First and foremost, HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY AMERICA! I am
thinking of everyone at home who is celebrating with pool time, cookouts and
fireworks and excited to be back for it all next year. Tonight we’ll be
grilling chicken and baking apple and blueberry crisp (Trader Joe’s dried ones.
Thanks Chris R!) while pretending our twinkling sky is full of sparklers
instead of stars. Tomorrow we’ll be joining some friends for a day at the
beach, so I guess we are being quite festive here too! It’s heading into
holiday/break time for us as we finish our second trimester of school. This was
our last week of teaching, with the next two followed by provincial exams and
grade finalization. Chris is ending the trimester strong, having a solid group
of kids prepped for science fair happening later this year, practicing music
with his JUNTOS group and wrapping up his duties as the national coordinator.
My English club is kicking into high gear as we’re starting to formulate our
theater production for September’s English theater competition, one of my fav
extracurricular activities. I’ve been working with PSN (the Peer Support
Network) to welcome the new group of PCVs who are currently in training. And,
Chris and I are in talks with the nuns at our mission to hopefully start up a
library at the soon-to-be elementary school before our departure. Things for us are running pretty “business as
usual” but unfortunately, I can’t say the same for all of the country.
In the last couple of weeks, there has been tension
between two political parties causing a disruption for Mozambicans and some
Peace Corps volunteers here. Before I continue, I want to stress that Chris and
I are completely safe as well as all other PCVs. Peace Corps would be sure to
swoop us up, even if there is only an inkling of danger. In fact they have
already done this for some volunteers which I will get to in a moment. But let’s
get back to the reason for this, namely, Remano. Mozambican’s government is run
by Frelimo, a party with the overwhelming majority of support and resources. Renamo,
the opposing party which is teeny-tiny in comparison, is not happy with this
unbalance. With local elections coming up in November and national elections
next year, Renamo wants to make a statement to the government about their
discontentment. So two weeks ago, they created a roadblock on Mozambique’s only
main highway in the central area of the country; An area that connects traffic
moving from the north to the south and vice versa, effectively severing
transport and commerce. Aside from this, there were a few shootings at automobiles
traveling through this zone, as well as an attack on an armory. If you are
interested in learning more about what’s happening here, I suggest reading this
article which I’ve found to be the most succinct explanation of the current
situation: http://thinkafricapress.com/mozambique/frelimo-renamo-brink.
I stress again that this occurred in a very specific area where PCVs do not live
nor were they involved in any of these attacks. However, some do live close by
so Peace Corps understandably wanted to take precautions. As soon as the
blockade happened, we were issued a travel ban which prohibits us from going
through this stretch of highway. For those of us in the southern region, we
were to continue at site as normal and same went for volunteers in the north. Volunteers
in the central region were picked up and taken to Chimoio, a larger city away
from the activity, while they waited for things to die down. These volunteers
have been waiting for almost two weeks now, and finally just learned today that
they can all go back home (with a Peace Corps escort). While I don’t know the specific
factors PC used to deem it safe for everyone to return, I do know that staff
traveled all around the region and checked on specific sites to ensure things
were ok. The successful site visits coupled with the fact that there has not
been any new activity in the past week or so finally allows for the “refugees”
to go back home. We actually housed one of these refugees last
week. Many volunteers were gathered in Vilankulo, the beach town 45 minutes away
from us, for a birthday celebration. Unfortunately, our friend was told that he
couldn’t go back to his site after the weekend and since he was already south
of the blockade, he would not be taken up to Chimoio with the others. So he
came home with us for the week then visited other volunteers around the area
while waiting for the green light to return. While it did give him the
opportunity to hang out with friends and have little obligation, I know he was
eager to get back to his work and his regular life. I am sure everyone who was
pulled away from their site feels the same way. But Peace Corps volunteers are
only a small fraction of who this situation affects. It’s been an interesting
experience to be in Mozambique during this time, and one I’m sure we’ll
remember as we see our neighbors and friends react to the disruption. Only a
few days after the roadblock and attacks, our students marched with other
schools in our village in a demonstration of peace. It was a powerful site, seeing
the group lead by their country’s flag and singing joyfully, all in hopes for a
peaceful resolution. By far, it seems most Mozambicans have this same sentiment,
especially after an intense civil war that ended less than 20 years ago
between these two political parties. Most seem hopeful that things will not
escalate and that talks between the two can start to mend the tensions. Knowing
that today the central volunteers are celebrating both USA’s independence and
their freedom to return to their homes, we Americans are hopeful for Mozambique
too.
