My first drawing in Mozambique...

I was passing through my neighborhood last weekend and about five kids ran up to me.  They tugged on my shirt and smiled.  I had my camera with me and I asked if I could take a picture of them.  They were jumping up and down when I took out my camera.  I snapped a couple of pictures of them and walked home. Later, I looked through my pictures and saw a boy with his fingers in his mouth.  Immediately, I knew I wanted to draw him because of his cute expression on his face. Sorry, I don't know his name and I don't have a title for it yet.

 More drawings to come!

Charcoal on 11x14 sketch paper

Money, Sex, and Alcohol in Mozambican Schools

A young Mozambican girl dreams of going to college.  She sees herself dressed in white at a hospital.  But the reality is, she can't even afford a school uniform.  One day, she walks to the marketplace.  She sees a vendor selling the white uniform for her school.While the saleswoman isn't looking, she drops the shirt in her bag.  She doesn't see her stealing, but her math teacher does.

The next day at school, he asks her to stay after class.  He wants to talk.  He says that he knows about her stealing and that he is going to tell the police.  However, if she has sex with him, he will keep his mouth shut.  Because she wants to become a doctor, she sleeps with him.

During our pre-service training (PST), we watched films and heard countless lectures and stories about how pervasive school corruption is in Mozambique.  These despicable acts occur in the United States and in other parts of the world, but supposedly it is a HUGE issue here.  That's why  I want to shed light on this topic.

Common Types of Corruption in Mozambican Schools

1. Bribery for better grades

2. Sexual Harassment                                                    

3. Lack of Exam Monitoring

4. Sex for better grades
-Yes, some teachers tell their students, "You better sleep with me if you want to pass this year."                                                

5. Forced Labor                                                                      

6. Labor for better grades                                                      

7. Stealing School’s Money for Personal Items
-Teachers here are often underpaid.  Because of budget cuts, sometimes teachers go months     without getting paid. They have mouths to feed at home and they sometimes steal money from the school or have students give them money in exchange for better grades.

8. Increasing Students' Grades to Keep Up School’s Reputation with the MEC

One thing that wasn't mentioned on this list, is the fact that alcoholism is a big deal here and sometimes teachers go to class after drinking heavily.

Another aspect that wasn't mentioned, is hitting students as a way to discipline them. Like some other developing countries, school corporal punishment is common here.  One volunteer in Mozambique reported that a teacher would read off the names and scores that the students received on a test. Those who received low marks got hit with a ruler.

                                       

I hope to never hear about these stories from my students while I work here.  But the reality is, I may.  The issues here are complex and run deeper than the issues of AIDS, Malaria, and school corruption. I think the issues intersect and are therefore, compounded.  Further,there was a 15-year civil war here that ended in 1992 and people are still suffering the effects of that war.  In the future, I'll write an entry on Mozambican history.

I walk into a muggy room. The air smelled musty, even though the windows are open.  Kids in beige uniforms run to their desks like mice looking for their hole when the lights turn on.  Others stand up at their desks.  They say, Boa tarde, professora.  Good morning, teacher.  

After being in Mozambique for nearly four months, I finally started school yesterday.  I had about 30 students on average in each class.  This is a very small class size for Mozambique.  My school director said that teachers at our school usually have no more than 50 students. Unfortunately, many secondary school teachers have 100+ students in each class.  How can teachers teach? How can students learn with so many pupils in one room.  Anyway, my first couple of days teaching 8th and 9th grade English have been great, so far.  I didn't have to send a student outside for writing on a desk or for hitting another student.  They quietly copied the material on the board and introduced themselves in English.  At the same time, I realize that this is our first week.  I know there will be some disciplinary issues.  I'm just crossing my fingers that there won't be too many.

