Drunk men = chega

On our way back from Xipamenine, a GIANT outside market where Scoot and I like to buy used clothes, jackets, shoes, etc, we got into a chapa who's cobrador was belligerently drunk. The corbrador is the person in charge of opening the door, taking money from passengers, calling for stops, etc. When the chapa would stop, he would stand there confused as to what was happening. Someone would give him money and he would just stare at it. Several times Scoot and I got worried (is that the right word?) he was going to fall out of the chapa or slam his head in the door. Finally, a man who was standing at the front of the chapa made a comment- “How can you come to work like this? It’s a disgrace. You should go home, be ashamed of yourself.” The drunk man attempted to defend himself but without being able to form sentences it was difficult.


This situation made me think of several things. Firstly, I am so over the drunk men in this country! No matter what time of day it is, no matter where you are, you WILL run into a drunk man. Many times they keep to themselves, but all too often they do not.

Next, why did it take 15 minutes for anyone to speak up about what an embarrassment this man is? And once the man who spoke up got off the chapa, nobody else made mention. This behavior is just accepted here. The woman sitting next to me just said, “Oh he just likes to drink” and she rolled her eyes.

Maybe I’m blowing this out of proportion- maybe being publicly intoxicated and drunk on the job is not that big of an issue. But alcohol abuse has so many negative consequences. Ignorance to this leads to a hyper tolerance of this behavior and fails to stop preventable accidents. Although I have not blogged about it, as I still have no words to describe my feelings and heartbreak, two of my fellow PCVs were killed by a drunk driver last December while three more were injured and evacuated from the country. This tragic accident could have been prevented, with education on the effects of alcohol and its negative consequences. Here in Mozambique, there is no education on the effect of alcohol. Many times people tell me they drink while driving to keep them from feeling tired.

Alcohol is a topic that not only is a daily annoyance in this country, but one that has the potential to ruin lives. I and several other PCVs are working to incorporate alcohol education into the school system and/or any other medium of education transmission. Hopefully we can make some sort of difference in how Mozambicans view alcohol and its effects.