I thoroughly enjoy the occasional arduous day of manual
labor. I like earning my calluses and I love earning my scares. Next week I
will be my one year anniversary here in Namuno and in the past year I have
earned many calluses and hopefully not too many scars. If you want to hear the
story of how my hands got so cut up, wait until the end (or skip to the end).
In this month’s update I will cover the
Peanut Butter project, December plans, corruption in the school, some
logistical visa issues here, yard work projects, and lastly a reflection about
what I’ve learned and how I’ve changed – for the better and the worse – in the past year.
Starting with Ukumi Unawavia, which stands for Health
Seekers, we have two large developments. Sales have held pretty constant the
past few months. We’ve been working on a grant
proposal that would give Ukumi some funds to improve their production methods,
job training for staff, and outreach at the high school. Our big ticket item on
the grant is a 500 USD machine that could be operated by bike or motor. Right
now, they use a hand crank to turn out the Peanut Butter. It comes out smooth,
but is exhausting work, especially when it’s 101
degrees outside and no AC…
Secondly, we have been working to nail down a contract with a mining company in
a nearby town. We just received word that they would be ready to buy 60 KG per
week if we can run lab tests on our Peanut Butter and demonstrate that it is
safe to eat (they can’t have
their workers getting sick). 60 KG is a lot of Peanut Butter for us to be
turning out on a weekly basis. We’ll need
the larger machine to handle the increased level of production. With that said,
60 KG a week is about 300 USD per week which is nearly the sales revenue we
need to break even with operational costs. Right now, the 25 staff salaries
come from Ariel Glaser, an international health organization. Our hope is to
have financial independence. We do not want to separate from the Ariel support – rather we want to be able to sustain
ourselves if and when the international aid funds move/dry up. To reach this,
we need 350-400 USD sales revenue from Peanut Butter per week. So, sealing down
this contract almost gets us all the way there!
The long term hope is to use sales funds to expand operations while
relying on Ariel Glaser grant funds to cover current operational costs.
Progress. Slowly but surely.
Looking ahead (and up), I’ll be
heading to Tanzania in December to summit Mt. Killimanjaro!! It’s been awhile since I’ve done some backpacking of any kind
and am looking forward to some mountain air. The mountain is about 20,000 ft
tall if I remember correctly. It’s weird
for me to think that I haven’t seen
snow in nearly 2 years and that I haven’t been
backpacking or camping or out in the wilderness for over 15 months. So let’s go climb a literal mountain!!
Now on to corruption in the school… Prior to Peace Corps, I had been engaged in high contact
sports for the past 8 years. It’s weird
not having any contact sports to release stress. As such, having places where I
can pick some just fights (disclaimer – these
are nonphysical fights) has helped me curb my edge. Starting last September
when I saw photos of my Rugby buddies out on the pitch, I’ve felt like I needed a fight. To put
it plainly, my school is riddled with corruption. Students paying teachers
money for grades, teachers sleeping with students for grades, and plenty of
people looking the other way pretending they don’t know
what’s going on. I have a few
students who help me with work around the house and in turn I pay for their
school supplies. Here’s the
conversation that started it all (translated and paraphrased):
Student: “I need 100 mets”
Me: “What do
you need 100 mets for?”
Student: “For school”
Me: “What do you mean for school?”
Student: “It’s for my
agriculture teacher”
Me: “What do you mean it’s for your agriculture teacher?”
Student: “I need to pay him”
Me: “Why?”
Student: “Because I missed the second test and
100 mets will change my 0 to a 15”
(remember grades are out of 20 and a 10/20 is passing)
Well heck no am I about to pay another teacher because that
teacher is refusing to give makeup work… So I
had to get to the bottom of what was said and what was going on. I spoke to all
4 of this teacher’s 8th grade
classes. It was like pulling an arm and a leg to get them to talk. All of the
students were incredibly afraid. This is the closest I was able to get to the
truth of what happened and what was said – There
is a big holiday here called Teacher’s Day
where most teachers have a large party and get drunk. Most tend not to show up
to school the day after and as a result many students also do not show up to
school the day after. This agriculture teacher gave a test the day after
Teacher’s Day. I was able to
determine that about 60 of his 240 students showed up for school that day. The
day he handed back tests he said something to the extent of: “If you didn’t take the test you have a 0. If you have a 0 you need to
find another way to make up the test. By the way, the river in my house has run
dry. If you tell the principle or assistant principle about this I will give
you a falta vermelha (red mark)”. A red
mark is like a red card. 2 of those over your academic career and you are
expelled.
Now let’s move
forward to how I handled it. I started by sending this teacher a text message
telling him what the students had told me. He called me the following morning
and we met up at the school. His first question was “which student told you all of this?”. To which I laughed and said that did not matter. We had
an hour long discussion. I attempted to convince him that if 60 of 240 students
show up you should not give a test, even if it is on your plan… He strongly disagreed. And then we
moved into what he apparently told the students. His response was that they were
all lying… And he said what he meant
was they needed to do work in the school’s farm
to make up the test (that is normal makeup work for the agriculture class). So
I said, fine they can do make up work in the farm and it’s all good.
