Category: Live from Android
Black & White
As spring is starting to brighten up your realities over in Europe, Maputo is gradually becoming cold, rainy and dark. By 18:00, the sun is gone around here, and I have had to buy warm jumpers and long pants. So, enjoy the first warm winds over there because here we are moving into winter – and this otherwise so vibrant city is loosing its colour.
Leaving paradise
Weekend.
Why did Mamá vote?
I bought some mini-bananas from an old lady on the beach. She sat down next to me and I bought cashew nuts for both of us. As we were eating and talking about her 13 children and her life going back and forth every day between Inhambane and Tofo, I noted her index finger had traces of ink on it.
“Did Mamá go to vote two days ago?”
I asked her the simple question why she had chosen to do so and got the following explanation:
“If you have two pineapples, one of them needs to be the father. And the father needs to take care of all the other fruits in this basket. The people have the responsibility to choose the father that will make sure that we are safe. In Inhambane we vote – and that is why I can leave my fruits here overnight and know that nobody will steal them or beat me. You can sit here and nobody will rob you, this is the land of good people and we show the leaders that our security and future is important to us. The only way to show this is by going to vote, it’s not very important who wins in the end – the important thing is that we can feel safe and continue working, and that we show that we care.”
Mamá left to sell her pineapples and I stayed with a dog that has decided to become my friend. People have taken their surfingboards out, the sun is starting to set, and I’m very much enjoying the tranquility in Tofo.
Overload
The right to know your rights
I was literally falling asleep when writing yesterday’s post, which also is the case now – so please excuse any grammatical disasters.
Today we got up early again and went off for meetings with our partnerorganisations here and around Inhambane. Among the different places we saw, we visited a church in Jangamo where men, women and youth representing different communities were present to learn about what the Mozambican law says about human rights. The Center for Democracy and Development studies has created a fantastic booklet with drawings that explain the law with examples from a traditional Mozambican context. Some of the things we take for granted are obviously not so simple for other people and some might even be prepared to debate for their right to be traditionally married without their own consent. Meanwhile, some people have never been presented with alternative ways of understanding and handling a given situation, nor have they been aware of what the law says. Letting people know that domestic violence or sexual abuse of children is against the law, and telling both women, men and youth so – helps them to understand their own rights, and to respect the rights of others.
