Mozambique... crazy, crazy Mozambique

Note to self, don't cross the boarder on a Saturday.  It took over 3 hours for this line to move.  What they bring back over the boarder is beyond me.

Lets take a moment to give thanks for all that we have.

I have never seen kids work so hard.  You should see all the little girls carrying 20liter jugs of water on their heads.

Just a beautiful moment while drive into the great beyond.  Little did we know we would get lost in the dark and end up staying at a shady rondoval on the beach.

They may not have much but what they do have is neat and tidy.  Can you imagine living in a house made entirely of grass?

Another day in paradise...

There's always room for one more.

The roads were awful.  Good thing I knew how to change a tire.  I'd never done it before though so this was my first attempt.  Successful!

No thanks, I don't want to buy any hot sauce but would you like an oatmeal raisin cookie?

Two, two, two flats in one day.  This was Kristen's first tire change.  She learned by watching me just 2 hours earlier.  How many spares come in a car?  Right... ONE!  Thank God for the local guy who fixed our first tire for free (and some oatmeal raisin cookies).

Such colorful materials they use for skirts and bags.  This was the market in Tofo, the beach town we went to.

It's a long day of sitting and selling the same stuff as the person beside you.  

Kristen's "shit sack."  She put everything in it and could find nothing.  But she loves it.

Horse back on the wide open beaches?  My first time on a horse.  I even learned to trot.

What a great way to spend our afternoon.  Brownie and I got along just fine.

We also went through a small village.

Maintaining their homes is constant work.

We opted to stay in our car most of the time because if you pulled over into the little markets you got swarmed with people selling their wares.

They are so desperate to sell their stuff.  It's really quite sad to watch.  

Then there are the cashew trees.  They grow, roast and sell them.  Expensive but good.

Lots of pottery being made.  Some are fired in the ground...

... and some in kilns.

There is no limit to what you can pack on a single truck.  As with people, there is always room for one more.

The markets have a beauty about them despite the disgusting surroundings.

S'mores and sleep over

Kristen is the PCV who lives closest to me. She came over and we enjoyed some beer, home made pizza, Saturday Night Live (at 9:00pm) and then s'mores on the coal stove. It was a much needed break from our everyday lives and helped fill our tanks, mentally and emotionally, for the week to come.

Gone Native...

The more time I spend here the more experiences I have that connect me to the culture. I see things that make me sad and want more for the people here. But I also get to experience what makes these people so beautiful.


Mma Gogo came to pull the dried maize (corn) off the cobs we harvested from our maize field. Be bagged it up and sent it to town on a donkey cart and got four big bags of milie meal to make bahobe (staple porridge) with. Between my Sepedi and Mma Gogo's English, we had a really fun time together. She loved teaching me the technique of shaving off the corn. It's not as easy as you think and it's hard on the hands. I have so much respect for the old women of this culture.




I know I look stupid but the winter mornings are very very cold and when you don't have all your winter clothes you make due with what you have.




This was so much fun. They taught me the rhythm to beat on the drum then they all started singing and dancing. The energy in that circle was amazing and the kids got a kick out of watching me drum.

Dressed for Winter

Tracksuits are the school uniforms that children wear during the cold winter months. Many of our children don't have them and are very cold when at school. So I wrote a letter of request (with the guidance of another PCV, for I'm learning as I go) and sent it to 30 different funding organizations in South Africa. It only takes one to respond with a "Yes" and that's what we got. With a huge thanks to the Pick N Pay Foundation (Pick N Pay is a major grocery store chain in SA) we were able to purchase tracksuits for 40 of our children. We held a small event and invited the children and their guardians. Nico, below, was the worker who took on this project. He said it felt so good to hand the children their new suits. He has already talked to me about taking on another project. It's the empowerment that the workers gain from these kinds of experiences that will keep Aletuke moving forward after I leave.





Each guardian signed for their child's tracksuit.




These boys are so happy to have a brand new tracksuit. Frans, the tall boy in the middle, is in the 11th grade and a wonderful role model for the others at Aletuke. He stood up and gave a wonderful speech of thanks to Aletuke for all that they do for him and the other children. It was extremely heart warming.




This photo needs no explanation.

Keeping warm

In late May I went to speak to the Mayor of my municipality to see if he could help me with a project I'm doing.  He was very interested in what we are doing in our village and came to see our center a couple weeks later.  He said that he is really glad to start a relationship with our organization and fully supports the work we do.  This month he showed up with a group of people from the municipality and a representative from the local mine who was the donor of the 150 blankets they had delivered that day for our children.  We made a small event out of it and distributed blankets to the children who were there that day.  We continue our door to door search for orphans and vulnerable children and are so happy to hand them a warm blanket for these cold winter months.  

Niko is one if two male volunteers.  He is helping to stack the 150 donated blankets.

This is the Mayor, his people and a rep from the donating company.  

This was a moment of singing and celebration for what we were receiving.  These women are all volunteers at Aletuke.

The Mayor is the man on the right in black.  He's a really great guy.

David, Aletuke's project manager and my supervisor, is like a pig in shit.  It's moments like these that he lives for.  This is what his work is all about... providing for the children of his community

Nothing warms your heart more than seeing the smiles on these children's faces.

I love my job...

   

Eye Screening

I saw a sign in the window of Specsavers, an eye glasses place in my shopping town.  It said "Free eye screening for all children 12 and under."  I went in to speak to them an we made arrangements for them to come to Aletuke and screen our kids and others in the village.  We ended up screening 87 children that day.  We will be taking 6 or 8 children to town for a full examination and if they need glasses they will be free too.  We caught a few eye problems that will need surgery at the hospital and many children with eye infections that will be treated at the clinic with drops.  It was a hugely successful day and another connection was made that will continue to help Aletuke provide better care for the children in the future.  Below are some pictures from that day and outside the children were playing on the playground while waiting to be tested.  I couldn't resist some of the cute faces.

These children are waiting in line to be screened.

Pauline is a volunteer at Aletuke that helped out with the eye screening.

Rose is another volunteer who helped out.

Who's the geek with the dorky glasses?

I love watching the kids be kids at Aletuke.

Simply precious...

This is Mma Mahowa with 5 or her 8 children.  These little ones all got screened on this day.  Mma Mahowa is becoming quite famous on my blog for she is the one holding  "slide condom off penis" in the condom demonstration and she was one of the recipients of the food parcels.  She is a dedicated volunteer who is at Aletuke every day.