Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
The white (wo)man
Dear all,
You might wonder whether I am still alive...or you might be wondering why I haven´t been writing for more than 8 months (!). I guess I "lost" most of my readers, by now:)
To look for reasons isn´t that easy, the most important will be the fact that the exposure to so many (contradictory) impressions and feelings made me decide to take a writing break.... I was too overwhelmed to be able to analyse very well...
After having read my previous postings I am surprised to read that much of my thinking hasn´t changed yet. I am still struggling with some of the issues I mentioned before. Especially about the role of the expat in Africa...My role...
Having stressed only the more negative aspects of "the white man' s role' in Africa, I want to share the following with you...
It happened two weeks ago, on a Friday evening just before wanting to leave office...The guard knocked on the door: "senhora, I need to talk to you..." He came to complain about the fact he hadn´t been paid his full salary (1300 meticais instead of 1700 meticais) by the woman responsible for the "condominium" (shared costs of the building where the office is located). As 1700 meticais equates plus minus 50 EURO, you can imagine that 400 MZN means a lot of money for any Mozambican (prices in the supermarkt are not very different from the prices in Europe!)...As I recently had paid an advance of 4 months of condominio, I knew that there couldn´t be any legitimate reason for not paying the guard...Struck by this injustice I went directly to Balbina´s appartment, the condominio person. She was like a magician, giving me one after the other excuse to justifify...With my human rights background I had difficulties to listen to her lies and I repeated the fact it was important the guard would receive the other part of his salary, as this meant a fortune for him. Because she was repeating and repeating she couldn´t pay that evening, I paid-in front of her- the guard the remaining 400 MZNs...When she wanted to justify her delay referring to the fact he had been absent during three days...due to his illness (!!!), I lost my "soft" attitude . I replied to her that EVERY person had to right to be absent when he was ill (I had sent the poor guy home, he had high fever and looked very ill- I even had paid his visit to the doctor to be sure he would get a decent treatment) and that I would expect that she would respect basic rights any employee was entitled to. And...that she shouldn´t make abuse of her power position...She promised to pay me back in two days (which she did!)...
After this "intermezzo" in the corridor the guard came to thank "us"...I wasn´t sure I had understood his Portuguese very well, so I repeated "us"? Yes, "it is thank to you white people in the building that we, the guards, are still working in this building, because if we were only dependent of the Mozambican inhabitants (inter alia Balbina), we would leave this place asap...Mozambicans are such a bad people, they don´t respect us, the poor, they look at us like if we were animals. But...senhora Katarina, it is not because I am poor I should be treated like shit, isn´t it?" Needless to say I was very struck (I tried to hide it, by agreeing with what he was saying and only encouraging him to keep in mind he had as many rights as any other person, in caso to receive his full salary in time...) , not only by his very critical stance, but also about the meaning of what he was telling me. If this is true (I had heard stories like this from other expats, of course I had seen it even with my own eyes before, but to hear this confirmed by a Mozambican...!), I mean, no doubt it is true as to our building, but is this true as to all the other buildings in town...? If yes...
Tinha saudades de voces...
Hope you are doing well, wherever you are!
beijo
Katarina.
You might wonder whether I am still alive...or you might be wondering why I haven´t been writing for more than 8 months (!). I guess I "lost" most of my readers, by now:)
To look for reasons isn´t that easy, the most important will be the fact that the exposure to so many (contradictory) impressions and feelings made me decide to take a writing break.... I was too overwhelmed to be able to analyse very well...
After having read my previous postings I am surprised to read that much of my thinking hasn´t changed yet. I am still struggling with some of the issues I mentioned before. Especially about the role of the expat in Africa...My role...
Having stressed only the more negative aspects of "the white man' s role' in Africa, I want to share the following with you...
