_
Fact
Finding and Planning Mission to Mozambique
May 30 – June 14, 2003
_____________________________________________________________________________
Friday, May 30, 2003
Today I begin my third visit to Mozambique, starting with a flight from Edmonton to Calgary where I will join a direct flight to London. As my flight leaves Edmonton just after 1600, I spend the morning packing and getting the final details of the trip in order. This is a fairly calm departure for me. When I leave for the airport, Rebecca and Chris leave for a game of golf.While checking in at the airport, I notice Mohammed Houchaimi and his family. Mohammed works at Barnett House helping to maintain our computers. In the departure lounge I meet up with all of them, less Mohammed, and I learn that they are traveling to Lebanon for a vacation. Mohammed will join them there in July.The flight to London is uneventful and at Heathrow I go through the terminal changes required at that immense and somewhat confusing airport. By mistake, I end up in the wrong terminal and have to backtrack to get to the proper one. This means an extra and unnecessary trip for my camera and film through the security inspector’s x-ray machine.
Saturday, May 31, 2003
Waiting in Terminal Two for my TAP flight to Lisbon, I recognize Larry Kuehn and we join up for our onward travels together. The terminal is very warm and crowded and altogether a place to be avoided as much as possible. Unfortunately, I have spent nearly seven hours here and I am delighted to experience the relatively fresh air inside the TAP Airbus 321. Two and a half hours later, we land in Lisbon and take a taxi to the hotel Tivoli Jardin. As it’s fairly late when we arrive, we call an early evening and rest up.
Sunday, June 1, 2003
Our ten hour flight to Maputo does not leave until 2010 and so we have much of the day to walk around Lisbon’s harbour front. Stores are closed, of course, and the city in the morning is quiet. The steps leading to the sea at the central square are off limits due to the construction of a new subway line and I rather miss visiting them. Lunch is taken at a small restaurant several streets up from the harbour after which we carry on with our walking tour. Returning to the hotel we collect our luggage and take a taxi back to the airport for check-in.
Our flight to Maputo is to be on LAM’s one and only 767 ER, on lease from South African Airlines. It turns out to be quite comfortable, far better than the Air France A340 experience out of Lomé in November, and I find it possible to sleep much of the way. We are awakened at 0300 MST for breakfast followed shortly afterward by preparations for landing in Maputo.
Monday, June 2, 2003
Clearing immigration and the SARS inspection station, Larry and I are directed out of the stream headed for customs and we soon come to the terminal exit. There Rosario Quive, his wife Angela and their young son greet us. We are taken into town by the Hotel Terminus bus to check in at the hotel. I am given Room 241 and, on walking toward it, old memories come back to me. I’m ushered in to the room I had when I stayed here in 1996, quite a coincidence.
The city of Maputo, on this my third visit, appears cleaned up and progressive in remarkable ways. Lots of effort has gone into the redevelopment of old buildings and construction of new ones. The streets are full of cars and traffic flow downtown is quite dense.
Rosario leaves us to settle in and to rest and says he will pick us up at 1430 to go over to the ONP office. I take out the contents of both pieces of my luggage and repack the small one for the trip to Beira two days hence, then I shower and sleep for a couple of hours. Rosario arrives to take us to ONP where we are greeted by Emilia Poulo Afonso, the general secretary, and Lucas Thomas, the treasurer, Narciso Uaciquete, director of organization and information, Angela, Rosario’s wife and Nazare Raice, my friend and ONP’s printer. The executive members gather in the meeting room (once Mervi from Finland’s office) and a general review of the program for our visit takes place. Emelia and the other secretaries talk about some general conditions ONP faces as well. Our discussion takes us to 1530 and Rosario then drives us the short distance to our hotel. Supper is in the hotel dining room. Afterward, Larry and I visit the hotel computer centre where Larry walks me through the establishment of my very own hotmail account. I choose bcatp@hotmail as my address, assign a pass word, and I’m in business! I send a message home and look forward to a response tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 3, 2003
Larry and I meet for breakfast and then walk to the ONP building. Our morning begins with a review of what is known about the Beira centre, with the same folk at the table as yesterday but with the addition of Maria da Vera Cruz, director of professional and social affairs. At 1100, we leave for the Canadian Consul’s office and a meeting with the Laurent Charette, Canada’s man in Maputo, and Antonio Mize Francisco, his chief Mozambican aide for education. A most enlightening experience, seeing Canada’s official representative at work. Antonio is very well informed and tells us of Canada’s growing commitment to assistance for Africa, and for Mozambique in particular, and that health and education are to be the primary beneficiaries of our aid. Canada and the other countries supporting education here have established a pool where money is deposited and then allocated to programs after mutual discussions with the Mozambique government. It would be nice if CTF could convince our government to encourage a couple of initiatives attached to this generous gift—a national check-off system for ONP members and legislation recognizing ONP as a legitimate union. Both would go a long way toward reinforcing the mission of ONP and allowing the implementation of national programs of benefit to teachers and students.
