Weekend

I went up to Inhambane City this weekend for a training for REDES. In conjunction with the ministry of education, we held a 1 day training on how to start and maintain a REDES group. It was fantastic!! 55 (out of 60!!) teachers came, and throughout the entire day they were participating, asking questions, taking notes-ok, so this all may sound normal, like what people always do at conferences, but not here in Mozambique. It was strange and yet so wonderful.
On my way home, I got a great ride from a man who works for the Christian Counsel of Mozambique. He was so interested in REDES and helping support trainings and more groups. I felt lucky- not only was it not a chapa, but he bought me KFC and got me (almost) home in record time. As he continued to Maputo, I continued home via chapa. As I’m sure I’ve said before, riding in a chapa is really like participating in a contortionist act. They cram people into these minibuses like we’re sardines, people wrapped around each other, bodies bent in ways that they should not bend, 10 people sitting, hovering, bending in a space that was meant for three people. Meanwhile, what is actually yours (a backpack for example) gets shuffled around - my bag is in some ladies lap while a strange child gets put on my lap and chickens are crawling on my feet and a goat is bleating because it’s crammed behind the backseat halfway hanging outside the chapa. Once we finally get moving, we stop a few hundred yards down the road to pick up more people. Seriously?! I thought they might actually try to tie someone to the roof just to get more people. And of course, when we stop to let someone off, it’s not the woman sitting in the front, it’s the woman in the very back, so we all get out, pass the kids and purses around, climb over the stray chickens and broken seats that don’t fold up, let out the one person, and crawl back in again. It looks like a circus act. In the end, if I make it to my destination with all my belongings, in one piece, without getting peed or thrown up on, it’s been a good trip. My idea of personal space and comfort is seriously warped.