It happened two weeks ago, on a Friday evening just before wanting to leave office...The guard knocked on the door: "senhora, I need to talk to you..." He came to complain about the fact he hadn´t been paid his full salary (1300 meticais instead of 1700 meticais) by the woman responsible for the "condominium" (shared costs of the building where the office is located). As 1700 meticais equates plus minus 50 EURO, you can imagine that 400 MZN means a lot of money for any Mozambican (prices in the supermarkt are not very different from the prices in Europe!)...As I recently had paid an advance of 4 months of condominio, I knew that there couldn´t be any legitimate reason for not paying the guard...Struck by this injustice I went directly to Balbina´s appartment, the condominio person. She was like a magician, giving me one after the other excuse to justifify...With my human rights background I had difficulties to listen to her lies and I repeated the fact it was important the guard would receive the other part of his salary, as this meant a fortune for him. Because she was repeating and repeating she couldn´t pay that evening, I paid-in front of her- the guard the remaining 400 MZNs...When she wanted to justify her delay referring to the fact he had been absent during three days...due to his illness (!!!), I lost my "soft" attitude . I replied to her that EVERY person had to right to be absent when he was ill (I had sent the poor guy home, he had high fever and looked very ill- I even had paid his visit to the doctor to be sure he would get a decent treatment) and that I would expect that she would respect basic rights any employee was entitled to. And...that she shouldn´t make abuse of her power position...She promised to pay me back in two days (which she did!)...
After this "intermezzo" in the corridor the guard came to thank "us"...I wasn´t sure I had understood his Portuguese very well, so I repeated "us"? Yes, "it is thank to you white people in the building that we, the guards, are still working in this building, because if we were only dependent of the Mozambican inhabitants (inter alia Balbina), we would leave this place asap...Mozambicans are such a bad people, they don´t respect us, the poor, they look at us like if we were animals. But...senhora Katarina, it is not because I am poor I should be treated like shit, isn´t it?" Needless to say I was very struck (I tried to hide it, by agreeing with what he was saying and only encouraging him to keep in mind he had as many rights as any other person, in caso to receive his full salary in time...) , not only by his very critical stance, but also about the meaning of what he was telling me. If this is true (I had heard stories like this from other expats, of course I had seen it even with my own eyes before, but to hear this confirmed by a Mozambican...!), I mean, no doubt it is true as to our building, but is this true as to all the other buildings in town...? If yes...
Tinha saudades de voces...
Hope you are doing well, wherever you are!
beijo
Katarina.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
...Prospero Ano Novo-Happy New Year-Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!
Olá everyone,
No tropical New Year greetings this time...Instead some "freezing ones" from cold cold Belgium! "Bonne année!" "Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!"
New Year I spent in... multicultural Brussels at a real balkan gypsy concert and party in "Les Halles de Schaerbeek" (the venue alone is worthy the visit)...A night of crazy dancing, with my Slavic roots I felt completely at home...It was also a night of killing "saudades" in company of one of my best friends...And no need to say that it felt again very surrealistic, this time however to be back in "my" Brussels...(I guess surrealism is one of those very typical characteristics of "being Belgian")
I have to admit, the reverse culture shock-to my own surprise- hasn't been so big...but still, the occasions I have been feeling like coming from Mars are numerous, the shock to see the abundance in the supermarkets and shops remained, the banality of many people's complaints and worries difficult to deal with,...
Another shock, from a totally different kind, I felt was when a Brussels shopkeeper, after I had asked him at two occasions to serve me with some Turkish feta cheese and with some raisin, replied to me in a rather severe and annoyed way as follows: "Madame, vous pouvez vous servir vous-même!"("Miss, you can serve yourself!"). Perhaps his unfriendly tone was partially due to the fact it was the first of January (maybe he was suffering from some head ache:)), but basically it reflected more his incomprehensiveness toward my "inactive " attitude in the shop, my natural expectation to be served,...Suddenly I realized I had become used to the Mozambican WHITE and/OR RICH lifestyle of being served. I remember my first impressions upon arrival in Maputo, how "disgusting" I found it to see how whites (and rich Mozambicans) were being served upon their request (or even before...). I remember how shocking I found it to see how people had black "empregadas" ("domestica" in Brazil, housekeeping staff)working totally in function of them and black "guards" who were not only guards but also boys opening the gates, washing the cars, carrying your shopping, throwing away your rubbish, etc. And of course this pattern of "submission" or extreme servility was duplicated in commercial and administrative settings as well...People from anglo-saxon countries might protest against my too radical stance here, pinpointing to the excellent client service in their respective countries (where being served forms simply part of the service you deserve as a client), but to me it remains difficult to make abstraction of the colonial not so far away history,during which the minority of the whites (now: minority of rich) were served by the majority of black (now: majority of poor). To observe the way Moz society is structured seems-I can't help it- o so neo-colonialistic...But...I also know, that employing a guard, employing an empregada we, the whites and rich ones (and yes, you read it well, me too, I 'stepped' into the system) we create employment, we give people a very needed living...The latter is the very recurrent excuse you hear to legitimize the hiring of local staff, i.e. a means to help people survive, study, etc. But the other side of the coin, the fact you can "hire" somebody for plus/minus 25 Euros/month (=minimum wage), you earning western wages (and often even much higher salaries than if doing the same job at home)isn't being highlighted that often...nor the fact that it enables us, the whites, to have a very comfortable life...And I agree, paying local people according to our western standards would mean a 'distortion' of the local economy BUT HEY, are OUR salaries no distortion of their economy (cf. post-conflict countries with high UN and international NGO presence)??? Who is mainly frequenting restaurans like Mundo's, who is paying 1500 USD for a three bedroom appartment in Maputo, who is shopping in Polana Shopping Centre, who is swimming in the swimming pool of Club Naval (2.5 USD for one swimming), who is paying almost 2 Euros for a liter of fruit juice (Christmas prices!)???