After lunch, Rosario takes us in his car to visit the local CUSO office. Part way there, he receives a call on his cell phone (these things are ubiquitous in Maputo) informing him the CUSO reps are waiting for us at the ONP office. Back we go to meet Sylvan Boutin and Jesse Forsythe. Mr Boutin is quite at home speaking Portuguese but has to struggle with English. Ms Forsythe, hailing from Nova Scotia and not Montreal, has no problem with English at all. They tell us of the projects they have underway—Sylvan with “linkages” working to coordinate the efforts of NGO’s and Jesse working with Mozambique unions.
We return to the Terminus for a bit of a rest then venture out to a local restaurant for dinner. Afterward, I visit my hotmail address and delete all of the SPAM I find there, reading and retaining messages from Rebecca and Aaron. I send a general note to family addresses saying that I leave for Beira in the morning and that I will check in by e-mail upon my return. I pay my hotel bill for two days with traveler’s cheques, accepted at par, and then turn in for the evening.
As I sleep, I become aware of music drifting in and out of my consciousness. This finally fully awakens me and I get up to try to determine the source—a room nearby, perhaps. I call the desk but no one answers. Finally, I get dressed and walk back to the pool area to discover the outside speakers blaring away with no one in sight. I see people inside the bar and go in. There are four inebriated customers dancing and drinking and a very tired looking bartender keeping the place open. Over the din inside, I ask if he can shut off the outside speakers. He sees the problem right away and hits a switch under the bar. Silence and peace are restored outside and I go back to my room. It’s now 0400 and I have to get up at 0530 for the flight to Beira.
Wednesday, June 4, 2003
Larry and I leave most of our luggage in the care of the Terminus, have a quick breakfast and load ourselves into the hotel van. At the airport, security clearance for domestic flights is cursory and made more so by an x-ray machine that is not working. My film gives latent thanks for being spared another indignity. We meet up with Rosario and Emelia. Open seating prevails on board the old LAM 737 and we are soon jetting north to Beira, sleeping along the way. As we step off the airplane at Beira, we are met by Beatrice Muhoro. I met Beatrice in 1996 when she was the provincial secretary of Sofola Province, in which Beira is located. At that time I talked her into becoming the director of the Beira ONP Centre, which we hoped could be revitalized.
Beatrice is a very slender woman, quite striking in looks and extremely vivacious. She leads us away from the herd of deplaning passengers and takes us to the VIP lounge inside the terminal to await the arrival of our luggage. Beatrice and Emelia hail from Nampula and are very good friends. We have a nice visit, all of us sitting in leather couches while waiting for bags. Our van, driven by José Ramos, then takes us to the Hotel Mozambique, located in the downtown part of Beira. The hotel is a 12-story structure and in its day was probably quite impressive, in a florid sort of way. Now it suffers from the related problems of old age and poor maintenance exemplified by shabby carpets, a reluctant and peculiar elevator, strange smells and a water system that compels me on one occasion to fill the toilet tank using a wine glass, supplied as part of the room’s accoutrements.
After checking in we travel to the ONP building, located on the edge of the city. We have a brief guided tour and then go for lunch at the Pic Nic Restaurant, a local eatery characterized by nice service and good food and full of many of the city’s luminaries, in addition to our group.
After lunch, we travel out of Beira about 60 kilometers and arrive at Dondo Secondary School in the District of Dondo, Sofala Province. The young principal, Eduardo Mocário, greets us and shows us around what appears to be a very efficient school. The school includes Grades 8 to 12 and has a total of 3,800 students enrolled in three shifts plus evening classes. To handle this load the school has 53 teachers. Eduardo assigns himself four hours of classroom instruction per week in addition to his administrative duties. Two hundred and seventy students, including 67 girls, live in residences near the school. These are students whose parents work in Beira or elsewhere or who were previously enrolled at boarding schools that only taught up to Grade 10.
I spend a lot of the visit photographing students in classrooms and at rest on the grounds between classes. This results in a lot of fun for me and good interaction with the students who quite enjoy the attention of the camera. I startle one girl out of her wits, however, when I come upon her sitting in an opening in a wall, deeply immersed in her own thoughts. As I am framing the photograph, some friends call out to her. She turns and sees me, jumps up yelping and runs off the veranda where she had been sitting. Her friends think this great fun but I go to her and, taking her hand, lead her back to the opening to be photographed. When she finally stops laughing, I think we make a good picture. It is a good experience seeing this very large and very busy rural high school where all the teachers are smartly dressed in suits or dresses, all covered over with starched white lab coats and looking very professional. The students, of course, all wear uniforms.
