Sometimes we have problems. Problems that need to be solved by taking a step back and taking a moment to assess the situation. My organization is a CBO (Community based organization) and I have been trying to find my role there for quite some time. Its been about 8 months and I've still been trying to push my org in a new direction - but sometimes this doesnt work. The problem with my org, is they are used to the volunteers just being there....sitting around....maybe doing a project, maybe not. Well, I've explained to my boss at work that I didn't drop my life in the states to come to a country where my help wasn't wanted. Again, this is a common challenge that many volunteers face. So I've made the decision, along with the amazing help of Ilidio from the pc staff, that its better for me to venture out into the community and work on other projects in Chongoene. At first, I thought that this would be kind of like a slap in the face to my org, but then I thought about how frustrated I'd be sitting in an office and doing absolutely nothing. That isn't why I joined peace corps. So now, I have a new focus, new goals, and motivation. I will continue working with my REDES group (go to the fb page for more details!), going to the hospital, and helping out other organizations in Chongoene and Xai Xai that need my help. Its not only a way to stay productive, but also a way for me to feel good about what I'm doing. And yes, my boss will probably not like it that I'm doing work with other organizations, but that's something she will also have to accept. I'm not ready to just give up yet, my site has potential, and I am hoping things will turn out on a positive note.
There will be more updates to come, for now I need to roll out!
bjs.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Let's talk about a lil trip to the farm.....and how YOU can donate to my travel fund =)
The Rice Farm
I’ve never really been on a farm quite like this one. It was a really random day, and I was with Mallory and two other Mozambican friends. One of them was like, “I’m taking you guys to see something.” We’re like, “um ok.” Not too far off from where we live, there’s a farmland that is way behind a bunch of houses and buildings. I’m in the car, and the road seemed to get more bumpy as we went on. To my left, was a big white building where the Chinese live. I learned that they own one of the farms that we were about to see. My Mozambican friends weren’t too fond of the Chinese owners, might I add. They told me they sometimes beat the Mozambican workers, and treat them poorly. I just nodded and continued looking out the window…..not really sure what I was about to see. So we all get out the car and take a look at the view. “Wow,” I thought. This is a beautiful scenery. Apparently as far as my eyes could see was nothing but rice. Rice, rice and rice. Literally the biggest farmland of RICE I have ever seen. The guys start walking and me and Mal follow. It was a very narrow road with rice fields on both sides. We could see a few people in the distance working in the fields, and also saw a few small houses which the workers lived in. I actually was kind of in aww, because I actually felt like I wasn’t in Mozambique. I felt like I was in a storybook or something, one of those old plantation history books. We all just stood there for awhile, looked at some of the rice grains, and eventually found this young man who was willing to talk to us. My friend was asking him all sorts of questions, like “What time do you get up every morning? Who owns these fields? You have a family? How much do you get paid?” The man was willing to answer everything. He said he wakes up at 5am every morning, and stops working at 5pm. He explained in a very “careful” tone that the Chinese people own it, and a Mozambican man owns the other one. He has a family, 5 kids I think he said, and receives 1,000 meticas a month – which is about 27 usd. He didn’t elaborate on any of his answers, but was very nice to talk to us. Mal said to me, that sometimes she feels that Mozambicans will kind of sugar coat their answers bc she’s standing there. And she could be right. Maybe if her presence wasn’t there, he might talk to us differently. Afterall, on most days I’m a Mozambican, so it might have been easier to have a more in debt conversation with him. After we talked, my friend gave him 20mets, and told him to go buy bread for his family. The man happily accepted, and we continued on our walk.
Visiting this farm one time just wasn’t enough for me. I want to go back, and maybe talk to one of the Chinese farm owners. Do I have my own opinions about foreign influence in African countries? Absolutely. But what I want to do is learn more about it, and do so with an open mind. Its such an interesting place…..I felt something while I was there. So with that said, there is more to come next time I pay a visit to the rice fields. There’s a story there waiting to be written. Just wait….you’ll see.
BY THE WAY......Upcoming Travels!
