It’s Independence Day!

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.