Mocambican’t! Run your not-so amazing race elsewhere.

The only time I watched this “reality TV show”, Amazing Race was once a few years back at my sister/brother-in-law’s apartment with our friend Tessa who lived in Peru for many years and the episode was taking place in Cuzco the city where she had lived. Thanks, Ash for letting me know about the show but I am about as unimpressed as I was when we watched with Tessa.

Ali, The Interpreter, Blood Diamond and Catch a Fire are some of the most recent/popular movies that were filmed partially or entirely in Mozambique, especially the capitol Maputo. I don’t really know that I want anyone invading Mozambique be it USAID (United States Agency for International Development), Will Smith or the Amazing Race crew. I guess my fear is that those idiots at Survivor will come in and decide to take over one of Mozambique’s pristine beaches, cut down some of the virgin forests or one of many other neo-colonial activities.

Yes, exposure, especially positive is good for Mozambique and many countries particularly in the underdeveloped world rely on tourism as a major part of their economy. Yet, had I seen these idiots filming when I was in Mozambique a few months back I would have done something, such as run naked through their set, to try and muck up this filming. The last thing the world needs is tourists, “development” experts and others to parachute in, take some pics, hand out some (band)“aid”(s) and then shoot off to another “disaster” only to return when the next flood, elections, casting call or USAID call for proposals (worth millions if not billions) goes out. Please visit, enjoy, interact and take home memories but don’t think for a second that you know the solutions to a people’s problems better than they know them.

Now, I know I am getting a bit off track and probably loosing some of you with my mad ranting but I know I am not the only one that thinks this way and that is how I sleep at night. Back to the show that was filmed in the Maputo area and I understand aired last Sunday. Even though I am not a fan of such programs I would be willing to watch this one for two reasons. It was filmed in Maputo a city that I know well, where many of my friends live and where I have spent many great times. And second, because it highlighted the work of an organization called Apopo http://www.apopo.org/newsite/content/index.htm which a good friend actually works for. Alfredo who taught Shangaana, to Annie, Charles, John, Nanosh and I, who is quite a linguist, father of two and a nice guy has been working for Apopo for some years now. I will have to get in touch with him and see if he was around on the day that this show was filmed at one of the fields where Apopo works training mine sniffing rats who detect mines and alert de-mining crews. This is a much smarter/safer technique then using dogs or people to detect mines as rats are light enough that they can’t set off the mines but sensitive enough that they have an amazing success rate in finding mines under the ground. It also seems they are using these rats to detect TB (tuberculosis, you know that thing that Val Kilmer/Doc Holliday was suffering from in Tombstone.

In conclusion tread lightly, respect others, get off you’re A$$ and see reality for yourself. It is silly to rely on others to bring “reality” into your living room so that you can be an armchair explorer. Granted travel is not always cheap, affordable, easy, etc. and I am not advocating for mass travel to “exotic” places as increased carbon emissions is the last thing we need but coming face to face with reality is as easy as heading to your local community center, volunteering at a school, offering to take someone shopping, etc. It may not be as sexy or intriguing as the stuff we are spoon fed on people but it sure is more rewarding and lasting. I do advocate for your to live vicariously through me as you know I try to bring important, interesting and educational information to you about my travels, studies and work at home and abroad. P.S. if you do want to visit Maputo/Mozambique at some point I would love to be your guide on the “off the beaten path” tour that Lonely Planet doesn’t give you.

Missing Mozambique and feeling more at home in South Africa.

I am back! I am tired! I need a vacation! That is right I got back this afternoon and although this is one of my final weekends I don’t think I will do much more than sleep, write tons of emails, prepare for Kenya and go to church. I will explain more about this past week in the coming days but can say for now that I had a good time even though things didn’t go quite as planned but one can always find gems even when facing adversity. Not that I really faced adverse situations but just had to roll with the punches. I found that I really miss the communal, relaxed, laid back feeling I experienced and usually enjoyed in Mozambique and found a bit of this in the small town of Orkney where I spent the week. It was nice to be able to sit out side at night, walk around with safety, see the communal atmosphere where most everybody knew everybody and get out of the big city. I did get a few chances to speak Portuguese with some Mozambicans, see the mines from a distance, participate in the training and make some new friends. I will share more stories later as I now need to rest and get some good sleep to catch up from a busy week.

In 101 Mintutes You can Experience South Africa's Apartheid Struggles and Triumphs

My two favorite turns of history, over the last twenty-five years, were the fall of the Berlin wall and the end of apartheid in South Africa, followed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Guest blogger Paul Schmidt [an avid fan of Africa, especially post apartheid South Africa].