Traveling is what I do. There’s so much to see around these parks, so I’m in the process of planning where I want to go and when. Here’s some of my ideas:
1. GHANA – yes that’s all in caps. I miss my family and friends. I hate to sound bias, but Ghana really is the best country in Africa, sorry Moz. I planned on going there in June, but time won’t allow it. So I’m planning to go 2nd week in August. I’ll have accumulated more vacation days, and its really windy and cold here in Moz during that month, so I figure it’s a perfect time to leave. To all my fans in Gh, don’t worry. I’m coming.
2. Sofala, Zambezia, and Tete! – Mozambique is HUGE, and so me and my bff Mallory have decided we want to do our best to see as much as we can! By the way, Mal is my left shoulder I lean on, oh, and Caitlin is my right. Without those two I would crumble ;) Anyway, Mal is a GREAT writer, and she an I share that in common. So we plan on taking our pen n paper, computers, and cameras, and head out to other regions on Mozambique. First stop on the list is Gorongosa National Park! Mal and I signed up to help out another volunteer with her conservation project. There’s also a lot of wildlife and animals to see, so I’m looking forward to that. Then, we plan on visiting other regions. Mal doesn’t want to go to “touristy” places….I think she’s all about the matu (farm) areas, but I’m hoping to convince her we’ll do a lil bit of both.
3. Tanzania!! – Just the name, Tanzania, gives me the chills. I have heard so many great things about it,that it’s a MUST that I go there, and I get to practice my Swahili! What I really want to do in Tanzania is see their beaches, and eat their amazing food. I love to eat. I also want to learn how to dance their traditional dances there. Give me a cute dancing outfit, some drums, and a crowd, and I’m good to go. Yay for Tanz.
4. Botswana! – Mal and I reeaaaallly want to go to Botswana. Apparently its one of the most amazing South African countries, so we’re going there to investigate. I’m hoping we find a good story to write about there, Bots is an interesting place, and I’d love to visit there. If Mal and I are lucky, we can make it before the end of this year.
5. Cape Town and Jo’burg! – So surprisingly I’m not that excited over South Africa – I feel like I meet enough South Africans here in Moz lol, BUT, I want to meet Nelson Mandela and talk to him for 5 minutes. (Oh what, you think its not possible? It so is.) Despite my reservations about SA, I’d love to see what the hype is all about. I do want to see the “Americanized,” places, but also the neighborhoods that people don’t talk about. I want to meet new people, talk to families, and learn something new that I didn’t know before. Plus, if I’m lucky, Mandela will ask me to stay there and become one of his personal writers.
That’s all that’s on the radar for now – so I’ll keep you posted. And please if you’d like to donate to the “Naa wants to travel” fund, that is a-okay with me!
I’ve never really been on a farm quite like this one. It was a really random day, and I was with Mallory and two other Mozambican friends. One of them was like, “I’m taking you guys to see something.” We’re like, “um ok.” Not too far off from where we live, there’s a farmland that is way behind a bunch of houses and buildings. I’m in the car, and the road seemed to get more bumpy as we went on. To my left, was a big white building where the Chinese live. I learned that they own one of the farms that we were about to see. My Mozambican friends weren’t too fond of the Chinese owners, might I add. They told me they sometimes beat the Mozambican workers, and treat them poorly. I just nodded and continued looking out the window…..not really sure what I was about to see. So we all get out the car and take a look at the view. “Wow,” I thought. This is a beautiful scenery. Apparently as far as my eyes could see was nothing but rice. Rice, rice and rice. Literally the biggest farmland of RICE I have ever seen. The guys start walking and me and Mal follow. It was a very narrow road with rice fields on both sides. We could see a few people in the distance working in the fields, and also saw a few small houses which the workers lived in. I actually was kind of in aww, because I actually felt like I wasn’t in Mozambique. I felt like I was in a storybook or something, one of those old plantation history books. We all just stood there for awhile, looked at some of the rice grains, and eventually found this young man who was willing to talk to us. My friend was asking him all sorts of questions, like “What time do you get up every morning? Who owns these fields? You have a family? How much do you get paid?” The man was willing to answer everything. He said he wakes up at 5am every morning, and stops working at 5pm. He explained in a very “careful” tone that the Chinese people own it, and a Mozambican man owns the other one. He has a family, 5 kids I think he said, and receives 1,000 meticas a month – which is about 27 usd. He didn’t elaborate on any of his answers, but was very nice to talk to us. Mal said to me, that sometimes she feels that Mozambicans will kind of sugar coat their answers bc she’s standing there. And she could be right. Maybe if her presence wasn’t there, he might talk to us differently. Afterall, on most days I’m a Mozambican, so it might have been easier to have a more in debt conversation with him. After we talked, my friend gave him 20mets, and told him to go buy bread for his family. The man happily accepted, and we continued on our walk.