Next I go to his classes, tell them the result (work in the
farm), and help talk them through how to talk to the teacher. I told them they
need to apologize for missing the test and be prepared to say why the missed
it. The common excuse here is “I was
sick” or “I was at the hospital” which
90% of the time is a lie and all of the teachers know it. So I gave them three
examples they could use (yes I realize I helped endorse lying… for a good cause though so maybe we
can call it morally grey) – Your
mom was pregnant and you helped her to the hospital, your family celebrated
teachers day and then ran out of water so the following morning you were
helping your sisters fetch water from the well, and reason (3) your dad needed
help carrying peanuts to the market to sell so you could pay for school next
year – if you didn’t pay by Sunday the price went up so
it had to be done on Friday.
So at this point I’m
thinking the situation is all resolved and I count it as a W.
I was wrong. So very wrong. Two weeks later I had a 5th
student come up to me and tell me he still wanted money. So I called the
agriculture teacher, was able to get in 2 sentences before he started yelling
at me, and then I hung up. I started typing out a text and declined his next 3
calls until I was able to send it. I Answered his next call, told him to read
my message, and then hung up on him again. I continued to hand up on him for
the rest of that day and only responded to his messages. The situation has been
resolved and I was able to make sure all of his students were able to do make
up in the farm. I garnered a lot of respect from the students by standing up
for them instead of a fellow teacher. The following is a translation of our
text conversation that gave me the real W (translated by me).
Me: It’s like this – there are still students that are saying you want money.
Also, all of your classes said that you said they cannot go to the principle.
If they go to the principle you will give they a red mark. Also, there are
students that requested to do make up work and you said no.
Agriculture Teacher:
Daniel, I know you are persecuting and dirtying my life. At no moment did I
request money in the classroom and those students are working in the farm.
Me: If the students are
working in the farm, this situation is resolved. There are students that think
you denied working in the farm. Maybe those students did not hear that they
could do work in the school’s farm.
Also, let’s clarify something. I am not
persecuting or dirtying your life. I still have not talked to anyone else about
this situation – just us and the students. If
the students are telling the truth, you are dirtying your life. If there is a
misunderstanding between I am only helping to clarify things between you and
your students.
Agriculture Teacher:
Tell these students that the teacher will evaluate the test after the final
exam and it will be work in the school’s farm.
Me: sounds good.
Agriculture Teacher:
Friend, do what I am saying, do not spread gossip that dirties another. Because
of that, I disagree.
Me: John Smith, I am
not spreading gossip… To
spread gossip would be to share the gossip with people. Also, when four classes
are all saying the same thing it is probably not gossip.
Agriculture Teacher:
Your colleagues came and worked in this school and left Mozambique without
anyone hating another. You need to follow the same example.
Me: You can ask the
other teachers and the assistant principals and the principal in this school.
Will they
say I am a good person
or not? Will they say I am a friend or not? Ask my students – I am a god teach or not?
And that is the end of our texting history. Hopefully you
enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it while I was in a hot chapa
on my way to pemba. In addition to this incident with one teacher, I had a smaller
minor incident of a similar manner with another teacher (also got the W on that
one so 2 for 2). 5 separate occasions students have tried to pay me money so I
would raise their grade. 5 times students have been told I will never accept
money for a grade. I told them to come back with a pencil or pen and a notebook
and they could do the makeup work like every other student. None of those 5
came back. Every single one of my students who has showed up to class every day
is passing. Every student who did every homework assignment is passing. This
week we have grade finalization. It will be another fight to keep my grades as
they currently are, but I will fight. I will fight for every single one of my
students who shows up to class every day. I will fight for 11 of my 8th
grade students who walk 9km to school every morning, waking up at 3:30 AM to do
so, and walk 9km home every afternoon. I may not have a pitch, ballfield, or
turf to play a contact sport. But I have my wit, red pen, and hundreds of
students who deserve someone who will stand up for them.
Along these lines, I have talked to two of my colleagues who
are beyond frustrated with the level of corruption at specifically my site. They
are afraid to fight it because they could lose their jobs and their livliehood.
One of these colleagues already told me he is planning to transfer the moment I
am gone and no longer in Namuno. One thing is for certain, I will not fight
alone because that will accomplish nothing. I have a plan to involve my
principals and another higher up to try and start a push back against this
corruption that has been allowed to flood the school and the hearts and minds
of my students. I’m hoping to garner support because
I know I will not do it alone. Alone, the most I will do is fight for my own
grades and my own students.