Catch a Fire, the new film from director Phillip Noyce which opened last weekend, tells the true story of Patrick Chamusso (Derek Luke). Born in poverty in Mozambique, he worked his way up to being a foreman at the Secunda oil refinery outside Johannesburg. He was apolitical in that time of polarization. He preferred instead to focus on his family [wife Precious (Bonnie Henna) and two small daughters], work and coaching a local boys soccer team.

As the movie opens the Chamusso family is attending a wedding in a rural village. On the drive home they are stopped at a roadblock and Patrick becomes a suspected terrorist tied to an explosion at the oil refinery at which he works. Shortly thereafter he is arrested and tortured by Nic Vos (Tim Robbins) a Colonel in the Police Security Branch. Desperate to protect his family, he unsuccessfully seeks to shield his family with a compromised alibi.

When he is finally released he barely returns home before he leaves for Mozambique to join the ANC resistance, forced by his mistreatment to side with his fellow countrymen who are committed to ending the oppression of the black majority by the white minority.

The script was written by screenwriter Shawn Slovo, one of the daughter’s of the late Joe Slovo, the former head of the ANC’s military wing and one of the most prominent white anti-apartheid activists, and later cabinet member in Nelson Mandela’s first government. He gave her the idea of this movie in the late 80’s. Shawn’s sister, Robyn, is one of the producers. Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack add celebrity to the production team.

The critics at Rotten Tomatoes generally acclaim the film giving it an 80% favorable rating….that means that 73 of the 93 critics who have reviewed it approved. Go see this movie and appreciate better the struggle that South African’s endured and that created today’s dynamic leader of Southern Africa.

Afterward, you’ll find this comprehensive Seattle Times-Intelligencer story will answer all your questions: such as, (1) How was Derek Luke affected by playing this real life, living national hero? (2) Tell me more about Shawn Slovo? (3) Is the movie story true to history? ENJOY and LEARN!

Even after having satisfied my dream of visiting South Africa in 2002, I still thirst for a better understanding of how the horrors of life under apartheid could have been been happening while I was in school and starting a family. I also marvel at, how like with the Berlin wall, so much of the man made barrier between people [and races] was diffused "in the twinkling of an eye". Catch a Fire capably portrays this period of history and its impact on the lives of ordinary South Africans.

Thanks dad for your welcomed addition to my blog. As we were talking about Catch a Fire last night I was really excited you had seen it and looking forward to seeing it as well. As far as I know it is not yet here in South Africa, ironic and wrong, and might not be here in theatres for a few weeks or months. I guess I will have to see it on DVD when I get home in a few months. Also, another factoid about the movie is that many of you might know that “Catch a Fire” is actually a song title by Bob Marley and the Wailers. Ironically, I have over 250 songs by Marley (solo and group) and don’t have Catch a Fire but do have it on one of the two albums by one of his musically talented son’s Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley. The song comes off of his 2001 album “Halfway Tree” which is a good mix of reggae and hip-hop with catchy tunes and political undertones/overtones.

Mozambique: Movement for Gay Rights to Be Announced Soon.

Last week in Maputo there was a seminar on gay rights that was organized by the Human Rights League (LDH). It concluded on Friday and I found out about it through an article that I read at AllAfrica.com. It is an interesting development particularly in light of the entry I wrote on October 5^th entitled “Being gay in southern Africa”. I will be interested to find out what talk there is in Mozambique around this and get reactions from friends, colleagues, etc. when I go to Moz over the holidays. I will let you know what I find out.

The following is a taste of what you can find by reading the article:

“The standard attack on gay rights is the claim that homosexuality is "against African culture". Mabota noted that the League had been obliged to deal with supposed "cultural" issues before.

"When we raised the question of domestic violence, we were told to drop the issue because it was part of African culture", she recalled. "We were told that men display their love for their wives by beating them".

The defenders of battered women paid no attention to such arguments, "and now everybody rejects domestic violence", Mabota said. "So in some years we will overcome discrimination against homosexuals too".”

http://allafrica.com/stories/200610130912.html

African Women: Pioneers of change?

