Back in Nampula

August 29th

Last Sunday I went to the local “craft” fair in Nampula but it is more an assortment of people selling everything. There were some crafts – wood and baskets along with ivory jewelry. As my interpreter said, “The elephant comes into a village, tramples the crops so the villagers kill the elephant, eat the meat, use the hide for the roof on the hut, and sell the ivory.” Went to the cultural museum which was celebrating its 53rd anniversary. Displays of masks, tools, boats, etc of the local tribal cultures. Behind were “galleries” of artists working in ebony wood and gold/silver jewelry. Off for a beer at the temporary Irish pub and dinner of curry shrimp.

Left early on Monday morning for a week of training farmers south of Nampula.

It is now Saturday and I am back from a week in a very rural part of Mozambique near Lamitil which is 1 ½ hours from Nampula. The lodging where I stayed was in this village. A small room with a bed, naked bulb overhead, a bathroom with a toilet (but no seat) that required water in the tank to flush, a sink, and a non working shower. There was no hot water unless I asked the help to boil some on the fire. Electricity was sporadic. Need I say no TV, radio or internet! One café in town run by 60 year old Portuguese and his wife. He came with the army when Mozambique declared its independence and never left.

Each day was a drive of 1+ hours to a local village where the Forum was located. Forums are association of farmers. Each farms individually but collectively they sell the product. Wonderful work as 30+ in each location eager to learn about developing a Business Plan, understanding Financial Statements, and talking with bankers. Not all were literate and some spoke Matua rather than Portuguese but the training occurred. At the first site, the training was in ½ of a very large chicken coop! The second training (2+ hours over a dry river bed) was outside under a large tree. The rooster there was very vocal about our presence in his domain. The third was in a block building with a thatched roof so lots of insects, spiders and lizards.

The villages along each route are small with perhaps 6 – 10 families in each. The farmers in this region have small plots of land so the cooperative nature of the Forums is important for negotiation in the marketing (they say “trading”) of the products. A Forum will have many products – not just peanuts. Cashews, sesame, millet, cotton, vegetables and a local root called “cassava”. I tried a bite raw but am told it is much better cooked!. As I mentioned earlier, the area around a hut is swept clean every day with a twig broom but “common areas” tend to become trash heaps as no one feels responsible. Thus the city of Nampula’s streets are quite dirt.

Paciência is the Portuguese world for patience. This is the important lesson that I was destined to learn on this assignment.