rain, rain go away...

97 words so far this week. Woohoo! And it rained today like I’ve never seen it rain before. No wonder Mozambique’s having floods!

What have I been up to? Saving the world? Nope, waking up the un-used bits of my brain and ears and absorbing vocabulary. I started 2 lessons a day today…and didn’t die, which was good!

9-11 am with Swa- (she doesn’t like me calling her ‘Mama’- even though she has 3 kids!). Followed by review and recording the new word list, then lunch, nap, lesson prep, 2.30-4.30 with Esn- (also objects to the ‘Mama’ bit), more word list writing (I call it cementing)…then some exercise of some sort- or just blob out in front of the computer, shower, prepare dinner, read…sleep… I’ll trial this for 2 days a week and see how I go, with ‘only’ one session the other 3 days.

I find the titles thing interesting- technically I should call Esn- ‘Mama Comfort’ because her daughters name is Comfort. If the child died, her name would change. She said when we go to the village I should call her that, but her name at work is ‘Esn-’. As you know, I don’t have children, so where does that leave me? ‘Unti Lina’ Swa- decreed proudly. Us whities are so ‘out of the box’ that they borrow our words and make new categories for us… oh yeah, and they don’t seem to distinguish between ‘r’ and ‘l’, or ‘d’ and ‘t’…or ‘m’ and ‘n’- both of which are usually almost silent at the beginning of a word…and ‘j’ can sound like a ‘d’ or a ‘y’ depending where it is… I could go on, but I’ll spare you.

I was nervous about Esn- coming today. She is a primary school teacher, and at her interview was very…forthright. I’ve had images all week of her bulldozing me into a dictionary, but yesterday, I spent an hour or so sitting on the verandah of her rented room watching the world go by while she washed her clothes in a bucket…and that edginess wasn’t there today. SO relieved! I still feel like I’m in primary school – but that’s ok- in language I’m still a toddler, so she’s being very gracious :-).
What was I doing at her house? Well- she doesn’t have a phone and I needed to get a message to her- so I did it the African way hehe.

Relationships are different out here. These women are my teachers, older than me in life, though younger in years, and I am their boss. Wealthy, educated, outside of their system and ‘powerful’. Add to that that unemployment is huge, everyone is living hand to mouth, women’s rights and opportunities are….negligible- and we’re giving them a job. This is great, but their environment makes me/ foreigners even more powerful – it’s unlikely they’ll get jobs elsewhere in Mangochi…their only bargaining power is their life stories, their dreams... Child born to a single mother, child gets cerebral malaria, hospital has run out of medication/child doesn’t get medical help quick enough, severely disabled child now living with grandparents. Mother wants to provide for child, provide a house, money to pay for specialist, ongoing rehabilitation, knows that there is better money to be made in South Africa…she needs money to get a passport.
Woman married, only to find several years later her husband takes a second wife. He stops supporting her and her children financially. They need to eat.

Pregnant woman goes to hospital for check up. Her previous three babies have all died before the age of 2. The hospital convinces her to check her HIV status. It’s positive. Her only real options for not passing the virus to her child is to find an HIV negative wet nurse who is willing to remain celibate for 6 months while feeding…or pay 6 months mans wages for formula. She wants the child within her to live, to have a chance at living a life better than hers.

A grand mother knocks on the gate. She has no food to feed her family- comprised largely of the 5 orphaned grand children. Harvest isn’t ‘til April

The agony is that these stories of women I’ve met here are completely true. How do we/ I respond? For those I’m directly employing- am I paying enough? Do I give a gift or a loan? To whom? Why was I born so ‘lucky’?! Can a whole poverty cycle be turned around?
I guess that’s why I’m here.