I have to add, very rapidly, that my analysis might be incorrect, as I am very new to the country and I haven't really "scientifically studied" the society. And, as already referred to above, this phenomenon, I am afraid is not unique to Mozambique...And, more importantly, it is always easy to "denounce" a situation (like I am doing here), but I have to admit that looking for solutions for a more just division of assets and goods would be probably more preferrable...
In any case, I am very keen to read reactions to this blog...
No tropical New Year greetings this time...Instead some "freezing ones" from cold cold Belgium! "Bonne année!" "Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!"
New Year I spent in... multicultural Brussels at a real balkan gypsy concert and party in "Les Halles de Schaerbeek" (the venue alone is worthy the visit)...A night of crazy dancing, with my Slavic roots I felt completely at home...It was also a night of killing "saudades" in company of one of my best friends...And no need to say that it felt again very surrealistic, this time however to be back in "my" Brussels...(I guess surrealism is one of those very typical characteristics of "being Belgian")
I have to admit, the reverse culture shock-to my own surprise- hasn't been so big...but still, the occasions I have been feeling like coming from Mars are numerous, the shock to see the abundance in the supermarkets and shops remained, the banality of many people's complaints and worries difficult to deal with,...
Another shock, from a totally different kind, I felt was when a Brussels shopkeeper, after I had asked him at two occasions to serve me with some Turkish feta cheese and with some raisin, replied to me in a rather severe and annoyed way as follows: "Madame, vous pouvez vous servir vous-même!"("Miss, you can serve yourself!"). Perhaps his unfriendly tone was partially due to the fact it was the first of January (maybe he was suffering from some head ache:)), but basically it reflected more his incomprehensiveness toward my "inactive " attitude in the shop, my natural expectation to be served,...Suddenly I realized I had become used to the Mozambican WHITE and/OR RICH lifestyle of being served. I remember my first impressions upon arrival in Maputo, how "disgusting" I found it to see how whites (and rich Mozambicans) were being served upon their request (or even before...). I remember how shocking I found it to see how people had black "empregadas" ("domestica" in Brazil, housekeeping staff)working totally in function of them and black "guards" who were not only guards but also boys opening the gates, washing the cars, carrying your shopping, throwing away your rubbish, etc. And of course this pattern of "submission" or extreme servility was duplicated in commercial and administrative settings as well...People from anglo-saxon countries might protest against my too radical stance here, pinpointing to the excellent client service in their respective countries (where being served forms simply part of the service you deserve as a client), but to me it remains difficult to make abstraction of the colonial not so far away history,during which the minority of the whites (now: minority of rich) were served by the majority of black (now: majority of poor). To observe the way Moz society is structured seems-I can't help it- o so neo-colonialistic...But...I also know, that employing a guard, employing an empregada we, the whites and rich ones (and yes, you read it well, me too, I 'stepped' into the system) we create employment, we give people a very needed living...The latter is the very recurrent excuse you hear to legitimize the hiring of local staff, i.e. a means to help people survive, study, etc. But the other side of the coin, the fact you can "hire" somebody for plus/minus 25 Euros/month (=minimum wage), you earning western wages (and often even much higher salaries than if doing the same job at home)isn't being highlighted that often...nor the fact that it enables us, the whites, to have a very comfortable life...And I agree, paying local people according to our western standards would mean a 'distortion' of the local economy BUT HEY, are OUR salaries no distortion of their economy (cf. post-conflict countries with high UN and international NGO presence)??? Who is mainly frequenting restaurans like Mundo's, who is paying 1500 USD for a three bedroom appartment in Maputo, who is shopping in Polana Shopping Centre, who is swimming in the swimming pool of Club Naval (2.5 USD for one swimming), who is paying almost 2 Euros for a liter of fruit juice (Christmas prices!)???
