The half way slump

So, if it wasn’t made obvious by some of the previous posts – coming back to site after Christmas was difficult. I’m told that this is normal.  That this time is supposed to be a low point in the “life cycle of a PCV.”  I felt like I was especially struggling  (along with other Moz15ers) for a number of additional reasons.

Our Peace Corps Mozambique family suffered a horrible tragedy while I was on leave in the states. Five volunteers (one of whom is a good friend of mine) were in a car accident on December 21^st. Two of the female volunteers in the car, who had only arrived in country Sept. 2011,  died almost immediately. The other 3 were med-evac-ed to South Africa with serious injuries (they are all currently recovering well). You can imagine how incredibly traumatizing this was for our entire peace corps family – let alone the families of the volunteers at home in the states.

Needless to say, this took a huge mental toll on my readjustment in Cateme.  Add that to the riot, the fact that I still didn’t really know anyone at my new site AND that I was trying to transition back from America……. Lets just say January was rough.

Not to worry though! I’m pushing right through that little troubled spot in a number of ways.  Some of these things might sound menial.  However, even the smallest things can be a game changer when you’re hanging by a thread…

My personally tested “How to pull yourself out of a funk” guide:

1.      Break down and buy yourself a nice phone.  You have no idea how much the full keyboard on a blackberry will enhance your life. Ha!  Not to mention the Internet capacity. Plus, getting emails and texts from home is generally a highlight of my day.

2.      Get a puppy. If nothing else, it will keep you extremely busy.  If you’re lucky (like me) she will be very cute, willing to listen to whatever you want to talk about, and hands down the most excited person (?) to see you everyday. In fact, Hannah, Eden and I each took one of the puppies from the newest litter at our old house in Moatize.  All 3 sisters are growing and doing well J

3.      Start exercising on a normal basis.  I’ve gotten in the habit of waking up at 5 am and taking off on a morning run as the sun rises.  I’ve never felt more productive before 6 in the morning!

4.      Find students that are screaming potential. Helen and I have started 2 groups for the 11^th and 12^th graders at our school. The first group, REDES, is specifically for girls and focuses on female empowerment. Our girls want to learn how to make a business plan – then to sew and sell capulana bags at our school. The other group, JUNTOS, is a co-ed group that focuses on youth activism.  This particular group of kids wants to either do community theatre (most likely HIV focused) OR write a newspaper for the school/village.  Now this won’t be like an American high school paper. It will be a single copy, handwritten newspaper posted in a communal place. Regardless, these kids show SO much potential… it’s incredible. They’re excited. They know they have to work for their futures – and that they’re fighting an uphill battle.  They hang on every piece of information they can get their hands on. I’m SO thrilled to be working with all of them!! I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about  both REDES and JUNTOS kids in the future.

5.      Never underestimate how much little things can help. Paint your nails. Put up pictures.  Cook something you love.  Watch an episode of Friends.

You’ll be just fine!

Cateme Riot in the News

I though I would share some of the news articles from the demonstration that I mentioned in my last post.  Luckily, our Peace Corps friends who have already finished their service have been keeping us in the official loop.

Mozambique families protest against Brazil's Vale

Wed Jan 11, 2012 5:27am GMT

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Families resettled by Brazilian mining giant Vale in the Tete region of Mozambique protested on Tuesday that the company had failed to keep promises it made to them in 2009.

About 700 families, resettled approximately 60 kilometres away from the Moatize coal mining site, demonstrated against the lack of access to water, electricity and agricultural land at their resettlement Cateme area.

"Many promises made by Vale before they resettled us here have not been accomplished since 2009," said community leader Eduardo Zinocassaka.

Vale refused to comment, saying it had an agreement with the local government, which would release an official comment on Wednesday morning.

The families were resettled between November 2009 and December 2010.

"Last December we sent a document-complaint to the government of Moatize District requesting their official intervention to solve the problems faced by the communities, and as we saw the government's incapacity, we decided to demonstrate," Zinocassaka told Reuters by phone.

© Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved

Mozambique: Vale Promises to Solve Resettlement Problems

19 January 2012

Maputo — The Brazilian mining company Vale has promised to solve within six months all the problems faced by households resettled from the area where Vale is now mining coal in Moatize district, in the western province of Tete.


