Vivendo em Moçambique: September 25, 2013

After teaching in Meconta for a month, a lot of students approached me to ask for more English practice. I was really impressed, these kids were already motivated to practice and learn. All I had to do was show up a few mornings a week! Surprisingly, we were approached by the English Theater coordinator of Nampula and asked if Elizabeth and I wanted to participate in the competition this year. Since we moved sites, I didn’t think it would be possible but after speaking to the kids we decided that we wanted to try and go for it.

We started meeting every week day for two hours. The kids themselves wrote the script originally in Portuguese and then we translated it together into English. The theme this year was, “The choice is mine, the future is ours.” Our play had two main characters: a girl who made a good decision and a girl who made a bad decision. They decided that the girl who made a bad decision will get AIDS from having unprotected sex in the play so I took the participants to the local health center to learn about preventing, transmitting, and living with AIDS here in Africa. A technician (who is basically a doctor?) took time out of his schedule to help inform the students. They played games with health themes and took lots of notes to insure that the message in our theater was as accurate as possible. I wasn’t sure if they were getting the message until one of the more outgoing students approached me.

Here is the story he told me: Male students need to go to a barber to get their hair shaved as part of their school uniform here in Africa. Razors are not cleaned after each shave and this particular student was cut by the razor. He had learned from the health session that AIDS could be potentially transmitted through open wounds and thankfully, after taking a test, learned that he was negative. He is scared to get his hair cut now but needs to shave his hair so he can go to school. What can you do?

The students were very excited about their play and wanted to present it in front of the whole town at the next biggest holiday: Armed Forces Day. On September 25, 1964, the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO) was created to begin an armed campaign against colonial rule (Portugal). There was a really big party here in Meconta because the administrator (governor) of our district lives here, right down the street from us. Elizabeth and I were asked to lay flowers down at the statue in honor of the soldiers who died fighting for independence. After that, our students present their theater! It was all in English so most people didn’t understand but I think everyone was still impressed. When the students were finished, we were asked to sit under the shade with the important officials of our district, which was a lot of fun! We got to see all the other cultural activities (ie singing and dancing). My favorite was watching the traditional Mapiko dance.

The crowd of spectators. There were a lot of people! “Father Guebuza, Meconta is with you in the fight against poverty.” Guebuza is the President of Mozambique.