I have to add, very rapidly, that my analysis might be incorrect, as I am very new to the country and I haven't really "scientifically studied" the society. And, as already referred to above, this phenomenon, I am afraid is not unique to Mozambique...And, more importantly, it is always easy to "denounce" a situation (like I am doing here), but I have to admit that looking for solutions for a more just division of assets and goods would be probably more preferrable...
In any case, I am very keen to read reactions to this blog...
Feliz Natal! Merry Christmas and...
Christmas 2007 in Maputo, a surrealistic happening...it was a multicultural and very tropical feast, with some home made"vodka" from Galicia (Spain) (aiaiaiai!) , some Spanish "turrón" and a mixture of different nationalities...
The pics speak for themselves...
Thanks to Sandra for the beautiful collage!!!
Friday, November 23, 2007
Strongbaaite! Força!
UPDATED (FINALLY:))Keywords blog: half marathon, addictions, South Africa, Italian trainers-painters-musicians and too many painful hills...please find the link yourself:)
The pictures here above, however, don't refer to my Mozambican running experiences, instead they were taken after an extremely hard half marathon we ran in South Africa (full of hills!) , just across the border. What a contrast with the Moz "corridas"! Starting SHARP, being over-organized, furnishing the runners with water and food along the way, marking the exact kilometers,...it seemed so unreal, so totally different from how things go in Maputo. Starting hours(!) late in the biggest "confusão" you can imagine, in a company of fellow runners, most of them being barefoot or wearing normal "shoes", not getting water along the way (as organizors often steal the available drinks), ...Fraude is also very common in Mozambique, with runners being picked-up by car after a kilometer or two, and then, at the end, you can see them, proudly, not sweating nor exhausted(of course!), receiving the prize...The latter can end up in some swearing and shouting and angry reactions, but people tend to "accept" and let things happen as they happen...(Money)Prizes are very important to the runners, and often the only motivation to run...Some of the runners I talked to try to make their living out of these street corridas...(Would this just be one example, one symptom of some major problems Mozambican society is facing?)But...taken everything together, I really do enjoy Mozambican corridas, as they are a FEAST, with people shouting "força!" along the way (in South African the word seemed to be "strongbaaite", but nobody deemed it necessary to encourage us...), co-runners chatting, dancing, singing,...Moreover, it surprised me as well how "white" and "segregated" the half marathon in South Africa had been, and this in contrast to Maputo where I am often the only white lady running in the Moz street runs...
Hi everybody and especially runners-friends!
Before departure to Mozambique I had-I have to admit-only one big worry: will I be able to satisfy my addiction?:) Living without luxury, on rice and some vegetables, in a tropical heat,...I knew wouldn´t be a problem for me...except for...a life without running...For a non-runner this sounds very weird (maybe some of you already want to send me to some psychiatric clinic:)), but just try to compare it to a life without coffee, cigarettes, sex and rock and roll...guess would be also hard to kick off from for some of you, isn´t it?:)
Well, great was my surprise when I found out that Maputo is a very western style city where you can find almost everything (ok,ok, not the 100 kinds of shampoos-but hey, a smaller choice really FACILITATES life, surely for a person like me having difficulties to make choices:), neither a gorgonzala cheese, but instead we have here delicious sea food, good coffee, ice cream, excellent Portuguese and Southafrican wines, and the more!!! -OF COURSE this is only affordable to us, the xpats and the ´creme de la creme´among the Mozambicans-later more on this).
