Bryan's Visit & other updates

Bryan's visit to Mozambique:

4/4/15- 4/18/15 [in Bryan's own words]
I have been planning this trip to Mozambique with Tammie for over a year.  Being the furthest and longest trip I have personally taken, I did not realize there was so much to prepare.  Preparation included applying for a visa, getting the required and recommended immunizations, and all the little things to do before travel.  As the date came closer to my trip the realization that I was going to Africa was slowly hitting me.  Being in constant contact with Tammie helped me prepare as well, including what kind of lifestyle to expect once over there.  Bucket baths, electricity black outs, squatting toilets, mosquito bites, cooking over charcoal, boleias and chapas amongst many other things were things I had expected to experience during my 2 week stay.

During my 30 hour trip to get to Mozambique through London and Johannesburg, I experienced jetlag for a good 2 to 3 days despite using melatonin.  Pemba was where I stayed the first couple days and stayed at a hotel with A/C and running water, which was definitely a luxury I knew to take advantage of.  So, my first impression of Pemba, TRAFFIC!!! Yup, drivers are crazy drivers there. I also experienced the hot Mozambican sun beating down on me. It was exhausting during the afternoon but what saved me were the frozen yogurts the street vendors sell. 

When I made it to Tammie’s site in Ancuabe I saw what I imagined what Africa would be like, mud huts and no electricity.  However, Tammie’s house had electricity thankfully and had really welcoming neighbors.  Oh, it was also my birthday that day so we were all busy preparing a dinner for me.  It was by far the best birthday I had so far. Highlight of that day was killing a chicken.  Yup, I killed a chicken for dinner and I have to admit, it was more work than I expected.

During my first week I got to shadow Tammie while she worked.  I was introduced to her co-workers.  One thing I wish I had prepared was to learn more Portuguese since that is the language spoken there.  It was also quite the experience to be one of the only “white” people in town. People would stare, mostly the kids.  Just imagine 1000 eyes staring at you.  I dealt with that by pretending I was a celebrity haha.  But it was fun interacting with the locals.  Tammie has this girl empowerment group called REDES where they learn about health topics and do an activity.  She also does Children Time with the kids in her neighborhood where over 20 kids would sit on the porch to color. 

We got an opportunity to go off site to a touristy place called Ilha de Mocambique.  It was an island that is known to be one of the first Portuguese colonies so its architecture definitely has a lot of influence from that.  Unfortunately, that is where I experienced my first electricity blackout, but eating dinner by candle light was pretty romantic.  The next day we got to sail to a nearby secluded beach called Chocas, which had white sand beaches and clear waters, a destination worth the journey to get there. 

The following week I got shadow Tammie again, but was also able to view other PCV sites as we stopped by them.  Some sites included Monapo, Chiure, and Pemba.  I was able to meet volunteers in their communities and saw how integrated they were with the locals.  I also got to compare site houses ranging from mato, or very rural, to city-like.  I have gained a lot of respect for these PCVs learning that a lot of them are fresh out of college, meaning that they are around 23 or 24 years old and have very high ambitions after they finish service.  Living the life of a PCV for the past 2 weeks has not been an easy one, but has been a very rewarding experience.  I am now appreciating the simple things in life such as cold drinking water.  And now upon leaving Mozambique after just getting used to it, I now can say I have experienced something not many are willing to endure and am open to the idea of doing it again. 

Hora das Crianças:

4/1/15 letter Q and color Mickey and friends

4/3/15 color stars

4/9/15 Letter R and color mermaid

REDES:

4/3/15 Final dance practice!

4/7/15 The girls performed their 3 dances for the community during Mozambican Women's Day! Unfortunately there wasn't a music speaker system so I had to use my ipad and small portable speaker. Luckily it was still audible but it would have been better if it was a lot better. They danced to Shakira- Waka Waka, Gustavo Lima- Balada Boa, and Michael Telo- Ai Se Eu Te Pego. They were awesome! Video is here: https://www.facebook.com/angela.nguyen8/videos/10103078053557824/?pnref=story

4/8/15 We talked about ways to prevent malaria and played 2 malaria activities: good/bad behaviors (ie. sleeping under a net vs using the net to catch fish) relay race and hang the mosquito net on the bed

4/14/15 We watched Positivo music videos about malaria and then played a malaria board game in teams. 1st & 2nd place winners got See's Candies lollipops! :)

Work:

4/15-17/15 I had a 3 full days of meeting for work in Chiure. On the first day all the facilitators reported on their past 3 months of work in the field. On the second day, we were introduced to the new format of reporting and then got into group to simulate a report as practice. On the third day, we planned our activities for the next three months. I'm officially head of the water project! For the month of May, I will be busy with planning the logistics and executing the 6 trainings that we're going to do with health committees in 6 posts in my community. 

Other updates:

-I'm down to 1 kitten! =( which I will give away to my next door neighbor soon. I gave 3 kittens away to a PCV and 1 disappeared, I think he got kidnapped =(

Kittens in their new home

-Bryan and I are starting our Cape Town adventure now!! Will blog about it in the next post :)