It is a good feeling to be able to be so proud of a place where you spent many formative years and with which you really enjoy being associated. For me one such place is my undergrad Principia College, a college for Christian Scientists located on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River in Elsah, Illinois. Prin is located on a gorgeous campus with hundreds of acres that the US Air Force once wanted to commandeer to build the Air Force Academy but fortunately it was left to be preserved and conserved for more peaceful and educational purposes. I studied Mass Communications and World Perspectives at Prin and it was during my time there in the spring quarter of my senior year in 2000 that I got to take an abroad to South Africa with 20+ other students, David Winder one of my Mass Comm profs and Bente Morse, Prin’s International Student Coordinator and all around amazing lady. To see more about the abroad you can go to SA Abroad Program website. I think it is awesome that abroads dating back to 99 are still online. The 2002 trip to China, Vietnam and Tibet is worth a look as my sister Ashley was on it along with two friends who were in SA with me in 2000.

Okay so on to the reason for writing this blog I wanted to share about the Pan African Conference that will be held at Prin again this coming weekend. The topic is the subject of this blog “African Women: Pioneers of change?” and I think it should be a great day full of interesting and relevant information gathering and sharing. I think that women really hold the key to Africa’s success and it is up to the men to realize this and give women the credit and power they deserve. It has been my experience in Mozambique and South Africa that women do a lot more good for their family and friends then men. If you happen to be in the area and would like to attend just email me and I will get you in touch with the people who can hook you up with a chance to participate.

I took a weekend off from SIT last fall to go to the conference and was not disappointed. I even got the amazing opportunity of spending most of a day with Paul Rusesabagina the “hero” of Hotel Rwanda. Got to get him from the airport with a Principia employee, have lunch together and talk in the car on the way up to the college. It was an awesome opportunity and I am sure this year’s conference with some amazing speakers including Wangari Maathai who will be the keynote speaker on Saturday night will be great too. Maathai who was one of the originators of “The Green Belt Movement” in Kenya and is the first African women to win the Nobel Prize is an amazing and inspirational leader. She is on the board at SIT and I hope to meet her one day and maybe that day will be when I go to Kenya in January for the World Social Forum. Well, for a college of 550 Christian Scientists located in the rural Illinois countryside I think it is pretty awesome to have an annual event like this one that brings such high caliber of speakers and attendees together to talk about various topics related to Africa.

Being gay in southern Africa.

No, I am not a fan of “yellow journalism” and I don’t approve of sensationalism. Yes, I am in South Africa right now which logically enough is located in southern Africa but I am not homosexual, which probably makes you wonder why I am writing this blog. Well, in the last few months I have had some interesting conversations with coworkers and friends, mostly all male, about the way homosexuality is viewed in South Africa and Mozambique.

It seems that a lot of the discomfort or dislike around the topic of homosexuality comes from lack of knowledge about homoe or direct contact with people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc. Homosexuality is not a topic that I openly discussed with many Mozambicans, if any, while living in Mozambique for 2 ½ years. This goes back to our training with Peace Corps when I clearly remember in one of our sessions being told “we have no problems with your sexuality and you are free to be who you want to be but we highly recommend that if you are gay, lesbian, etc. you keep it to yourself as being this way can be dangerous in Mozambique.” That is right sexuality is not only a taboo topic in Mozambique and to a lesser degree here in South Africa but also one that can be dangerous. Sadly enough this comes as no surprise as I have heard of hate killings around the world that involved homosexuals who were killed due purely to their sexuality.

As I said above homosexuality is a less discussed or known topic in Mozambique than South Africa and I am sure that many Mozambicans who are homosexual or homosexuals that visit Mozambique as tourists or for work would say that outside of the capitol, Maputo, homosexuality is a very taboo topic. It is sad to me that people are not more accepting and loving but we all are entitled to our own beliefs as long as these beliefs don’t hurt others or infringe on others rights. I imagine that in Mozambique especially before “democracy” came while Mozambique had strong links to Communist countries, being gay was particularly unsafe. I heard stories from one friend about a gay Mozambican man who was beaten up by some younger Mozambicans who were tired of his advances and flirting with them. I also heard that two girls in their early 20’s who come from Chókwè, where I lived in Mozambique, have been “dressing and acting like boys” for many years now and while most people who know them seem to have gotten used to it they are still not fully accepted by society.

As for South Africa which boasts one of the most progressive and all inclusive constitutions in the world, and is leaps ahead of the US Constitution, homosexuals are protected. It looks like an amendment will soon be made that legalizes “same-sex marriages”. On December 1^st last year South Africa’s highest court (the Constitutional Court) legalized same-sex marriages but said that Parliament had one year to put everything in place before it became law. Needless to say this is a hot topic here and many people are not happy that South Africa might soon be joining the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Canada as only the fifth nation in the world to legalize same-sex unions.

