April 23, 2014

Yesterday I got a surprise official visit to the house by a very important guy who works with administration. He introduced me to a group of men that said they work for the Nampula Public Library. I had no idea that there was even a public library in Nampula but apparently, ever year on International Book Day (April 23^rd) they choose a library in the province of Nampula that is already doing a lot of stuff and give that library books. Guess who got chosen this year! I was lucky to have one of our tutors at my house when they arrived to help explain all the things we do in the library and they seemed pretty impressed! The next day, our students were told to come and participate in Book Day at the stage where all important things happen. There was a competition for who had the best poem and books were given out as prizes. Plus we got lots of books! Super grateful that we had this great opportunity.

The bookshelf with all our books (before we got new books). These include all the English/children’s books that Elizabeth’s grandma sent us, thank you again!

Students presenting their speeches and poems with everyone else watching

 

A selection of some of the books our library gets to keep!

Speaking of the tutor who was at my house. The guy, Josias, had been giving Elizabeth lessons in the local language. Recently, a man heard Josias talking in English to us. Because it is so hard to find people who speak English fluently, he told Josias that if he learned how to use a computer he would hire him. This was fantastic news! It is so hard to find a job here unless you know someone or if you’re rich. Josias is neither of these things but is the man of his house. His family, along with many Mozambicans, lives off their garden and his younger twin brothers are always sick because they are malnourished. We were invited to eat lunch with them once and saw it for myself. I know this may sound ridiculous but I was shocked. I’ve been living here for so long and I see this all the time. But I guess I was losing touch with the reality that surrounds me and it is different when it’s someone you know and care about. Since then, we’ve been letting him use our computers to practice typing and figuring out the basics of Microsoft Word. I really hope he can get this job by the end of the year. If not, I want to make sure that he goes to school next year to finish twelfth grade. With our help, I think he can.