Full Circle - Moz 19 Training

Each time a new input group of volunteers arrives in-country, they have 10 weeks of  pre-service training.  Now, its been about 2 years since I completed my training – so the details are a little fuzzy. But overall, I have fond memories of making lots of new friends and bonding over how entirely confused we were by our lives. It was tough though.  Training sessions, endless Portuguese lessons and cross cultural workshops occupied my life Monday through Saturday.  And if I wasn’t in a training session, I was exhausted from constantly straining to understand even the simplest conversation in Portuguese (fyi. If you haven’t learned a new language in a while – or ever … knowing “rojo” means red in Spanish doesn’t count ,fools – it is incredibly tiring).  Pre Service Training was one of those things you just had to push through and hang on to those fun moments when you were actually feeling carefree and having a good time.

Each week, two PCVs go to training to lead sessions, answer questions and reassure the newbies that they will, in fact, survive their service in Mozambique.  I was lucky enough to attend the 4th week of training for the Moz 19 group.  I wanted to go for a few reasons.  First, I’ve had a lot of different experiences here and I think I’ve maintained a positive (albeit somewhat cynical) attitude.  Sharing it with the new kids only seemed natural.  Secondly, I wanted to go back to Namaacha (the training village) and really see how much I’ve learned and changed since I was a trainee.

I was greeted with lots of hugs and kisses from former language and technical teachers – which is always nice, who doesn’t like to be hugged and kissed when they walk through a door?!  I let the new kids go question-crazy on me about classroom management, testing, lesson planning, having a roommate,  and learning Portuguese.  I had forgotten how completelyyy foreign this life was to me during training… and it reminded me how much I’ve learned and accomplished over the past two years.  I mean, I could answer ALL of their questions! And not because I’m super smart, or a rockstar volunteer – just because I’ve done it, and I survived it. 

I made sure to give a big pitch for Tete and specifically Cateme.  You know, things like, “Tete has this super cool, unique culture….. and we have baobob trees…. and it borders Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.” And “Cateme has a beautiful school with a computer lab…. And our house has running water…. And we’re leaving a chest freezer, a gas stove and a wonderful dog!!”  I specifically left out that Tete is by far the hottest place in the country…. And that, if you get sent to Cateme, you’ll wait an average of 2 hours for a car to pass.  Whatever. Highlight the positive, right? They’ll figure the rest out on their own! I’d hate to ruin allll the surprises ;)

My final task while in Namaacha was to stop by and visit Mama Joana, my host mother.  Although I only got to stop by for a few minutes, it was WONDERFUL to see her again.  She was such a great part of my training experience.  I got a ride to her house in one of the land rovers, and she was working out in the field by her yard.  She was super excited to see me and we spent a some time catching up, making sure our families were all in good health, etc. Then she grabbed my arm and pulled me into the yard to show me ‘a surprise’ …. Sitting in front of her pink house was a car! She bought herself a car and is taking driving lessons! A middle aged, single mother of three – and she bought herself a car!! That is SO awesome! I couldn’t have been more proud – so we stood and held hands and admired the car for a few minutes.