Monday, May 27, 2013

the story behind the "preschool project" and how/why YOU can help

This is the story behind the Paypal "donate" button to the right...

One of my sitemates, Ariel, started going to the preschool in Monapo last year once a week to read to the children. As an education volunteer, she was given children's books (in Portuguese) as a sample from a company called Books for Africa. One week, I decided to join Ariel at the preschool. After reading one of the books to a room full of noisy, rambunctious children, we decided to instead sing songs and play games.

We quickly discovered that the preschool's space was insufficient for the 78 children that are there Monday-Friday. Children from three to six years of age all occupy one small room. There are four open windows (no glass panes to block out rain) and a thatched grass roof. There is one traditional latrine for all of the children and they have no hand-washing stations. The preschool's one teacher, Samuel, only has one other helper. Rosalina is responsible for making breakfast, usually a traditional porridge, and preparing juice to accompany the snacks which the children bring from home. Samuel built the existing preschool from his own personal money and regularly gives up part of his salary to buy toys or food supplies.

Samuel told us that it was his dream to expand the preschool in order to serve more children. Unfortunately, however, he has been unable to save for the funds needed. After much discussion, Ariel and I decided that it would be a good project idea to improve the preschool. We also decided to convert the preschool into a Community Child Development Center in the afternoon once the preschool children return home. Children, youth and adults would be encouraged to use the center as a library- to read books, do homework, play educational games, etc. The Center would allow all members of the community to have access to books and a safe place to learn instead of limiting access to only those children attending the preschool.

Unfortunately, most Mozambican adults do not realize the importance of early childhood education. Parents often delay the education of their children until primary school which students begin between the ages of 6 and 8. My neighbor, Carla, is in 6th grade and can barely get through a beginner-level book. Another neighbor, Eddie, is in 2nd grade and just learned how to write his name at my house. It is not uncommon for a high school student to be illiterate. But the lack of help at home isn't the only problem. Even if a child wanted to practice reading, where would they do so? Their schools don't have books. There is no Community Library. Surely they don't have books at home.

Therefore, in addition to rehabilitating the space at the preschool, we hope to raise enough money to purchase the whole Portuguese set of books (over 200) from Books for Africa that range in difficulty for primary to high school students. In the afternoon, people will be welcome to come to the Center and read with their children and younger siblings or by themselves.

With the construction of a new, two-room building, the preschool children will be devided according to age. The project will also provide funding for Samuel to employ an additional teacher. Besides the preschool, there are no other organizations in the community providing structure and resources to young children in Monapo. Many parents do not understand the benefit of early childhood education and those who do may not have a guaranteed placement for their child in the preschool. This project aims to create a better learning environment for the children enrolled in the preschool while also creating an early childhood development center available to everyone in the community. Along with providing resources to educating young children, the center will aim to advocate amongst parents and youth the importance of beginning education at a young age.

I cannot count the number of times I've had someone tell me (or write to me) that they admire what I am doing here in Moz and wish they could help. Well, this is your opportunity. Normally I am not a fan of simply doling out money as a form of aid. But this preschool is already fully functioning. There is no room for failure because we are investing in something that already exists and works. But there is a tremendous need for growth and improvement and your donations will help Samuel and the community of Monapo achieve this. 

If you'd like any more information, please feel free to contact me at adriennerlong@gmail.com. Or see my sitemate's website at http://justsoyum.wordpress.com/build-a-preschool/. 
 

