Where will agriculture take you?

Friday, May 31, 2013

Firsts in Mozambique


Sunday church services in Mozambique are colorful experiences filled with loud clapping, expressive songs and lively dancing. Locals even bring their own drums to church! The services are around 45 minutes long and Sunday school follows. More than 150 village children attend and they enjoy learning bible stories with books and puppets. (They absolutely adore the puppets!) At my first service I found myself being pulled to my feet by an elderly women. She only spoke Portuguese and despite my protests of “poco Portuguese”, meaning I speak little Portuguese, she began explaining the complicated dance steps. When she finally realized I was not following her she jumped up and showed me how to “shake it” in front of the congregation. I can dance a great two step or cupid shuffle in the U.S., but African dances are another matter entirely! All English attendees were the honoured guests and the children sang a special song for us. Their voices were beautiful! This is a very friendly country and even the markets are filled with music and dancing.
In the markets I often hear old popular 90’s American tunes by groups like N’SYNC and the Spice Girls. My South African friend, Danielle, informed me that Africa is slightly behind in the times. She asked me what trends were popular in the U.S. and I told her leggings, button up shirts, neon prints and North Face jackets. Danielle informed me those will probably be trendy in three years in South Africa. She also told me she was from a small town with a population of 70,000. My hometown of Gallatin, Mo., has a population of 1,200 which astounded her! Afrikaans is the main language of South Africa although native languages and English are widely spoken. Most schools even teach students at least three languages fluently. Danielle has taught me Afrikaans phrases, such as “I want to sloop in a corner,” which means you want to take a nap!
The bean processing was officially finished this week which was very exciting. Monday begins corn processing which will entail unloading, cleaning and spraying the corn to be stored for the upcoming year. Many locals are hired to help with the yearly grain buying. I stand at 5’ 6’ and am taller than most male workers here! Supplies must be bought in advance to ensure the orphans will have food throughout the year. Corn work will continue throughout June. To mark the beginning of June I have helped prepare for one of the largest yearly celebrations. June 1 is International Children’s Day which is considered a major youth holiday in Africa. Many of the children do not know their birthdays so this is the day for general birthday celebrations. All village children are invited to an event sponsored by the orphanage where they spend a fun-filled afternoon playing games and receiving cookies and candies. I am in charge of preparing games which will include sack runs, relay races and limbo.
Each week a staff member rotates assisting Linda, our cook, with meal preparation. This week was my kitchen assistant time. I greatly enjoy the fresh tropical fruit here especially the bananas and watermelon! The sweetest food I have eaten is banana cake. (Everyone knows I have a sweet tooth and in the U.S. I enjoy baking my famous homemade chocolate chip cookies!) Goat is a popular meat here, I find myself missing American beef. Dairy products are difficult to come by as well so I will be without milk and cheese this summer. Luckily, my diet in Africa has expanded beyond rice and beans as I had feared! Linda is great at making homemade meals out of limited resources as she even made enchiladas last night.  This week, I found myself missing American food. I will be eating my fill of cereal, hamburgers and ice cream when I return!  

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Travel, always an adventure!


You never know what adventures travel will bring. During my second week in Mozambique I have contracted Malaria which has been quite an adventure itself. Thursday morning at the baby clinic, I had a headache and stomach pains. After lying down, I soon had a high fever and was diagnosed with Malaria. Malaria is a tropical sickness spread through mosquito bites.  It is a frustrating illness as I am bedridden for several days with joint aches, headaches, light sensitivity and loss of appetite.  I even took precautions by taking anti-Malaria medication and consistently applying insect repellent. Thankfully, Brenda is a registered nurse and has taken excellent care of Danielle and I, as she was also stricken. I have been on medication the past three days and have two more days of bed rest. Danielle and I keep each other entertained by playing card games. (There is limited entertainment in third world countries!) I look forward to Monday when I can begin to process beans again.
The past week has been devoted to bean processing. My job is quality control as I ensure beans run through the shoot have been sprayed with preservative. This is important as it protects the beans from insects during storage. The beans and corn processed during the next few weeks will be the yearly food supply for the orphans. I also clean my shoot in between bags as they get contaminated from different bean bags. Workers load 150 lb bags of beans into the metal shoot and it is an impressive process to watch as a Mozambiquean can carry one bag on his head! The job begins at 6 am and ends at lunch time. It gets dusty and dirty but is an essential time of year for the orphanage.
Once a week, the orphanage staff hosts a baby clinic. Each Thursday mothers with newborns bring babies for a health check. The babies are weighed, measured and growth progress is recorded. A set of twin boys came in this week weighing under 8 lbs each, they were very tiny! The mothers are given milk formula and medicines which are not readily available outside of the cities. Several babies had been in the local hospital. In Mozambique, basic medical procedures such as tonsil removal or a C-section can be extremely risky due to limited medical knowledge. I am located in Balama, which has a hospital but no post office. (So please do not expect any letters from me!)
I have made my first trip to the local market, which is made up of many stalls in the streets. Wares range from bicycle parts to vegetables. Bicycles are the most common means of transportation but you will find several motorcycles in the streets. Markets here are not as intense as in Vietnam, where bartering for the good almost wore you out and shopkeepers would try to drag you into their stalls! The hand dyed African clothe is beautiful, with exotic patterns and brilliant designs. They are sold in pieces and one can make an entire traditional African outfit. Everyone is very friendly in the market, and I thought I was making friends with local children. However, apparently they were laying their hands out to me for money, not high fives! I think I confused both of us, again culture differences. I have also had to turn down several marriage proposals here. Apparently, blonde haired American girls are a rarity here!
This week is just filled with new experiences. Contracting Malaria was not fun but I am sure it will be an excellent conversation starter back in the U.S. We had several wildlife spottings of a mongoose and cobra. Luckily, the guards had killed the cobra as snakes are ‘not my thing.’  But, the mongoose was an interesting tropical creature that resembled a weasel combined with a ferret. I hope to see more wildlife in the coming days. This weekend I will be resting up and taking plenty of fluids. Until next week!