Grades has been my large battle and in the meanwhile PC has
been fighting a completely different one. The Interior Ministry had a change
over in staff and begun enforcing every law to the T. Normally, we receive 1
year visas and renew them to finish our second year. My first 1-yr visa expires
at the end of November and my passport has been down In Maputo while PC
attempts to get us another Visa (not to worry I have a certified copy so I can
legally travel within the country). About two weeks ago, we were informed all
50 PCVs in my group would be transported to South Africa so we could begin the
process of obtaining the 1-yr visa again. The Interior Ministry was saying we
had to leave and re-enter to receive another visa. This was strange, unusual,
and extremely expensive. Then, about a week ago we were informed the South
Africa trip was cancelled because the Interior Ministry would not issue a 1-yr
visa no matter what. The current plan is to go buy 30-day exit visas to buy an
extra 30-days to make a deal. Overall, PC has been struggling with visa issues
since August. We are all hopeful they will be able to make a deal.
Moving into my backyard, a few updates with building
projects! Although, mostly just picture updates. We have finished a concrete
water tank that should store about 1000 liters (roughly 250 gallons). This tank
is responsible for absolutely destroying my hands (worth it). Additionally, we’re almost done with building a solar
dehydrator to dry fruits/vegies/moringa. I still have plenty of projects
remaining (power rack, fixing my front gate, making weights for lifting,
playground area for the kids, a table for drying peanuts, and so on and so
forth).
Lastly, I want to end with a small reflection. It’s been nearly one year here in
Namuno. I’ve changed, learned a lot,
and grown a lot. I’d say I know speak 2.5
languages: English, Portuguese, and partially Makua. My goal is to leave
Mozambique speaking no less than 3.5 languages: English, Portuguese, Makua, and
a start of French or Spanish. I have fallen in love with languages. Language is
one of the reasons I wanted to be put in Mozambique. I had never learned
another language before and knew if it was not a necessity I would probably
never make it a priority. When it comes to cooking I have also learned mountain
loads. It turns out basically every boxed recipe every in the history of boxed
recipes can easily be made from scratch. I have learned how to cook beans and
how to make an amazing bean stew (feijoada). I have learned how to make dozens of different
dishes with the same simple ingredients: beans, tomatoes, lettuce, onions,
garlic, green peppers, and flour. I LOVE fresh produce and fresh fruits. My
life is simple and more often than not, it is relaxing and quite enjoyable. My
biggest concerns aside from the school, are fetching water from the well,
washing my clothes, building something etcetera. I have so much left to learn
from the Mozambican Mothers here. They have fingers of steel and more energy
than an energizer bunny. Ask them if they are tired as they care a 50 liter bucket
on their head 2km back to their house – the answer
is always no. To be tired means you are close to giving up, to needing a rest,
to having to stop. Hence, the Mozambican Mother is never tired. She cannot
afford to be tired. Her family depends on her to function and to live. She has
no other choice than to work without ever becoming tired.
As I said in the beginning, not all of my changes have been
for the best. Some I hope will stay here. I am more skeptical of people. I
ignore those who attempt to sell me things and who attempt to beg for money. I
understand why I have developed these habits but I do not want them to stay. I
used to be the person who would smile while passing a person experiencing homelessness.
Now, even if it is a child, I turn the other way and pretend not to see them.
When I go to the market I generally receive no less than 3 people who beg me to
give them money. The general thought is “WHITE
MAN. HE HAS MONEY.” And to some extent they are
not wrong. I have enough money to live and to eat well. I have enough money to
travel every now and then. This is part of the reason I am trying so dang hard
to get some economic development going and bring in a few jobs. Because of the
constant begging, I am skeptical of people (also, outside of my general area
the begging is nowhere near as severe). A few months ago I was on a chapa in
Pemba (city bus) going to town. He was well dressed and very kind. He was
helping me practice a few phrases in Makua. As he was about to exit he kept
saying something and holding out his hand making a money gesture. I assumed he
was begging me to pay for his bus fare. It turns out he was trying to teach me
the Makua word for money, which I still had not learned at that point.
My skeptical tendencies have worsened since receiving a
female site mate. Men who would greet me with a warm smile greet my female site
mate with penetrating eyes and the ridiculous “marry
me”. To be completely honest, I do not
think it is emotional safe to be a female in my town. That goes for local
females and foreign females. Many (not all) men treat females like a farmer may
treat his pigs. When I encounter people alone they seem normal and act normal.
When I encounter people with my site mate, many people become creepy and have
stalker-like tendencies. What scares me is that without her I would have never
see the degree of male degradation of females. A simple example without sharing a horror
story would be my last encounter with police. Stopped at a police checkpoint,
the officer comes over to talk to us. During the entire conversation he looks
only at me and never looks at her. He asks me questions about her assuming that
“I answer for her” because clearly she would be
incapable of answering for herself. It’s the
little things like not being recognized in a conversation or being asked
questions in a conversation about yourself that you are not supposed to answer.
It takes a certain mental and emotional strength to be a female living here.
I want to end by giving a shout out to all female PCVs, all
female Mozambicans, and all females in general. My life is easier because I am
male. There is so much I may never see and may never experience about the
struggles of females and for that I will be forever impressed. I hope to become
as mentally and emotionally strong as the women here, as my fellow female PCVs,
and as my own mother.
A long post I know, so thank you for reading all the way to
the end. It’s been a long year.
With all my heart,
Daniel Bladow
Little by little we will arrive