Visiting this farm one time just wasn’t enough for me. I want to go back, and maybe talk to one of the Chinese farm owners. Do I have my own opinions about foreign influence in African countries? Absolutely. But what I want to do is learn more about it, and do so with an open mind. Its such an interesting place…..I felt something while I was there. So with that said, there is more to come next time I pay a visit to the rice fields. There’s a story there waiting to be written. Just wait….you’ll see.
BY THE WAY......Upcoming Travels!
Traveling is what I do. There’s so much to see around these parks, so I’m in the process of planning where I want to go and when. Here’s some of my ideas:
1. GHANA – yes that’s all in caps. I miss my family and friends. I hate to sound bias, but Ghana really is the best country in Africa, sorry Moz. I planned on going there in June, but time won’t allow it. So I’m planning to go 2nd week in August. I’ll have accumulated more vacation days, and its really windy and cold here in Moz during that month, so I figure it’s a perfect time to leave. To all my fans in Gh, don’t worry. I’m coming.
2. Sofala, Zambezia, and Tete! – Mozambique is HUGE, and so me and my bff Mallory have decided we want to do our best to see as much as we can! By the way, Mal is my left shoulder I lean on, oh, and Caitlin is my right. Without those two I would crumble ;) Anyway, Mal is a GREAT writer, and she an I share that in common. So we plan on taking our pen n paper, computers, and cameras, and head out to other regions on Mozambique. First stop on the list is Gorongosa National Park! Mal and I signed up to help out another volunteer with her conservation project. There’s also a lot of wildlife and animals to see, so I’m looking forward to that. Then, we plan on visiting other regions. Mal doesn’t want to go to “touristy” places….I think she’s all about the matu (farm) areas, but I’m hoping to convince her we’ll do a lil bit of both.
3. Tanzania!! – Just the name, Tanzania, gives me the chills. I have heard so many great things about it,that it’s a MUST that I go there, and I get to practice my Swahili! What I really want to do in Tanzania is see their beaches, and eat their amazing food. I love to eat. I also want to learn how to dance their traditional dances there. Give me a cute dancing outfit, some drums, and a crowd, and I’m good to go. Yay for Tanz.
4. Botswana! – Mal and I reeaaaallly want to go to Botswana. Apparently its one of the most amazing South African countries, so we’re going there to investigate. I’m hoping we find a good story to write about there, Bots is an interesting place, and I’d love to visit there. If Mal and I are lucky, we can make it before the end of this year.
5. Cape Town and Jo’burg! – So surprisingly I’m not that excited over South Africa – I feel like I meet enough South Africans here in Moz lol, BUT, I want to meet Nelson Mandela and talk to him for 5 minutes. (Oh what, you think its not possible? It so is.) Despite my reservations about SA, I’d love to see what the hype is all about. I do want to see the “Americanized,” places, but also the neighborhoods that people don’t talk about. I want to meet new people, talk to families, and learn something new that I didn’t know before. Plus, if I’m lucky, Mandela will ask me to stay there and become one of his personal writers.
That’s all that’s on the radar for now – so I’ll keep you posted. And please if you’d like to donate to the “Naa wants to travel” fund, that is a-okay with me!
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