We return to Beira for supper at the Pic Nic Restaurant. Beatrice joins us there, along with the secretaries who have arrived in Beira from the north, and a spirited evening ensues. Tales of travels to Beira, salutations passed on by mutual friends, and issues of interest to these organization stalwarts prevail. Beatrice has some pleasant news for those of us from Maputo—she has been able to reschedule our return to Maputo for Friday evening rather than Saturday evening. Good news indeed, considering our lodgings. Following supper, the Maputo bunch return to the gloomy Hotel Mozambique and the secretaries are taken in the van to their pleasant pension.
On entering my room, I dispatch an inverted but still kicking cockroach and toss the remains into the toilet. The toilet flushes, thankfully, without the need of its usual topping up by wine glass. Oh well, only two nights to spend here, not three, and the company of the secretaries through the next two days will sustain me.
Thursday, June 5, 2003
I awake to the inside of a cloud. A heavy fog has come on shore and visibility is very limited. I shave and shower, carefully monitoring the water temperature, dress and go down for breakfast. I don’t even attempt the elevators—they simply refuse to stop if anyone is already on board. There is only one door for these contrivances. Should one stop, the passenger pulls open the heavy marbled glass door and steps inside the elevator car, pulling the door closed behind him. There is no inside door for the car and it’s rather important not to be leaning against the entry door when the car takes off. Chances are one could be dragged down the entire inside of the elevator shaft. So, mainly, I take the stairs.
Breakfast is surprisingly good and plentiful and is included in the $40 U.S. price of the room. I order fried eggs and bacon, get my own juice and toast and have an instant coffee brought to the table. Larry joins me and then Emelia and Rosario. We depart for the ONP building at 0900.
Our task today is to hear reports from the northern provincial ONP secretaries. They will talk about the problems of organizing ONP activities and about achievements attained in the face of some serious constraints. The north and central provinces are the most remote and least developed of any in the country. We hear some quite amazing stories from the secretaries and ask a lot of questions so that we can better understand the reality of their situations. Notes of the meeting are taken but just a couple of items here will give some flavor of what we heard: teachers in the remote districts of Niassa Province commonly walk for two or more days after final exams to bring the results to the district education officer; Grade 10 graduates in Nampula can be placed as teachers after taking a 15 day teaching course; in Manica, only 1855 of the province’s 4487 teachers have permanent job contracts; teachers in some districts of Cabo Delgado are often three or more months behind on receiving their salaries.
These reports and the discussion they provoke take the full day, with two hours out for lunch at the Pic Nic. Near the end of the afternoon session, we pose a question to be answered tomorrow morning: what would be the best way to use CTF resources in support of the work of ONP? The secretaries meet on their own to discuss this and the Maputo mob wait out front. I photograph some of the children who play on the steps and watch life passing along the road and in the adjoining rice fields.
Supper is at the Pic Nic and after-dinner beers are in the lounge at the Hotel Mozambique. Bedtime is in a different but equally forlorn room one floor down from our first night’s digs. Water pressure problems, we are told.
Friday, June 6, 2003
The morning dawns blue and beautiful and after dressing, I spend about 15 minutes photographing the panorama from my window. I face the harbour and much of the city’s business district is within my view. An ocean vessel approaches, riding high and empty, and I wait for it to be centred between buildings that are between me and the water. Beira is the port for Zimbabwe and Malawi and quite a lot of shipping stops by, perhaps less now with Zimbabwe in turmoil.
I join our group for breakfast and then we leave for the ONP Centre. Our meeting area has been moved from the larger conference area to around the table in the secretary’s office. We sit on plastic lawn chairs and, as I slide back to make some room for a late arrival, the back legs of my chair fold under. I make a beautiful free-fall onto my back and end up sitting in the chair in a horizontal position. I’m aware of some confusion over my sudden disappearance but I’m incapable of moving and I’m laughing my head off. Hands reach down to my rescue and I’m pulled back to my feet. Lawn chairs are suddenly stacked in two’s and I’m provided with a wood and metal fixture that appears to have no intention of letting me down.
Today we hear about what CTF can do to help ONP. Communications is a key theme and ideas include providing everything from cell phones to vehicles for the secretaries and the regions. Scholarship money for the advancement of teachers is recommended as is a strong lobby by CTF to have part of the CIDA money for education in Mozambique allocated for teacher housing. A national dues check-off system for the organization is urgently needed. Larry and I will hear more about these issues during the upcoming meetings in Maputo but as yet, I’m not clear on the best way to go forward.