Some of you may recall that I was supposed to be a teacher trainer (TT).  I was assigned to work at a teaching institute where high school graduates attend to become a teacher.   Out of seven TT candidates in my cohort, only three got placed at a TT Institute.  I was a bit disappointed because I wanted to work with adults instead of adolescents.  I've taught adolescents before and I wanted a different experience.  Further, the classroom sizes would be smaller than at a secondary school.  However, if I would have been placed at an institute, the downfall would have been that I would only be working about four hours a week instead of 24, due to a change in the national curriculum.  In other words, I would barely be teaching at all.  Besides, I really like where I am now.  I live in a nice area and the school is new and has a lot of resources.  We have a computer lab, basketball court, a soccer field, and a science lab.  Many classes in Mozambique are conducted under a tree and the students sit on the grass.  Basically, I'm at an exceptional school.  As I recline on my couch in my chic apartment with running water and electricity, I sometimes how poor this country really is...

Aiding Those With AIDS

Every Peace Corps Volunteer in Mozambique will end up doing  some kind of work around HIV/AIDS.   In classrooms, education volunteers usually instruct lessons on HIV prevention and awareness.  Some of the health volunteers work one-on-one with people living with HIV and AIDS.

During PST, we volunteers had many lectures that covered the HIV/AIDS problem in our host country.  Here are some reasons as to why there are about 360 new HIV infections everyday in Mozambique and why they need help with HIV/AIDS projects:

1. Lack of Knowledge About how HIV is transmitted

Along with not knowing how to use a condom properly, many people don’t know that HIV can be transmitted during pregnancy, delivery, and breastfeeding.  For instance, neighbors and family members sometimes help with the delivery of a baby.  These people may get HIV from the infected mother’s blood during this process if they aren’t careful.

      Here are some examples of the myths that have been circulated about how AIDS/HIV in communities here in Mozambique:

1.    AIDS is transmitted by supernatural means.  For example, some believe that a person curses an enemy with HIV/AIDS with the help of a spiritual healer

2.    Transmitted by the sharing of food with a person living with HIV/AIDS

3.    Like malaria, AIDS is transmitted by mosquito

4.    A healthy-looking person can’t have AIDS

5.    There is no such thing as AIDS and this fictitious idea was created by White people to scare Africans

2. Low cases of male circumcision

The foreskin on the penis is a mucous membrane and research shows that removing this area will reduce HIV transmission.  Many programs are promoting safe means of male circumcision in Mozambique to help lower transmission rates.

There are higher circumcision rates within Muslim communities in Africa.

3. Multiple Sex Partners

A big problem is that some men spend more than one month away from home and have extra-marital affairs. Some of these men work in South Africa and have unprotected sex with people there and bring home the virus to their wives.

In the last 12 months 3% of women and 20% men reported that they have had more than one sex partner in Mozambique, according to a recent study

4. Stigma

Like everywhere else in the world, there’s a stigma against those living with AIDS or HIV positive in Mozambique.  Many people are afraid to get tested for the virus because they fear they might be HIV positive.  Being HIV positive may mean that their friends and family might stop talking to them.  In effect, a person may not know he/she is positive and may transmit it to other sex partners.  Further, some believe that doctors give people HIV when they get tested.  This idea also prevents people from getting tested.

What some organizations are currently doing to reduce prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Mozambique:

Condom promotion, availability of male circumcision, basic care for orphans whose parents died from AIDS, food security & nutrition, increasing income generation, social protection, psychosocial support, education interventions, safe-sex negotiation and reduction of sexual risk behaviors, promote income-generating activities, and much more.

The "M" Word

Can you guess what the leading cause of school absenteeism is here in Mozambique?

If you guessed, children having to work to help support their families, then you’re wrong.  It’s malaria.  Before coming to Africa, I didn't know that much about malaria.  All I knew was that it was transmitted by mosquitoes and that it could be fatal if it wasn't treated.  While this is true, here are some additional facts that I learned during my pre-service training (PST):

-Malaria is the number one killer in Mozambique.  29% of deaths caused by malaria and 27% by AIDS, being second

- The people who have the highest risk of getting malaria are kids under the age of 5 years old, HIV positive people, and pregnant woman

-Malaria is only transmitted by mosquitoes

-Malaria transmitted by female mosquitoes

-The symptoms of malaria include fever, vomiting, sweats, dizziness, weakness, nausea, body aches, fatigue, anemia, loss of appetite, retinal bleeding, and kidney failure

-Malaria is transmitted when a mosquito bites someone with malaria.  The mosquito then bites another person, thereby transmitting the disease to him/her

-The mosquitoes generally eat between 6 PM and 6 AM

How can I lower my chances of getting malaria?  Well, I take a pill every Friday and I sleep underneath a mosquito net.  It’s treated with chemicals that kill the mosquito after it makes contact with the net.  Both the medication and the mosquito net were provided by the Peace Corps.

