"Our soldiers will not forgive" [4/10]

The last week has been a confusing mix of fear and calm.  Most people make jokes about the threat of war; others have already fled for safety.  After 20 years of peace, it’s hard to imagine anything else.  But, as stated in Tony Blair’s Commission for Africa, Mozambique is a country “previously synonymous with violence and suffering,” and most people need no reminder to imagine the worst.

The following article comes from an unofficial news source.

Important info to know before reading: Frelimo is the overwhelming political majority and active ruling party in Mozambique.  Renamo is the primary opposition.  They are the same two groups that fought during the civil war that ended in 1992.  A map of Mozambique, including Machanga (my site) and Muxungue:

With the safety and security support of Peace Corps, I don’t fear for my own safety; we’ll probably all be evacuated before elections if Renamo shows a sincere threat of war.  Not that anyone is expecting that.  But the possibility is still consuming ... how do I knowingly abandon my friends and students in a country that was determined unfit for my safety?

9 dead after Renamo
threatens war
to block elections 

Nine people have been killed since Friday in a growing confrontation between Renamo and the government in Muxungue, Sofala province, on the main north-south road (EN1) 100km north of the River Save. This follows a statement by Renamo Secretary-General Manuel Bissopo to the daily O Pais (2 April 2013) that Renamo is prepared to go to war to prevent registration and elections this year.

In an attack on a police post on Muxungue Friday 5 April, four police and one Renamo attacker were killed. In an attack on road traffic on Saturday in Muxungue, three people were killed; Renamo denies involvement in this attack. And on Sunday in Muxungue, in an unexplained incident, the local Anglican pastor was killed.

The confrontation grows out of Renamo's rejection of electoral laws approved in parliament. During the extended debate on the electoral laws last year, Renamo consistently demanded the right to have veto power in the National Elections Commission (CNE). This was never a possibility, but Renamo remained implacable in its demand.

"The decision of the majority bench of Frelimo to approve the electoral law and the CNE without consensus is an invitation to war," declared Renamo spokesman Fernando Mazanga in an interview with the Portuguese news agency Lusa (2 April 2013). And he confirmed Renamo is ready for war.

"There will not be elections. Renamo will not allow elections. Renamo will not accept any Mozambican moves to prepare the electoral process," Renamo Secretary-General Manuel Bissopo told Lusa (29 March)

The Renamo head of mobilization in Beira, Horacio Calavete, earlier said "we are not saying that we are not going to stand in the elections this year. We are saying that we will not allow the voter registration, much less the municipal elections, to take place". (O Pais, 25 March 2013) He threatened that, if the police try to prevent any Renamo demonstration, the party would call on its former guerrillas to intervene. "If the police use force, we shall react in the same way", Calavete said. "Our soldiers will not forgive".

Renamo has also refused to name its two members of the CNE and is refusing to participate in the ad hoc parliamentary commission to name civil society members of the CNE.

In the early morning of Wednesday 3 April the riot police (Forca de Intervencao Rapida, FIR) responded by raiding the Renamo party headquarters in Muxungue and in Gondola, Manica province. There were between 200 and 250 men at the Renamo headquarters in Muxungue, who were dispersed and 15 were arrested. A similar number were at the Gondola party headquarters, where 3 were arrested. Both groups included some former guerrillas from the 1980-92 war, but Renamo says that the gatherings were just two of many being held by the party throughout the country to mobilise against elections.

There is no law against even large political gatherings on private property. Initial reports were that the Renamo people were unarmed and no shots were fired. In Gondola the raid was not resisted. But in Muxungue the spokesperson for the Sofala provincial police command, Mateus Mazive, said that because of the resistance offered by the Renamo men, the police used tear gas. (AIM 4 Apr 2013)

Police and district administration spokespeople gave various justifications, including that the two Renamo offices were "military camps", Manica police spokesperson, Belmiro Mutudiua. said that the presence of such a large number of men at the office constituted a danger and was causing panic among the local population, because of the "clandestine meetings" they were holding. "Renamo did not inform the local government. The presence of those men constituted a threat, and so we dispersed them and occupied the office". (AIM 4 Apr 2013)

