaaaaahh!!! Exciting, ne?! 

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