Thursday, April 11, 2013

The Longs' Adventures in Africa: take 2

March was quite the month. My family was here in Mozambique for nearly 3 full weeks. We stayed in Nampula city (the city they flew into) the first 2 days to give them a chance to relax and lets be honest- to not have complete culture shock. I think they were pretty shocked anyway. I saw them as soon as they stepped off of the airplane. Well, I saw a white man with a safari hat and large fanny-pack and figured it had to be my dad. I walked around and met them outside of the luggage pick-up. We were immediately swarmed by taxi drivers and airport staff looking for a quick tip by carrying bags. I'll never forget the drive from the airport to our hotel. My mom and sister were screaming at literally everything. Completely mundane, everyday things. “Look at that man standing in the back of that truck!” “Look at those tires on the side of the road!!!” And my personal favorite, “oh my gosh, you're really speaking Portuguese!” I mean, really? I've lived here for 2 years! Of course I'm speaking Portuguese to the taxi driver. Its pretty surreal having your family in the place that you've come to think of as home and suddenly realize that they know next to nothing about what your life is like.Probably the greatest thing I learned from their time here is just how much I've learned living in Mozambique.

Our time in Nampula was fairly uneventful, from my end at least. My mom and sister were able to do some souvenir shopping and I took full advantage of the meals we enjoyed at restaurants I normally can't afford to eat at. I was a nervous wreck walking around the city with them and all the valuables- tons of cash, iphones, video camera. To this day they don't realize how dangerous Nampula can be. I'm so grateful they didn't witness it in person while they were here. Our closest call happened at the Sunday market, a place where you can buy anything from baskets and jewelry to furniture and chickens. The Sunday market is always jam packed with locals (few tourists brave the crowd) and some punks took advantage of the environment to try and pick-pocket my dad. One of the kids pretended that my dad had stepped on his foot and while he was distracted another kid went through his fanny pack. Thankfully, there was nothing in it.

We had planned on leaving Nampula for Monapo early on Monday morning. Long story short, our driver was completely incompetent and we left 7 hours later. This would be their first lesson in a very important aspect of Mozambican culture- no one is ever in a hurry. The phrase “Estou a vir” or “I'm coming” can mean the person will be there anywhere between 10 minutes and 3 hours. I knew they were freaking out, so I tried my best to assuage their anxiety. “It's gonna be ok guys- TIA (This Is Africa).”

We arrived at my house in Monapo about 6:30pm. It was pitch black out but that of course didn't stop my neighbors from hearing the car pull up. I knew how excited they were, knew that they'd been waiting all day for our arrival. The kids helped unpack the extremely full car and we set up the mosquito net for the extra mattress. Its difficult having additional people in your house (with no running water and spotty electricity and bugs and dust like you can't imagine and a cat and 3 kittens...) but it's even harder when those 3 additional people are Americans who have never before been to Africa. I was expecting the worst.

The 3 days we spent in Monapo flew by. We would wake up early and before you knew it, it was getting dark outside and we were deciding on what to do for dinner. We spent the majority of the days out in my yard playing with the neighborhood kids and talking with some of the adults (rather they talked and I just translated). When my dad wasn't doing yard work, he was sitting under this shaded structure in my yard writing in his journal or acting out charades with my neighbor. My mom brought tons of toys for the kids and jewelry for the adults. Everyone was pretty wild over their gifts!

Later in the week we left Monapo for Chocas- a touristy little beach town that is very difficult to get to and quite possibly my favorite place in Mozambique. The road isn't paved and gets pretty messed up during the rainy season. My family was completely freaked out but I kept reassuring them, “Don't worry! This road isn't even that bad! I've been on ones MUCH worse!” Needless to say, we have some entertaining video of the trip. Once again, TIA. Carrusca, the resort we stayed at in Chocas, is an additional 3km outside of the town. Other than a few locals and fisherman that pass through, the place is pretty isolated. Except for Saturday and Sunday, we were the only ones on the beach for as far as the eye can see. This part of the trip is what I'd call a typical “vacation”. Sleeping in, enjoying breakfast on the veranda of the bungalow, laying on the beach, taking a nap in a hammock, getting dressed up for dinner and then coming back to star-gaze and drink wine. One morning Janine and I took a dhow boat (wooden sailboat) to an island just off the mainland. It wasn't my first time to the island but it was still beautiful. Little tide pools full of sea creatures and beautiful shells everywhere. I think we saw at least 15 big, bright starfish. But you must not forget, this is Mozambique and of course is not without its challenges, even when you're on vacation. Our first night in Chocas the electricity went off around 6pm and we ate dinner by headlamp-light. There is no bank in the town of Chocas (ie- no ATM) and the credit card machine at the resort's restaurant wasn't working. So we really had to watch our money to make sure we'd have enough to get out and move on to our next destination. Janine and I woke up one night to a mouse crawling directly above our heads on the palm-thatched roof of our bungalow. That was a long night. And finally-the restaurant serves seafood and chicken, so when your body starts to reject the rich and buttery lobster, fish, clams, shrimp and squid, you're left with very limited dinner options.