At 3.40 am the next morning, Thursday 4 April. Renamo men attached the Muxungue police station, killing four members of the riot police (FIR) and injuring at least nine; one of the Renamo attackers was also killed. (CanalMoz 5 Apr 2013,http://canalmoz.co.mz/hoje/24828-renamo-deixou-um-morto-no-ataque-ao-quartel-da-fir.html)

Then at 16.50 on Saturday afternoon there was an attack on the main EN1 road about 30km south of Muxungue. An armed gang attempted to stop a bus of the South African company Intercape which was travelling from Maputo to Beira. The driver did not stop and the armed men shot at the bus, injuring two passengers. Next they shot at a southbound tank lorry forcing it to stop. After it stopped, they shot and killed three passengers. Next the armed men tried to stop a southbound bus of the Mozambican company Etrago which drove through the ambush without incident.

This is an area of the EN1 in which there were repeated attacks by Renamo on road traffic during the 1980-92 war, and government officials and media again blame Renamo for these attacks. But in a statement Sunday Renamo head of security Ossufo Momad denied any Renamo involvement. According to Noticas (8 Apr 2013) he also warmed people not to drive along that stretch of road, and also warned of possible attacks in Maputo.

Finally, on Sunday in Muxungue in an unexplained attack, the local Anglican pastor was killed. (Noticias 8 Apr 2013)

Catholic bishops in a pastoral letter Sunday said that the "hypocrisy" of both Frelimo and Renamo was behind the conflict. It cited the "intense antagonism and lack of tolerance and dialogue" on both sides. It went on to blame the lack of internal democracy in the two parties. "Aren't there many members of both parties who are afraid to express their own opinion if it differs from that of party leaders?" asked the bishops. (O Pais 8 Apr 2013).

Hearing [4/10]

Compared to back home, Mozambicans are far less expressive of sorrow from death.  I have no explanation for it.  My only assumption is that it’s all a difference of expectation.   Given that 10% of children die before their fifth birthday, you’re less inclined to begrudge the world’s natural order for having robbed your little baby; his odds were stunning from the start.  I swear, it seems that everybody buries a child.

Mozambicans can so nonchalantly talk about death.  Octavio bragged to me that he was getting to visit Beira for his dad’s funeral.  Domingos was smiling and attending class the day after returning from his father’s funeral in Búzi.  Their comfort can lend to all sorts of funny ideas to the curious foreigner, observing through his microscope during a two-year field trip in the Real! Mozambican! Culture!  Criminal as it may sound, it really insists that Mozambicans’ relationships are distant enough that they’re simply undisturbed by death.

Dehumanizing, isn’t it?  Well, fear not!  It’s not the case.

Hassan’s father has been severely sick for the last few weeks.  He left the provincial capital, Beira, to receive treatment from an herbalist in the neighboring town, Búzi.

“Why didn’t he go to the hospital in Beira?  Treatment would have been free, right?” I asked.

“Ah, Mac, you know how it is.  There’s always a bribe you gotta pay.”

Hassan called me the next day and we had a 13-second conversation in which neither of us said anything.  13 seconds of nothing but his whimpers and screams.  I’m not positive I would have identified it as a human if not for the context.  13 seconds, then he hung up.  I was frozen and left the mute phone to my ear for another 10.  I thought they only did that in movies.

Hassan borrowed money to venture to Búzi and found his father with a recipe for death: he hadn’t eaten in a week, he couldn’t speak, and the majority of his body was paralyzed.

Three days later, his father is still alive.  He’s started eating.  But a near-death experience of a close friend showed me that the dehumanizing perception I’d seen before was wrong.  I just hadn’t yet been close enough to hear the whimpers.

Hassan (back left) and his father (right) with their family in Beira

You Summoned ME?? [4/10]

YALL.  I’ve got a new favorite spectator sport: exorcism.

The last exorcism I came across must have been like the pagan-equivalent of Easter.  Night was falling and about 100 people of all different ages had gathered at the curandeiro’s (ie witchdoctor’s) house.  As always, the children became temporarily disinterested in the exorcism at the sight of a muzungu, and the adult males hustled over to greet me, all competing to show that they knew me better than the next guy.  Probably the most famous I’d ever felt.  I pushed through the paparazzi mosh pit to the sound of the drums.