My surprise even grew when I bumped-by coincidence- into some runners here in Mozambique! Pasquale being the most particular and ´amaizing´one...Over 60 years (am I right, Pasquale?), this Italian is a real hard core runner (and painter, see pic and musician and person-with-big heart and...), who inter alia has run the Comrade, a hundred (!) kilometer run in South Africa in mountain area!!! (isn´t this a nice idea for my DCLA runners-mates?! a nice reason to come to visit me here!) and several marathons. In his previous life he served as a UN peacekeeper in various countries and ended up living in the country of his last mission. As a very dedicated runner-with-a-big-heart he is also the trainer of a very small athletics club in Maputo and training some excellent Mozambican (real) athletes (inter alia Seena, see pictures!). Pasquale helped to introduce me in the runner´s world here and thanks to him I ran my first half marathon in Maputo three months ago...a real experience...
The pictures here above, however, don't refer to my Mozambican running experiences, instead they were taken after an extremely hard half marathon we ran in South Africa (full of hills!) , just across the border. What a contrast with the Moz "corridas"! Starting SHARP, being over-organized, furnishing the runners with water and food along the way, marking the exact kilometers,...it seemed so unreal, so totally different from how things go in Maputo. Starting hours(!) late in the biggest "confusão" you can imagine, in a company of fellow runners, most of them being barefoot or wearing normal "shoes", not getting water along the way (as organizors often steal the available drinks), ...Fraude is also very common in Mozambique, with runners being picked-up by car after a kilometer or two, and then, at the end, you can see them, proudly, not sweating nor exhausted(of course!), receiving the prize...The latter can end up in some swearing and shouting and angry reactions, but people tend to "accept" and let things happen as they happen...(Money)Prizes are very important to the runners, and often the only motivation to run...Some of the runners I talked to try to make their living out of these street corridas...(Would this just be one example, one symptom of some major problems Mozambican society is facing?)But...taken everything together, I really do enjoy Mozambican corridas, as they are a FEAST, with people shouting "força!" along the way (in South African the word seemed to be "strongbaaite", but nobody deemed it necessary to encourage us...), co-runners chatting, dancing, singing,...Moreover, it surprised me as well how "white" and "segregated" the half marathon in South Africa had been, and this in contrast to Maputo where I am often the only white lady running in the Moz street runs...
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Valencia-Casa do Gaiato:1-1?
Boa noite,This time I decided to let the pictures speak for themselves...the impressions of last Saturday's excursion to Boane (at one hour distance from here), more concretely to a village where the orphanage, Casa do Gaiato, is located, are just too overwhelming...not that we ended up visiting the orphanage itself ( a pity, I must say!!! I definitely still want to go there!), but instead we went to the 'inauguration' of a new football field (try to imagine the Ambassador of Spain kicking off a game between the village/orphanage people and the Valenciano group we had met two days ago and all this in a killing heat!:)) and a fair exhibiting agricultural and other products the local community was producing in projects mainly supported by the Spanish Cooperation here in Mozambique. Eventhough the whole morning and afternoon was a great example of Mozambican happiness and party spirit (people were dancing, singing and lauging non-stop and 'en masse'- something we found impossible to imagine to happen in a random European village...), the HIV/AIDS 'ghost' was never very far away..."Remember", "we are all seropositive until the contrary has been proven", were painted in dark red at the walls of the surrounding houses...Sitting on the ground, I found myself surrounded by a whole bench of kids watching a very educative theatre play. Amidst this colourful spectacle with even more colourful spectators, women wearing capulana of all kinds of colours, kids hanging at mum's breast drinking thirsty, boys playing with wheel and stick (the o so (stereo) typical image of Africa!) and so much more, I suddenly got struck, or better shocked by the image of the little boy (5 years?) sitting right in front of me...his eyes were 'dead', sweat pearls dropping from his face, his head falling down, very slowly, like if he were to fall asleep (or loose consciousness?) at any moment...Alarmed I drew Sergio's (one of the sweetest and most humble down-to-earth doctors I ever met in my life!) attention to the kid and asked him to verify whether I was not just 'panicking'...but no,no, the kid was ill, definitely with fever, and Sergio gave him water, a neighbour woman refreshed his face and Sergio asked the boy's friends to take him home, something they did...I remained seated, confused, feeling powerless, trying to imagine the kid's living conditions, his chances to be cured (to survive?), trying to avoid the thought he had Aids or malaria, and hoping he had 'just' one of those 'normal' diseases every kid has once in a while. However, the latter resulted difficult with slogans like "Remember" and "We are all seropositive until the opposite has been proven" right in front of my eyes...Imagine you see those kids on a daily basis appearing in your office...I am afraid I would be too 'softie' to deal with that..."Chapeau" for those who are doing!
