Mozambique Portfolio

• Portfolio consists

of Ben’s students’

responses to a

questionnaire.

•Ben also

interviewed two

students and

wrote about their

lives.

Lindo, 19 years old

“Illiteracy is an illness,”

Horácio, 23 years old Education is “the key to knowledge,” “cleans the soul,” and is a “source of unity;”

Science Fair

Most students speak two languages fluently: Portuguese and Emacua (the language of the Makonde, the majority ethnic group of Northern Mozambique).

Some students also speak Emaconde, Kimuani, and Kiswahili (these are other local languages, mostly from ethnic groups to the North of Chiúre).

What languages do you speak?

Largest ethnic group in Northern Mozambique and Tanzania - almost 1,500,000 people

Did not make contact with Europeans until the 1920’s

Economy – slash and burn agriculture/hunting

Matrilineal society – children and inheritances belong to women, men move into their wife’s village once married

The Mackonde People

Known for their sculptures of tribal spirits and ancestors made out of ebony wood

Sculptures depict “little devils” who take on many forms with exaggerated features

Other sculptures depict the “mother” of the Makonde people who was sculpted out of wood and protects them

The Makonde People (continued)

Nearly all students listen to “Romanticas,” which are pop love songs from Mozambique or Brazil.

Local Mozambican music that students enjoy: Marrabenta, Passada, and Kuduro

American pop music is very popular here, with the most listened-to artists being Celine Dion, Enrique Iglesias, and Michael Jackson.

What type of music do you like to listen to?

Mabula – Marrabenta/Rap Group

Traditional dances that students know are Tufo, Soqueia, Kuajala, Espada, Massuigu, and Mapiko

Mapiko – initiation dance for men and women in which unmarried men and women symbolically face their fear of the “Mapiko”, a masked dancer who represents evil

What dances do you know?

The most common meal by is xima (cooked meal or grain paste typically from pounded corn, cassava, or millet) with matapa (cooked green leaves)

Beans and dried fish are other common foods. Meat, rice, and pasta are luxury foods only accessible to families with more money.

What type of food do you eat at home?

Men wear long pants (always a dark, neutral color) and a shirt (button-down or t-shirt).

Women wear a blouse or shirt with a capulana around their waist and lenço (head wrap/scarf made from a cut capulana).

Nearly everyone wears sandals or flip-flops, unless they are required at work to wear shoes.

Students are technically required to wear shoes, but many do not. Not everyone has the money to buy shoes. All students do wear school uniforms to school.

Describe the style of dress of your culture.

With what frequency do you see your extended family? Are they important in your life?

Many families live in clusters of several houses (for example 3 or 4 rectangular huts in a circle), with all the extended family members living together.

Many students mention that relatives are especially important because they often are the ones that fund the students’ education (when your uncle is the only person in your family who has a salaried job, his income supports everyone else in the extended family.

The most important ceremonies are boy and girl initiation rites (when children, after puberty, receive the oral traditions and wisdom from their elders and are officially recognized by the community as adults).

Birthdays, funerals, national holidays, and the Town-Day of Chiúre (celebrating the anniversary of when Chiúre was incorporated as a town 21 years ago).Family Day – April 26th

Women’s Day – April 7th

Heroes Day – February 3rdWorker’s Day – May 1st

What holidays and ceremonies are important to your family?

When two people meet, the common greetings are (said in Portuguese): “Good morning. Did you wake up well today?” or “Good afternoon. How is your health? How is your family?”

Two men meeting each other for the first time will shake each other’s hand, while the initial greeting between a man and a woman or between two women is to kiss each other once on each cheek (first right, then left) and say “Prazer” (“It’s a pleasure”).

Describe common greetings between people in your culture.

Common responses are: doctor, nurse, engineer, and teacher.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Some of the students’ responses: Family – my parents – my teachers – education – patience – “love and respect: love myself, respect myself, and love and respect others.”

Mention something very important in your life.

“There are great differences.” “Americans live well.” “Americans help the Mozambican people by

sending us teachers and developing our country.”

“In America cars are public. You drive somewhere and get out. Then anyone else can get in and drive off. When you are ready to go somewhere else, you get into the first car you see and drive off.”

“Hip-Hop and Rap.”

What are the opinions and perspectives that you have of Americans or American culture?

“American students should know that my country is poor. In the case of our studies, we do not have the proper systems for [practical, hands-on] learning, and we do not have books for secondary education. For this reason, at times we are weak.”

“Well, I say that it is very important just to study . . . If you know to make the most of education, you can achieve your dreams.”

Is there anything else you would like American students to know about your life and culture?

These two 11th grade students, Luis and Vicente, are not originally from Chiúre. They are from Macomia, a town 5 hours to the North. But they study here in Chiúre and rent this house in the village by the school, where they live during the school year.

A Typical Student’s House

This is the charcoal stove where

they cook their meals and the

yellow water jugs they use to

transport water every day from

the nearby well. They go to bed

early every night just after

sunset, because they have no

electricity and cannot study or

do their homework once it gets

dark. Every morning they get

up early at sunrise and do

chores around the house, such

as sweeping, washing dishes,

fetching water, and cooking the

daily meal. It is a lot of work

living on their own and going to

school every day, but, being

hard-working, good-humored

people, they enjoy life and value

the education they are getting.

Ben has just started teaching 8th grade English, at a new school in a town called Nametil.

Ben lives in town rather than in an outside village and now has the luxuries of electricity and an outdoor water pump.

He says that his school has been built recently. It has electricity and blackboards in every classroom. But there is still a shortage of desks.

Once he gets settled, we hope to have a Skype chat with his “homeroom” students.

Where is Ben now?

Collect money to buy textbooks for a technical (agriculture and carpentry) high school in Ocua

Project organized by Lisa, a Peace Corp Volunteer, who teaches 8th grade English and is Ben’s closest PCV neighbor.

Used book sale - “Books for Books” campaignVolunteers needed – make flyers, posters, morning

and afternoon announcements, to collect books in the morning, to sell the books, and to donate books

After school meeting, this Thursday, for all those who are interested in helping out

Community Service Project