About 30 women, forming a single rhythmic organism funneling energy into one.  That one sat on the ground, covered in a bed sheet, convulsing.  Synchronized pulses of homemade tambourines.  I find that profound confusion and awe are inseparable.

I was slapped with a VIP pass and taken into a nearby hut, where two blindfolded curandeiros covered in beads and capulanas were in a meditative convulsion.  My host placed me down on an overturned bucket only inches from them.  Obviously, this was a funny situation for a muzungu.  I didn’t know quite how to respond to the eyes of the surrounding women.  Laugh?  Smile?  Pray?  I did a bit of each.

The curandeiros’ convulsions became more and more fervent until finally climaxing as they lunged their arms forward and fell into a rest.  A prolonged moment of silence and one confused-ass muzungu.

Finally, the curandeiros took off their blindfolds.  Wouldn’t ya know it???  One was Luis, who’d taken me on the least profitable fishing trip of my life in August!

I had a chance to ask him about the fit of convulsions he’d just experienced.  The “good spirit” was entering his body, he said, giving him the power to heal.  Under the influence of this spirit, he was unaware of his actions or surroundings.  He told me that people sometimes verbalize the will of the spirit, sometimes fluently in languages they don’t actually speak.  Bizarre and, interestingly, identical to what my most religious American friends have told me about possession by the Holy Spirit.

Whatevz.  I’ll be back with photos.  Those who visit me in Machanga, prepare thyselves.

Peace Corps: Year 1 Video [10/4]

Reading and REDES [4/10]

We had mandatory book reports when I was in second grade and, to the disapproval of my mom, every week I read the same book: Popcorn.  It was about a bear that throws a popcorn party when his parents leave town, and wakes up the next day to a huge mess and a terrible hangover from all that salt.  Childhood propaganda scared me into never throwing a house party.  ALAS, I digress!  The point is that I read with my mom, and it was memorable and fun and important.

I don’t think a parent has ever read with his / her child in the district of Machanga.  In my time here, I’ve heard “have you finished your homework?” only ONCE, and that was spoken by a visiting Zimbabwean.  With or without parental support at home, the kids love books!  So, with a collection of books donated by Books for Africa, REDES has initiated a small children literacy program.  We’ve hijacked the first 30 minutes of Escola da Paz, a weekly children’s sing-and-dance party, as time to read with REDES.  Our tiny little movement to promote education and literacy.

It could be my conclusion to just about any post: love you, momadoo.

Rosa Bede: REDES superstar

Cristina: REDES super superstar

Manuel [4/10]

Manuel, one of my 11th grade students, initially came by to use my bike.  He did a lap around the ‘hood then returned to my house to express his approval.

“I like your bike.  Will you give it to me?”  ESTOU A PEDIR PA!

“No Manuel, because it’s mine.”

He considered my response and accepted it as sound reasoning.

“Sr. Presidente, estou mau,” he said.  Turns out he’s been walking three hours, each way, each day, to attend school.  IN THIS HEAT?  Crackhead.

So, with that, roommate Jesse and I adopted our new empregado.  We’re paying for Manuel to live in the dormitory, and in exchange he comes by twice a week to wash our clothes and rake our yard (ie, dirt).  And we serve him breakfasts of jam + butter bread, which is a sexy perk when you otherwise eat corn flour porridge every day.

Daniel -- the Truth [4/9]

Antonymical.

Months ago, Daniel, one of my first true friends in Machanga, fled to Maputo on my bill to have an emergency heart transplant.  It was an outrageous story from the start, but each added detail made it more and more fictitious until it finally crumbled into the dried remains of a Fib Newton cookie.

Well, out of nothing but the goodness of his sweet lil, fully-functional heart, he finally revealed the truth to me: he lifted my cash to go buy goods in Maputo for his uncle to resell for profit.  He’d also sold the phone I bought him.  Truth: zero.

At the time of these great lies, I was suffering from what I thought was malaria and he had me believing his heart was failing.  He was on death’s bed and I was his bunk mate.  UNFORGIVABLE.  You’ll never repay me for the 3 years of life that I lost from the stress of that single day.

The question that still remains is: what would have happened if I had accompanied him down to Maputo, as we’d initially planned?