Many Peace Corps volunteers in Africa have spearheaded some impressive projects to spread awareness and help decrease malaria.  Volunteers have given talks in their classrooms and communities, created murals, made radio broadcasts, utilized social media, and so much more.

To find out more about what volunteers are doing to reduce malaria in Africa, go to www.stompoutmalaria.org

What do you eat in Moz?

I’m very fortunate to be placed in a city where there are a plethora of fresh fruits and vegetables.  While walking on the street, I see mango trees everywhere. I might even see a glowing mango on the ground and eat it as I walk.  I've never tasted mangoes, pineapples, pears, apples, and bananas as sweet as they are here in Mozambique. 

Also, there are outdoor markets where farmers sell their produce, similar to what we may call farmer's markets in the States.  Here's an estimate of how much fruit and vegetables cost here in U.S. dollars.   

6 Avocados=$1, 

6 Coconuts= $1

30 Mangoes= $1

1 Pineapple= $.75

12 Tomatoes= $1

10 Bananas=$1

30 Limes=$1

10 Potatoes= $1

12 Green peppers=$1

10 Carrots=$1
4 Cucumbers=$1

6 Papayas= $1

A lot of people have been asking me what I eat here, so here are a few things that I make.  I don't eat meat or dairy products, but I'm still able to survive.

This morning I made a mango, banana, pineapple smoothie with a blender that I brought with me from the States.  It was so delicious! All I added to it was water and I put it in my freezer.  Sometimes I add coconut water to my smoothies.

My roommate and I sometimes make bean and rice burritos with guacamole and mango salsa. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! Also, I often make salads with cucumber, tomatoes, and carrots or a stir fry with cabbage, green peppers, carrots and rice.  Sometimes I make spaghetti or lentil soup. Further,french fries are probably one of my favorite types of foods, even though they aren't that healthy.  But sometimes I'll bake potatoes or sweet potatoes in our stove and they come out just as tasty.  If I'm feeling really creative, I might prepare a vegetable coconut curry and throw in some potatoes.   For a snack I might have cut apples with cinnamon and peanut butter or I'll make hummus and eat it with crackers crackers (Thank goodness they have garbanzo beans here). 

Fortunately, I'm not starving over here and I have a lot of food options.  If you have any other vegan recipes for me, I would love to take a look at them.  I'll probably post another blog in the future with other things that I cook.

Here's a funny clip that some Peace Corps volunteers in Tanzania made.  Even though I'm in a different country, I can relate to almost EVERYTHING in this video.  Take a look at some of the things we Peace Corps volunteers NEVER say...

Spiders, lizards, and, snakes. Oh, my!

Since I've been living here in Moz, I've seen a snake in my bathroom, had a mouse eat my potatoes in the kitchen cabinet, and felt a spider crawling on my leg which was the size of my palm.  As you can imagine, cockroaches no longer scare me and I can kill spiders without screaming and jumping on the dining room table.  In fact, I  invite lizards into the house so that they can eat the insects. Nope, I'm not afraid of lizards anymore. However, I'm still terrified of mice because they're fast and furry and carry diseases. That said, my roommate and I don't like the idea of having snakes, mice, tarantulas  or any other un-welcomed guests crawling or dashing across the kitchen floor, obviously.  One evening, we spoke with our neighbor about how we can get a cat so that we could take care of our rodent/insect problem.  Three days later, she rang our doorbell and handed us a moving rice sack that was crying, "Meow".  As you may have already guessed, there was a cute kitten inside the bag! Our smiles were big as we accepted our holiday gift and we haven't had a problem with insects/rodents since.

It's not set in stone, but I think we decided to name her Lani.  Isn't she cute?