Author: Caroline Bach

Caroline Bach1 Comment

Tequila Sunrise & Freedom

I want to share a sound with you.

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It’s the sound of watching the sun go down after spending a long day at the beach. Accompanied by a glass of cold white wine and the feeling of being perfectly in balance. Tired and happy. Sunglasses still on, watching the sea calm down while your toes press against fine sand. This is the moment when the last rays of sun kiss your warm skin good bye, followed by a soothing evening breeze that invites your mind and body to sway.

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My very good and talented friend has just shared this inspiring 2 track EP with me. It will be released on the 1st of April but you can listen to it below.

Trying to describe what I was hearing made me think of yesterday’s beautiful trip to a beach outside Maputo. I was also reminded of many of the previous moments I’ve spent on a beach, staring into a sunset. Some of them in the company of this artist.
I didn’t have any soundtrack for these moments until now, but this is obviously it – and it goes straight into my iPod.
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Caroline Bach1 Comment

Girls being women

I met this girl in Mafalala, she is 17 years old and the name of her little son is Antonio.

In Mozambique, 56% of the girls get married before the age of 18. These marriages are a clear obstacle to the development of the society and have serious consequences for the health and well being of young girls.

I was asked whether a marriage with a much older man (which usually is the case here) couldn’t be the choice of the girl herself. Of course, in many cases it is the girl and her family who decide that the time to become married has come. The reason for this is the social and financial protection that the girl can recieve from a man when her family isn’t capable of providing her with it.

The first and most predictable problem is that the girl becomes very inferior to her husband simply because of the age difference, putting her at risk to physical, psychological and sexual abuse. The girl is taken out of school making it impossible for her to complete her education. A girl who is too young to give birth is likely to suffer from very serious complications if she does so anyway and the intercourse between an adult man and a young girl puts her at a very high risk of contracting HIV. There are many dangers and wrongs with turning girls into women before they are mature, educated and ready.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2012, the Swedish Embassy in Maputo has published a call to the end of early marriages in Mozambique. Please read by clicking it below, and feel free to share.

Caroline Bach7 Comments

Introducing: My Maputo home

Here’s a video I did last month of my place here in Maputo. I have decided that filming the apartments I live in now will become a rule, as I realised it would have been great to have little clips of my old places in Warsaw and Barcelona. I sometimes watch the one from Copenhagen that I uploaded just days before leaving it. This time I’m not very worried about unexpected visitors and stalkers as I am quite far away – so I’m showing you the video of the home that I will continue living in for a couple of months ahead, with glimpses of two out of my three great roomies in it. Enjoy!

Caroline Bach1 Comment

Inspiring & Fun

Spent four days with the diplomats who came to Mozambique as a part of their training programme. We went to Namaacha district where we visited the hospital, a primary school and a very bizarre crocodile farm. We had a couple of very interesting meetings and dinners, got to see a little part of Henning Mankell’s new play and ended with a walking tour in the Mafalala area. All in all, we had some well spent and highly intense days and the group proved that fun and ambitious go very well together. For me, it was as inspiring as spending four days with a group of very experienced and interesting individuals can get – I’m exhausted, happy and very much encouraged to try to become as awesome. Thank you, all!