Two posts about Mozambique

I am writing this post from the bottom of a mosquito net just outside Maputo, Mozambique. It is Sunday, 21 July. I do not have internet connection here, so it will be posted later. I am sorry for the delay.

On Friday we finished putting the roof on the toilet, which was very satisfying. That means that the building portion of the toilet is finished, and we now need only to plaster, paint, and of course put in the toilets. I came in on Saturday for a bit to help work on the water tank on top of the mountain.

We left for Mozambique at 10 this morning. The border security was not bad. When I tried to leave Swaziland, the customs officer could not find my entry stamp since it was so light, so I had to show her where it was. Mozambican border security isn’t a problem; you just need to get out of the car to go inside. This was the first border where I have done that. They gave a pretty nice stamp.

Almost immediately after crossing the border, you notice a difference in architecture. Many buildings in Mozambique have walls made of sticks, which I did not see much of in Swaziland. There are also lots of buildings with logos painted on them, like there are in Ghana. Overall, Mozambique feels much more like Ghana than Swaziland does.

Mozambique has murals of Che, and some other awesome Communist stuff around. Mozambique was communist until Apartheid South Africa and the United States funded terrorists to overthrow the popular communist government. After one of the worst civil wars in African history, Mozambique emerged as the poorest country in the world. As the apartheid government began to lose power, it could no longer fund terrorism in Mozambique, and the civil war finally ended. Elections were held, and FRILIMO, the Communist Party, once again gained power by popular support. Though Mozambique was destroyed by the US and South Africa, it is making a slow recovery. It now boasts one of Africa’s fastest growing economies. I am confident that FRILIMO will lead this country to a peaceful, prosperous, and equal future; free of Western exploitation.

Well, that’s post-colonial Mozambique history in a nutshell if I remember it correctly. Maputo has other cool stuff too. Flags from Brazil, Angola, and some other former Portuguese colonies can be seen around the city. There are also three wheeled taxis here, like I have seen in so many Bollywoods. I was not expecting to see them here. It’s a pleasant surprise.

For the next week I will just be doing touristy stuff. That usually annoys me, but it is nice to give the blisters on my hands a break from working. I think I will enjoy it here.

I am trying to leave Swaziland once a month, so I will never have to renew my visa. I am thinking about Botswana next month. Wawa said All Out is trying to organize a Botswana trip from Swaziland now, so if I go I may be on the first trip of its type, but we’ll see. I love Swaziland, and I would have no problem going back and staying for a long time. 

Someone had the brilliant idea to leave for Tofo at 5:30 in the morning. I fell asleep in the van and woke up as we were driving through the beautiful city of Xai Xai, which reminded me a lot of Brazil. The architecture here closely resembles that of Brazil, although the city is much more impoverished. We arrived in Tofo around noon, and it was pouring rain. The other people in my group were annoyed that they couldn’t go to the beach right away, but I didn’t mind. It gave me an excuse to rest a bit.

When the rain cleared up, we all went to the market in Tofo. There I saw for the first time on this trip what I expected to see in Africa: crowded, chaotic streets, pushy salesmen, and bright coloured fabric. The poverty made me sad as always, but it gave me nostalgia for my days in Ghana. The market in Mankessim has a similar feel to the one in Tofo.  I ended up buying a few things, some out of pity for the salespeople and some because I genuinely liked it. I am proudly wearing a tshirt featuring Mozambique’s awesome first president: Samora Machel.  As a third-worldist, I feel that many people in this country have similar political views to me. I have seen several paintings of Che, as well as a house with Fidel Castro written on it in bold letters. I also see posters advertising FRELIMO, the awesome current ruling party of the country.

Here the damage caused by the USA is plainly visible. A country cannot be this poor with so much natural wealth. Civil wars do not happen when people support their government, unless a foreign nation sticks its nose where it shouldn’t. That is exactly what happened in Mozambique, but FRELIMO is leading the country back to prosperity.