I am sure that I will have more information to share on this story over the coming months as I discuss homosexuality with more people. If you want to know more about the situation in South Africa as far as same-sex unions go please read articles from the following sources:

SABC News

Reuters

International Herald Tribune

South African Heritage Day and Mozambican Armed Forces Day.

Yesterday, September 25^th, was a holiday in South Africa and Mozambique. In South Africa Heritage Day was the 24^th but it was observed yesterday and yesterday, the 25^th, in Mozambique was a holiday for Armed Forces Day. I spent yesterday at the Funda Community Center in Diepkloof, Soweto as a guest invited to watch song, dance, drama, photography and other presentations by a youth group called "The Learning Together Project" who has spent the past few months learning about, debating and celebrating the South African Constitution which turns 10 years old on December 5^th. This group mostly made up of teenage students along with adult leaders first started meeting at Constitution Hill and after a number of meetings there moved to Funda Community Center, where I took part in the celebrations yesterday. I hope to join this group in October after the school holiday this week and work with them as the discuss topics such as racism, education, violence and gender relations and use art forms such as dance, photography, acting and music to ponder these issues and communicate messages. I took few photographs but my friend Iqbal who invited me to the event was the official photographer and thus I hope to get some images from him that I can share with you. I hope to write more about this group in future blog entries.

As for Mozambican Armed Forces day and other national holidaysI think anyone who has spent a significantamount of time in Mozambique, traveled the country a bit and knows some of the names of schools, towns or streets would be able to easily tell you the dates of some of the holidays in Mozambique. From Maputo, the capitol, to Chókwè, where I lived, there is a town called 3 de Fevreiro and I know of schools named 25 de Junio and streets like 7 de Setembro.

To learn more about holidays in South Africa you can visit http://africanhistory.about.com/library/bl/blsaholidays.htm. For more information on the historical significance throughout Africa of days of the year you can visit AfricanHistory.about.com. Also to see what other holidays are observed in Mozambique you can visit the Mozambican Embassy website.

Training, T-Cells, tools and treats.

This is the main tool that we use during our Peer Educator Training. This manual was developed by Linzi. It has 12 modules covering everything on training HIV/AIDS from behavior change models to communication skills to epidemiology to condoms to myths and old wives tales. After they have finished the training the Peer Educators also get an "HIV/AIDS 36 Week Programme Course" that they use with their peers to educate them.
Here is Ben training the group that he worked with over the past two weeks at an automotive company in the area. We did a six day training in four days which meant that we had to cut out a lot of what we would normally do with the full six days. In fact we would prefer another day if possible to make sure everything is covered
Here we have Douglas who had a group of his own. I worked mainly with Doug's group but also spent time with Ben's group so that when it came to training a module with them it was not as if I was walking in off the street for the first time. There were supposed to be 55-57 employees being trained as Peer Educators but over the four day training we saw maybe 35 of these people in all. The following few pictures were taken during the "CD4 Game" that we played with Ben's group. As you can see when the four CD4s were asked to protect the "human body" they first turned their backs to the outside and joined hands. We asked them how they would protect in this position, so......
....they turned towards the attackers but kept their hands linked and soon realized that to protect the body they would need to not hold hands.
This looks like a rugby or American football tackle here to keep Flu away from the human body. The game can get physical and even emotional as we play. This picture does some justice to the intensity of the game. It is a great way to get the blood flowing, drive away sleepiness and demonstrate for them how once HIV and AIDS has weakened the body diseases and viruses take advantage of the weakened immune system.
Here are two of our Peer Educators in training taking a break for treats and tea. It is funny to people that in addition to being a vegetarian I don't drink tea or coffee. I had similar experiences in Mozambique and even in the States.
Finally, we come upon a picture of me training with Doug's group. It was nice to finally get a chance to be facilitating various parts of the training. I will help some more in another training and then begin training on my own.

Training in Tembisa and the CD4 Game.

This is a picture taken last Saturday by Marcilio when he and I were watching/participating in a training that Ben was leading for a church group in a schools assembly hall in Tembisa. To the right is Ben wearing a tie again and overseeing the CD4 Game. We hand out t-shirts with words on them such as Human Body, CD4 (the normal CD4 count for a person is between 800 and 1200 and for people with HIV and AIDS it drops over time and when it goes below 200 that individual has AIDS. It is at this point that one is advised if the have the access to and can afford to take antiretroviral drugs (ARVs)) TB (tuberculosis), STI (sexually transmitted infection), diarrhea, flu and other opportunistic diseases and infections. These diseases and infections can have minor or major effects to people without HIV and AIDS but can be deadly to those with HIV and AIDS. The idea is that the four people with CD4 t-shirts are asked to protect the human body and then when time passes and the CD4 cells begin to die off they leave the human body unprotected one by one. Eventually there are not enough CD4s to adequately protect the body and this is when people will die from a variety of diseases.