I knew they'd be excited to move on to the tourist-friendly Ilha de Moçambique (Mozambique Island) as there are more sightseeing activities, shops and restaurants. There's also a bank! Ilha was once the capital of Mozambique so it has a unique history and rich culture. We toured the museum and were shocked by the lack of security for the items on display. By the end we couldn't help but joke- “This carpet we are walking on is definitely from the 1500s.” On Friday the Peace Corps Volunteers were having a beach party for St. Patty's Day so we went and had dinner and drinks with them. It was nice to have my family meet some of my friends here. The next night Janine and I went with the others to the island's discoteca or dance club. It's just an ocean-front area with tables and chairs and a small cement dance floor. But we don't need a fancy space to have a good time. We danced until 2am and ended up being the last out of our group to leave. We walked the whole length of the island to get back to our hotel and less than a minute away from the hotel's front door, my purse was stolen. This kid just ripped the body of the bag off the strap (the purse was made out of braided plastic bags). Luckily, I only lost about $4 and a fancy lipgloss. The hotel, unfortunately, lost a key to their front door and our guest-room. I had absolutely no confidence in the police to patrol the surrounding area and prevent the thief from coming back and coming inside. TIA. And, because we were the hotel's only guests, I moved my mattress out to the hotel's lobby and my dad sat on a couch with a hammer. I guess we can both cross guarding a Mozambican hotel off the list. The rest of our time was less eventful. We would walk around the island during the day taking pictures of the unique architecture and beautiful people, then go back to our rooms to wash up and go out for a fancy dinner. I go to Ilha de Mozambique quite often but I normally only allow myself one fancy meal out (and one fancy drink to go along with it). So it was quite the luxury ordering anything I wanted at the fanciest places on the island and a glass of wine on the side!

We spent a couple of days back in Monapo before their flight out. We brought back fish from the island and helped my neighbors to make a delicious fish dinner. Besides playing with all the neighborhood kids we also visited some people my family didn't get to meet the first time. There is an American missionary family with 4 small kids. They regularly invite my sitemates and me over for incredible home-cooked, American dinners. And colleagues stopped by to meet in person the people that I so often talk about. Overall, I was super impressed by how well my family did during the trip. Living here sure ain't easy but what many people don't know is that “vacationing” in Mozambique is challenging as well. The good together with the bad results in three weeks that will definitely stand out from my approximately 116 week-long service. Saying goodbye to my neighbors was hard for my family but also very difficult for me. A wake-up call to the fact that I will be doing the same in a few months. We parted ways in the Nampula airport but it wasn't too hard to say goodbye. For as hard as it will be to leave Mozambique, I have family and friends waiting for me, and the wait is over in just 4 months.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Bem-vindo a 2013!!!


