This past weekend we went to Mozambique Island to participate
in the Volunteer Festival the JICA Volunteers organized. Don’t remember if I mentioned
this already or not, but JICA are Japanese volunteers who are living here in
Mozambique as well, like us Peace Corps volunteers. One of the JICA volunteers,
Takuya, had invited Peace Corps to partner with them to help plan and organize
this festival. We were hoping more Peace Corps Volunteers would come but school
had just started and it was a long trip for many people. America was
represented though, don’t worry! Thanks Saranya, Edmund, and Victor! Throughout
the weekend there were tons of activities that included a beach clean-up,
soccer game, craft market, and cultural exchange festival. My favorite part was
during the cultural exchange. The JICA volunteers had brought so many costumes,
musical instruments, and games to share. We Americans did hopscotch and Simon
Says :) haha Hopefully next time we can do more planning to better represent
the United States of America. A lot Mozambicans also did traditional dancing as
part of the cultural exchange. Overall, everyone had fun and learned a lot.
The white face mask
that is commonly seen here in the north: Mapira. It’s beautiful.
Mozambican children
dressing up in kimonos, learning origami, and playing with traditional Japanese
games.
JICA Volunteers
dancing a traditional fishing dance. It looks like they’re actually pulling on
rope here, pretty cool!
On our way back to Meconta, Elizabeth and I got a great
ride. Do you remember last year when I was complaining so much about the water
problem here? That the dam had broken and it was difficult for anyone to get
clean drinkable water? Well guess what… the dam is fixed! The two guys who
repaired it took us there themselves and showed us around. There are tons of
crocodiles in the water and a big electrical pump that gets water to where we
live in the villa. What a great opportunity, so glad we finally got to see them
dam everyone was talking about!
The wall of the dam that broke and is now fixed.
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