This is a game that we play during our peer educator trainings and did with this group as well. It is a good way to get people up and moving around and show them a visual representation of a concept that they are learning about. The group had 17 participants most in their late teens and early twenties and a few elders of the church too. It was a basic information and awareness session but the group hopes to invite us back to do a more complete training so that they can spread the "word" on HIV and AIDS throughout their congregation and community. It was also great for Marcilio to be able to attend and learn more about HIV and AIDS. He was very interested in the training and would like to learn more so he can do peer educator work in South Africa and Mozambique.

More pics of my place....

Here is the office from the outside which I showed a few weeks back when showing pictures from around the property where the Smiths live and ETC is housed. This is the office where I work and live and try not to go stir crazy. My room (which you will see pictures of below is in a loft above the office.

In front of you is Ben’s desk to the left, the stairs that head up to my room/the loft and to the right past the stairs is my desk. Past the stairs and to the right is the kitchen and to my front and then left (in front of Ben’s desk) is Linzi’s office and the bathroom.

Here is Ben sitting at his desk and working hard for sure. Ben is always dressed up whether in the office or out training or doing sales.

Here are Ben's and my desks looking from the door that goes into Linzi's office. On the wall you above my laptop you can just barely make out a women chopping wood with a baby on her back. This is the infamous photo taken by Lazaro Chauke my photography student in Mozambique. He took it while participating in The World Through My Eyes and it was featured in the August section of the 2006 calendar put out by the Returned Peace Corps Volunteer group in Madison, Wisconsin. Marcilio also has a picture on this page but it is a smaller one. It was so great to have it up in August and the June page had two great pics from Tanzania my father and my sister!

Now lets go up the steep and small steps to my room.....be careful not to hit your head.

Here is my bedroom in the loft above the office. You may be saying to yourself nice room and I agree but.....

not necessarily a lot of headroom in my bedroom. That is right I would need about another foot at least to be able to stand up in my room. Yes, I am tall but the ceiling is low and at its highest is just over five feet high.

From my room/loft you get a view of Douglas at his desk working hard or playing cards....he loves Solitaire.

Heading back down the stairs and going under them we get to the kitchen where I fix my 5 Star meals. I do my own cooking and can’t believe how many more options I have here to when I was in Mozambique but yet I still love some of the special dishes from there and most of the fruits and veggies from there were better in my assessment.

Leaving the kitchen and walking across the office we come into Linzi’s office off of which we can get to the bathroom. Linzi has two big dry erase boards on the wall...

of the office which serve as an oversized calendar to help us keep track of coming trainings, sales calls, etc. She only had one when I first arrived and has added another since. I guess my presence has brought in so much business that we are always busy writing on the wall. j/k

I would have put a picture of Linzi here but she is rarely in the office as she is usually out training, doing sales calls, giving a talk or running errands. She is a busy women but in her absence I have elected to put another picture of Douglas so you can our resident Rhodesian...um I mean Zimbabwean up close. Doug was born in Zim but has been in South Africa for over 20 years now.

Finally turning to my left and taking a picture looking out of the windows by Doug’s desk you see his fountain, car and Jared’s car. I will post other pictures taken in and around the area tomorrow.

Moçambique is in the house!

Marcilio, my best friend from Mozambique and my photography assistant on The World Through My Eyes, who has been in South Africa for over a year at a college in Randfontein came to visit me in Sandringham at the Smith's home/ETC offices. He came on Friday with his friend Alex who is also from Mozambique and also doing his studies at Western College in Randfontein. Alex is from Xai-Xai which is in Gaza Province the same province as Chókwè where Marcilio is from and I served in the Peace Corps.

It was only a short visit to see each other, catch up and for Marcilio to know how to get to my house. I had not seen Marcilio since January of 2005 when I was last in Mozambique. It was great to see him and know that he is really not that far away and I look forward to seeing him more times over my stay here. It was also great to get to speak in Portuguese for a more extended time than when talking on the phone and especially speaking in Portuguese with Mozambicans again!