Tuesday, October 13, 2009

A year later...

On October 2nd I celebrated one year in Mozambique by returning to the place of my training, Namaacha, and welcoming the new group of Moz 14 trainees. Talk about coming full circle! Seeing all 66 of their "what-the-deuce-am-I-doing" faces, hearing their questions and their voiced concerns of learning Portuguese quickly was an intense deja-vu for me. This year has been both the slowest and fastest year of my life with the steepest learning curve I've ever experienced! I couldn't help but feel incredibly grateful that I was not in their place again. Training still remains the most difficult part of my Peace Corps service thus far. Well, maybe I shouldn't say that. Being at site certainly didn't cure off of my problems...it just brought along a new, different set, haha. Overall, though, it feels good to finally feel comfortable here. I speak Portuguese, I know (mais ou menos) what to expect from Mozambique and that is certainly preferably to not having any idea what is going on or being said around me. I still can't quite grasp that I'm half way through my service. I've finished with my first year of teaching and that feels like the biggest accomplishment of all. I look forward to starting again next year because I'll actually know what's going on! I was warned that the first year of service for a Peace Corps volunteer can end in frustration because you usually don't feel like you've accomplished anything- and it's true in my case. I've learned so much more about myself and FOR myself than I feel that I've given. I guess that's what the second year is for, though. :) This year has been full of so many ups and downs, a verifiably roller-coaster of emotions. I've learned that the saying "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" could not be more true. I questioned my ability to fulfill 27 months of service more than once, and I'm sure I'll continue to question it up until I leave. That I have one year under my belt gives me an undeniable sense of accomplishment, however. Peace Corps is indeed the hardest job you'll ever love!!
It's an exciting time to be in Mozambique at the moment. Presidential elections are happening October 28th and it's impossible to escape the campaigning of Frelimo, Renamo and MDM (Movimento Democratico de Mozambique). Frelimo is the current party in office with President Armando Guebuza. This is the first election where there are more than 2 leading parties. MDM is gaining popularity while past elections were basically between Frelimo and Renamo. Definitely and interesting time to watch the progression of Democracy. Here's a conversation I had with some fellow teachers a few weeks ago:

Teacher: "In America, if you are not a part of the ruling political party, can you still work?"
Me: "Like, if the president was Republican and I was a Democrat, could I still get a job?"
Teacher: "Yes, exactly."
Me: "Hahaha, yes, of course! In the states, your political affiliations are private. You don't have to disclose your political preferences before you work somewhere."
Teacher: "Even as a teacher?"
Me: "Of course."
Teacher: "That's not how it is here."
Me: "What do you mean?"
Teacher: "Mozambique is a democracy...but we are still working towards acting democratically."
Just another mini-lesson in how lucky we are to be born American...

Here are some interesting statistics about Mozambique that I was given during an HIV and Moz information session:

* 21 million population (2009)
* 54% of people live below poverty level (~10 USD/month)
* 33% of men and 63% of women are illiterate
* 50-60% of the population has no access to health care
* Mozambique HIV prevalence was 16% of adults (2007)
* Southern Mozambique prevalence 21% (highest in country)
* 75% of HIV positive women in the world are in Sub-Saharian Africa
* 2% of women and 3% of men aged 15-49 had and HIV test AND received the results in the last year (2003)
* About 32% of HIV positive pregnant women received ARV's for PMTCT
* Mozambique is one of the 10 countries mostly affected by HIV in the world
* By 2009, 96.3 million people died from AIDS (21.4 million ages 1-14)

I thought that might be interesting to some...it's amazing how many of the false rumors about how HIV is transmitted are still spread and believed among Mozambicans. A fellow volunteer who is still close with their host family has been trying to teach the kids about safe sex and the truth about HIV. Then the older host brother returned home from working in South Africa and told the younger siblings about how "white people" put the HIV into the condoms... and the kids believed him. All the work and effort that this volunteer put into their family was disregarded. Students in my classes told me that HIV is transmitted via mosquitos, that virgins can't get HIV the first time they have sex...there's still so much work to be done against this epidemic. While incidences of HIV are leveling off in both central and northern Moz, they are still on the rise in the South. There are many contributing factors to this, but the close proximity of both Swaziland and South Africa are certainly prominent reasons. I read a book called "The Invisible Cure" before coming here and I've found that a lot of the topics discussed in it are incredibly accurate. I can't remember the author's name...but if you have any interest in learning more about the HIV epidemic in sub-saharian Africa then that's definitely a great book to read! I'm planning on re-reading it when I'm home in December.

Como sempre, espero que todos nos Estados Unidos estao bem na vida e na saude. Beijos!! Ate ja!!