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Salamma from Mozambique!


I have arrived safely to Africa with no issues (I was very glad I did not lose any luggage!) My longest flight was 15 hours from Atlanta, Georgia to Johannesburg, South Africa. I slept most of the flight as I was exhausted from three finals, a 20th birthday party and moving out of my college house. It was a lot to fit in before my departure.  Luckily, I managed to visit my family on our farm the weekend before I left. I had to make up for the events I will miss over the summer.
I spent the night in Johannesburg to catch an early small plane to Pemba, Mozambique as there are limited flights into the country. Security was not as daunting as I had originally thought. I had no problems with my U.S. passport or Mozambique visa. As a communist country, there are very strict standards to gain entry to the country. When I arrived I had to meet with local government agents and police which was rather interesting considering limited English is spoken here.
Portuguese is the native language, since colonization ended after wars in the 1960’s. Most people speak limited English but communication is possible, it just takes some time. (Just like most things in Mozambique!) The children at the orphanage speak more English and enjoy teaching me Portuguese. The orphanage is run by solar power so during the night we have light. It gets very dark, very quickly here. My day begins at 4:30 am and ends at 8:00 pm, my bedtime. Communication is extremely limited from Africa to the U.S. and there is a seven hour time zone difference.
This summer I will be working as an intern at Orphans Unlimited which was founded by Brenda or “Bush Bunny Brenda” as she is known in Africa. Other full time staff include Linda, our wonderful cook, and Eric, mechanic and go-to person for technology issues. There are many locals who work for the orphanage as security, handy men or washers. Here, my living arrangements are similar to summer camp except we lack electricity, air conditioning and running water. I live in a bunk house room with two collegiate volunteers and another will be joining us later in the summer.
Danielle is a white South African and we have a wonderful time comparing cultures! She saw my John Deere hat and immediately told me that was one of her favourite “bucky’s” which means truck or tractor companies. (John Deere is my favorite too!) Taking safaris is normal in South Africa and she has exciting stories of seeing elephants, zebras and lions daily. Emma is from Texas and plays collegiate volleyball for Concordia University. She has a bright personality and has travelled to several countries including Morocco, Mexico, Japan and Italy so we enjoy comparing travel stories.
I am the only agriculture intern and my responsibilities include the goat herd, any gardening, development programs and working with children. In Mozambique, women are required to wear long skirts and tops with sleeves. I will have very interesting tan lines when I return! Today, I assisted in de-worming the goat herd where my summers of veterinarian job shadowing and livestock experience came in handy. I was responsible for filling syringes and helped Brenda with anything she needed which included catching baby goats. There are more than 110 goats in the herd, which was started by Brenda.
Life is very different here and I find myself often missing American items such as Starbucks (and caffeine in general), my Macbook , Iphone, Netflix, Pandora music and of course Facebook. I also dislike “missing out” and I warned my friends that I did not want any surprise engagements when I returned! However, I know this is a once in a lifetime experience. Everyone has been extremely welcoming since I have arrived to Africa and my sponsoring company, ICM has been very helpful to coordinate my internship. There are smiling faces in every village and I have greatly enjoyed meeting the children. I have only been in the country for less than a week, but I feel excited about my summer adventures. I will have great stories to tell when I return to the states!