717 households were resettled at Cateme, about 35 kilometres from Moatize town. Many of these families protest that the houses they were given are shoddily built. Cracks have appeared in the walls and the roofs are leaking.


On 10 January this problem hit the headlines when about 500 Cateme residents blocked the Sena railway line, from Moatize to the port of Beira, thus interrupting the movement of Vale coal trains. The protestors were eventually dispersed by the riot police and 14 alleged ringleaders were arrested.


In addition to the problems with the houses, Cateme residents cited in Thursday's issue of the independent daily "O Pais" say that Vale promised each household two hectares of land for farming, but actually only allotted one hectare each, and in an area that is not suitable for agriculture.


They say they are facing hunger, have no jobs, and have no means of transport. They claim Vale promised them priority in the allocation of jobs, but the only jobs some of them managed to obtain were temporary. They also accuse the government of doing nothing to relieve their suffering.


Adriano Ramos, director for sustainability of Vale-Mozambique, admitted to the paper that the complaints are justified, and promised that everything can be set right within six months.


"I think there was a lack of dialogue between the population, Vale and the government", he said. "There should be a permanent dialogue, because we want to see the development of all concerned, and particularly of Mozambique. We have to recognise that processes are dynamic. What was good two years ago may not be good today".


The costs of resettlement were estimated at 120 million US dollars, of which Vale has so far spent 100 million.

(from AllAfrica.com)

(this is an email that I sent to my mom on the second day back at site.  Apologies for the lack of formatting, thats just the way Nokia phones email lol)




welllll ... if possible, today has been crazier than yesterday.  after we talked, i started trying to unpack-waiting for the water to come on. during said unpacking, i encountered the giant f-ing lizard whose
been leaving gifts all over the house. i screamed when he came flying out at me and he promptly hid behind my matress. awesome. so as im trying to scare him out, olive (who apparently has learned to be slightly more productive after her time with antonias family) caught him on the other side. she then proceeded to scurry around the house with the twitching, bleeding lizard looking for a place to eat him.  i, in turn, ran after her with a broom trying to get both of them outside. at this point, the lizards 4 inch long tail fell off (they do that
sometimes, im not always sure why, in this case, i would assume it was the ´oh shit this cat will eat me´reasoning.)  so i just left olive in the kitchen, swept the still moving tail outside and left them.  she
didnt leave a drop. sidenote, olive wont stop purring and its really pissing me off.... could be that i took a full larium. anyways, 8 oclock rolls around and im panicking about the water sitch. i was trying to wait to go over to school until i had bathed.  eventually, i just wiped myself down with a baby wipe (which, btw, is not a good substitue for a bath) and went over to school. after being told i was fat and pale, multiple times, and that water just wasnt running i went home and decided to walk to the market in an attempt to buy either
bottled water, toilet paper or phone credit.  luckily on the way, 2 students stopped me (a brother and sister) and the girl offered to come with me to the market. shes gonna be a rockstar, i can tell. so so sweet. she had the peace corps teachers in zobue before janet and luc and won the national science fair in 2008--- she was super proud. she told me about the water sitch. apparently there was a strike with some of the community members and they blockaded that one road into the village. so whoever was supposed to come and turn on the water never made it. the rest of the people who live here took that as their cue to take the day off as well. so there was literally nothing in the market. nothing. we tried 3 different peoples houses for toilet paper and phone credit and eventually, after about an hour and a half, got some phone credit.  so i came home, super sweaty and dirty and spit on my used baby wipe to get some of the dirt off my feet.  seriously. i feel like this could be some crazy joke haha!! i did, what im refering to as my ´possom plan´....and went to sleep.  when i woke up and went out, my director offered a little water (i think he was more concerned as to how i had managed to make it til 1:30 with zero water).  ive managed to unpack the majority of my things - so thats mentally helpful. not to be dramatic, but i feel like ive been traumatized within the past 48 hours! ughh. itll be fine.  i just keep thinking, even if i were to just crack and e.t. today, id still have to stay for at least like 2 weeks getting all of my paperwork and med stuff done. and within 2 weeks, things could be much better here anyway! i guess thats a good thing?! who knows! ok well now that ive recounted my entire day ill let you be!! although i am enjoying the airconditioned computer room at school and appearing to be busy... maybe when i call you in the a.m. things will be on the up swing!!


i loveeee you!!!!