I was only out of Monapo for two weeks but when I got back it felt like so much had changed. There was a huge fire on New Year’s Eve at the market in Monapo. Roughly 20 bodegas selling everything from Indian dresses to Chinese electronics burned down. I’m not sure what kind of financial help the owners received but they are currently in the process of re-building their stores with less combustible materials like cement and sheets of zinc, as opposed to wood and grass. I also came back to a fully pregnant cat who has since had her kittens! There are three of them- two are dark and one is more like Roo, white with dark patches. I sat on my back veranda with the kids while we watched her move them from a secluded corner of my yard into the spare room in my house. They can’t walk yet so I don’t have to worry about them getting into trouble. While I was gone I missed Eddie’s (my little neighbor boy) celebration into manhood. To make up for it I baked oatmeal raisin cookies and took him back-to-school shopping. I spent about $4 and got him a new notebook, colored pencils, pens, ruler and an incredible Transformer set with notepad, pencil sharpener, pencils and pencil case.  As we walked through the market picking things out he was so excited he could barely talk! And the biggest change of all- its 2013 and I’ll be coming back to the states in 6 months! So strange to think that I have so little time left.

I had a lovely Christmas/New Year holiday. A bunch of volunteers who live in Southern Mozambique came up North so I didn’t have to travel very far distances for once, which was a very nice change! Two of my close girl friends got to my house early so I was able to spend time with them and show them around Nampula city and Mozambique Island. Then 7 of us went to one of my favorite places- Chocas. We had a pretty rustic experience because we chose to camp. But it was great being able to buy fish and seafood right on the beach from the fishermen and cooking it for dinner. From Chocas we traveled up farther North to Pemba, a beach town full of tourists and ex-pats. There was a huge group of PCVs that camped out at a really fun lodge complete with great American food and cable tv, all a short walk from the beach. We were even treated to a free Christmas buffet lunch complete with turkey, beef, fish, squid and LOBSTER. What luck! After Christmas I traveled even farther North (super close to the Tanzanian border) to a town called Moçimboa da Praia, which is my friend Nitisha’s site. It was horrible getting there (several hours spent in the hot sun trying to get a ride and eventually ended up standing on an even hotter bus stuffed beyond capacity with humans of all shapes/sizes/ages) but I’m glad we went because it was probably one of the most unique places I’ve ever been in Mozambique. After Nitisha showed us around for a couple of days, we headed back down to Pemba for the New Year. We camped at the Pemba Dive and Bush Camp this time around which was really fun because they provide a lot of free activities- kayaking, archery, nature walks, mud baths, volleyball. You better believe we got our monies worth! I rang in the New Year with my girl friends on the dance floor of the Pemba Beach Hotel, a very swanky place. After enjoying the American tunes and firework display we switched venues and went to a seedier part of town to ring in the New Year with the locals. We ended the night back at the Bush Camp hanging out around the bonfire. All in all, a fantastic way to say goodbye to 2012.
                 
Since being back from vacation, I’ve been reminded of a mothers’ typical wish on Mother’s Day- peace and quiet. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love “my kids” (read: the little neighborhood munchkins) but sometimes enough is enough! The past couple of weekends I’ve spent nearly all of Saturday and Sunday with the little monkeys. From the time I open my door in the morning until it gets dark at night. And even then they’re peeking through my front windows watching me watch tv, doing yoga, or cook. Last Sunday, I spent all morning with them in my backyard. Then Carla had the idea to do a picnic lunch. So everyone ran home to grab a bit of food to share with the rest of the group. Then I put up the hammock and we had fun putting people in and swinging them back-and-forth. At some point, I fell asleep and when I woke up the kids had organized themselves into teams for a cooking competition! I was utterly amazed. They brought pans and charcoal from home and collected mandioca leaves from random plants growing in my yard. I ended up giving each team an onion, oil and salt so the matapa (green, leafy Mozambican dish) wouldn’t be so bland. It was so cute watching them help each other get their fires started (they used bits of charcoal and wood scraps and grass from my yard). Even little Deena and Fatiminha took over tending the fires! Can you imagine 3 and 4 year olds doing that in the states?! The parents would be hauled away by social services! It’s incredible that things still shock me after two years in Moz.
                 
My family will be here in six weeks! I am equally excited and frightened. Who knows what we will encounter. But I can guarantee it’ll be one heck of an adventure!