Enjoy the pictures and...remember...
beijinhos,
Katarina,xxx.
Sandra and Sergio walking-dancing
Friday, November 2, 2007
Why men should stick to one woman...
Swaziland, "find the crocodile!" :)In my previous posting I already talked about senhor Miguel, well this time I'ld like to introduce senhor Mambo to you. Senhor Mambo is the taxidriver who I see most of the times, he is used to work with cooperation people, and thus knows more or less the places I need to go to...(it happens often that I (!) have to look on the map and to explain where this or that institution (and even street) is to be found). Moreover, he is plus/minus reliable, in 90 percent of the cases he arrives at the hour we agreed upon (his boss, I call him 'xefe', tends to forget me quite often and tries to make up for this by flirting and saying things every woman wants to hear like "you are such a sweet woman" , "you are so special, really unique", and "you are so beautiful", and of course (!) I can't be angry with him:)), but sometimes things still can go wrong...Like last week. He had dropped me at an organization, and when I sent him a sms asking me to come to pick me up, he called me to say he was already waiting for me. Big was my surprise when I went outside and I didn't see him anywhere...When I called him to ask him where he was he said he was 'coming' ("ha de vir"- the verbal construction " ha de+infinitive" is a very frequently used one:) and refers to a kind of uncertain and far away future...), but me and my colleague from Spanish cooperation have been waiting for him for another 15 minutes...Apparently, according to him, he had been waiting for me in front of the institution where he had dropped me the day before...And again, even without the sweet words, I just couldn't be upset with him, senhor Mambo being such a sweetie himself...Let me tell you some anecdotes to illustrate this...
Some weeks ago I went on a mission to Lilongwe (capital of Malawi) for one week; upon arrival senhor Mambo (around 55 years old or even more) came to pick me up and the first thing he said was (and really, this sounded very genuine): "tive saudades de voce" ("I was missing you", but as said, 'ter saudades' means much more than only 'missing')...After a week of hotel and being outside Maputo, I couldn't have had any warmer 'welcome' than this...
Some weeks ago I went on a mission to Lilongwe (capital of Malawi) for one week; upon arrival senhor Mambo (around 55 years old or even more) came to pick me up and the first thing he said was (and really, this sounded very genuine): "tive saudades de voce" ("I was missing you", but as said, 'ter saudades' means much more than only 'missing')...After a week of hotel and being outside Maputo, I couldn't have had any warmer 'welcome' than this...
During that same taxitrip from the airport to my house, we started chatting about polygamy in Mozambique-the latter still exists, and surely more in the northern and rural areas of Mozambique. Well, according to senhor Mambo, it is totally clear that to sleep with more than one woman explains the reason why polygamic men tend to live less time than monogamic men: "they are just much faster burnt-out and 'used' ('usado') than monogamic men". I had difficulties not to burst out in laughing, but I fortunately controlled myself and told him I found his theory very interesting...But, he might be right, but for another reason, when one is not talking about polygamy stricto senso but in the sense of having several partners... In a country where the HIV/AIDS-prevalence is extremely high, where around 16% of the population is infected, (this percentage is depending inter alia on province and age and can thus be much higher), sleeping with several partners can perhaps lead to a quicker death...Moreover, the use of condoms, even though it is being encouraged by NGO's, international organizations and government, isn't as widespread as one would ideally want...
Later, already at home, I remained with a question:"Senhor Mambo, and what about 'polygamic' women? Is there also risk of a shorter life?" I am not sure but perhaps this is more of a taboo than the looser sexual lifestyle man can have here in Mozambique. Need to read and talk more about this subject in order to be able to share this with you...boa noite...
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