June 11th, 2018
Favors. Friendships and favors. That’s what we’ll be talking
about today! Sometimes in life you find yourself in a unique position to help
someone else, and you help them. So many months later when they are in a
position to help you, they do! I’ll go out on a limb and say the vast majority
of kind acts are done without expecting a favor in return, however we often do
hope and assume that if we are kind, it’ll pay off right?
Let’s shift to Mozambique. For most Peace Corps Volunteers
meat is a specialty and specifically I mean chicken. In my site you can buy
chicken, goat, and pig. Generally we PCVs prefer to spend money on travel and
experiences than meat with most meals, so we forgo it. We buy chicken when we
feel like treating ourselves. I will clarify that if your site does not sell
frozen chicken that also deters many of us – there’s the killing and the time
that goes into the prep work; plus there’s not a lot of meat on local chickens.
With that said, I probably have butchered around 10 chickens thus far in my
Peace Corps tenure! Okay, back to the point, we PCVs generally forgo meat.
Second point – when we travel, housing options are expensive so when possible
we crash with friends or other foreigners in the area willing to put us up.
A few months back I was passing through Montepuez and crashed
with Richard and Caroline (Zimbabwean and South African immigrants living and
working in Montepuez). They constantly support us PCVs in any way they can. Not
only did they put me up for the night, they also decided to cook a marvelous
steak dinner with sweet corn! It blew my taste buds out of the water. It must’ve
been over 9 months since the last time I had tasted such sweet bliss. They
expected nothing in return – no money and no favors.
About a month ago, Richard mentioned they were trying to get
some more young female goats to prevent in-breeding amongst their small herd
(currently about 16 goats total). What did I do? Well I jumped on the
opportunity to help them find some goats!! Goats are no longer raised or easy
to find in downtown areas anymore. A few years back the prices of goats soared
so thieves started stealing goats in the cities so now you can really only find
them out in the bush and more remote locations.
They also do not raise goats in Namuno, but I was determined
to help. I had been given an opportunity to return the countless favors Richard
and Caroline have bestowed upon me and many PCVs for the past decade. I call up
Eusebia, a nurse in Namuno who takes personally responsibility for the health
and safety of all PCVs in Namuno. She often works in the aldeias (the
suburbs/remote areas) and she jumped on the opportunity to help me get some
goats! I’ve helped her with electrical issues in her house and various other
things. Heck, I taught her how to make pumpkin bread just a few weeks ago!
So a favor for a favor for a favor – all amongst friends and
I’m left walking a goat across my town on my back! It’s humbling to be helped
and receive a favor. Sometimes we have to swallow our pride and be like “Hey
Richard and Caroline. I could use some help with… (transporting a fridge,
installing security grates, building a water tank, selling Peanut Butter, you
name it)”. Every now and then we are given an opportunity to give back to those
people and it feels like a duty and an honor to repay the massive “favor debt”.
And so often we find ourselves helping strangers and repaying our “favor debt”
by paying it forward.
I’m currently stateside with my grandma. We had to transport
12 8ft 4x4s from Lowes to her house for a yard project. It’s about 1 mile. In Mozambique
I’d just walk them back 3 at a time! However, that’s apparently not normal here
in the States? So of course, the middle age gentleman named Rob with a truck
helped me out. He’s a plumber. He served in Vietnam for 2 years. He loved the idea
of helping a young kid like myself (yes I am still a young kid! We’ll see how
long I can hold onto that title) transport some wood for his grandma. It’s
amazing how we are all in this together. Sometimes we need to ask for the
favors. Sometimes we can see when someone needs help and we can offer the
favor.
Here’s my bit of cultural exchange for the day – in Mozambique
if you give someone cash it means you are extremely close friends. One of my
closest colleagues one day tried to give me 50 mets. I was incredibly confused
and had absolutely no idea why he wanted to give me money. Did he need me to
buy something?? And this was a few months back, so the issue was not
communication or language. I understood the words coming out of his mouth. In
the states cash is not given out to signify friendship. Maybe we buy our
friends coffee or a meal or offer to help them do some yardwork on a Saturday.
Regardless of the culture some aspects hold true – friends help
friends. However sometimes we are unable to repay our friends or those who have
supported and given us so much. In those instances all we can do is an
occasional favor when called upon and pay the rest forward. A favor for a favor
for a favor leads us helping a young kid transport wood to his grandma’s house.
It has us buying a meal for someone who cannot afford it. It has us taking an
extra 30 seconds to truly greet the cashier and ask them how they are doing,
but not just listening for the classic “good how are you?” but rather listening
intently and purposeful to engage in a meaningful human interaction. Heck, we’ve
got plenty of tech around us and I think we could all benefit from a little more
good ole human interaction!
It’s been a wild ride the past week and a half. My life is a-changing
once again but I’ll save that story for another post! I also plan on writing a
post specifically on what it’s been like being back stateside after living in
an area of extreme poverty for nearly 21 months. Here’s the foreshadow – we are
crazy. Like you can turn on a tap and water comes out! Not only that, it comes
out fast! But hey it gets better, you can actually control the velocity with
which it comes out! Wowowow I’m not done yet – you can make it hot! Or cold! Or
something in between like WARM! Absurd. Absolutely ridiculous. Oh, and get
this, you can even DRINK IT. What. Like How!? It’s magic (well not really). But
seriously it is truly amazing and pretty dang ridiculous. Just think about it…
Could you design a water system that would provide yourself unlimited water at
any temperature at any time of the year?
Any who, thank you all for the support and reading yet
another adventure! I’ll see y’all soon. In the meantime, may we be brave enough
to ask for help when needed and bold enough to give it when we see the
opportunity. A favor for a favor for a favor may lead you walking a goat across
the neighborhood on your back! You truly never know.
With all my heart,
Daniel Bladow
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