The Beira meetings end with an examination of the operations of the Beira Centre and we then adjourn to the Pic Nic. Afterward Ramos, our driver, takes us on a tour of the city and I’m provided with lots of opportunities for photography. There are many quite classical buildings in Beira, reflective of the tastes of the Portuguese colonial settlers. Some buildings are being restored and they add a lot of charm to the spaciously laid out old city. Lots of round-a-bouts are built into the road system and trees and plants line the broad avenues.
Just a few blocks from the Pic Nic, along part of the shore, is a graveyard of abandoned ships. There must be at least 20 vessels here, discarded over time as they became uneconomic to operate. Sizes range up to perhaps 300 feet. Some have been here so long that only their iron ribs and the heavy blocks of their diesel engines remain visible above the sands. Others are more recent arrivals, still showing paint but often sunk at the bow or stern into the mud below. I make lots of pictures here and struggle with a strong urge to go aboard some of the more accessible vessels. Larry observes and Rosario carries on reading his paper as I climb upon the harbour wall searching for views.
Our tour continues along the shore, toward the working harbour and then deep into the industrial and warehouse section of the city. Because of Ramos’ personal interests, I now know the locations of the Toyota, Nissan, Land Rover, Isuzu and all other automobile outlets in Beira.
Our travels take us back to the shore but through a part of town we haven’t yet visited. In a bend in the road joining the avenue from the city to the shoreline drive, we encounter the Grande Hotel. This was built in the 1950s perhaps, and it is one of the most beautiful architectural specimens I have ever seen. It is only about six or seven stories tall but it is made up of a series of different shaped buildings all linked together by breezeways and by the architectural style. The place is now home to hundreds of people who have simply taken up residence in its palatial arms. I encountered another hotel in Maputo that was in a similar state of dereliction when I first visited Mozambique in 1993. Today, that hotel has been completely restored and brought up to international standard. Perhaps there is hope for the Grande Hotel as well. It is simply a gorgeous building.
Our travel takes us down the coast a short distance and we pass by an open air bar facing the ocean. I suggest we stop for a Coke and everyone agrees. Ramos carefully backs up the van and parks it near the bar of the Hotel Miramar. Rosario, Joao Tomo from Tete Province, Larry, Ramos and I keep company through games of pool, several 2M beers and photography of the shoreline, enjoying the company and the circumstances of our visit and observing the constant subtle change in colors from daylight to evening. Emelia and Mariano Marione from Sofala Province join up with us and we then make our way to the Pic Nic Restaurant for our final Beira rendezvous.
Beatrice joins us here as do the other provincial secretaries who have been visiting and shopping during the afternoon. After dinner, we depart with best wishes all around, the Maputo group for the airport and the secretaries for their pension. Beatrice performs her usual magic and we give her our tickets, leave our luggage and head for the now familiar VIP lounge. She joins us shortly afterward with our boarding cards, complete with tax-paid stamps and luggage claim checks. The last few minutes before the flight is called are spent in comfortable, unrushed splendor. Beatrice accompanies us on our walk across the ramp to the waiting 737. Beira, its airport and all whom she encounters are hers to command, it seems. She has added a very classy touch to our time in Beira and we are indebted to her.
Entering the front door of the aircraft, the attendant asks me to sit anywhere I would like. I take a seat in the last row of the business section and Larry settles in beside me. By midnight we are back in Maputo and checked in at the Terminus, although not without some confusion over which rooms are already occupied and which are free. Beira was a pleasant and an informative destination. For the next two days, we will be free to explore Maputo.
Saturday, June 7, 2003
This was the day we were to return from Beira. Thanks to Beatrice’s contacts we are “home” in Maputo instead. I take advantage of the down time and sleep until noon, rising and having a light lunch. In the afternoon, two Canadian cooperants from CUSO—Jessie Forsythe and Barbara Murray—come for lunch beside the pool and another discussion about their work in Maputo and ours. For supper, Larry and I meet up with a former colleague of his who is here conducting an evaluation of one of CUSO’s programs that encourages the exchange of weapons for agricultural implements. He is a professor of sociology at UBC and he has a graduate student with him to assist with the evaluation and to collect data for her degree. And that pretty much takes care of Saturday.
Sunday, June 8, 2003
I have another late morning today but not as late as yesterday’s. After lunch, Barbara Murray comes by and takes us on a three hour walking tour of parts of Maputo. I make a sentimental return visit to the Escola Andalusia Hotel—it is unchanged since it served as my home in 1993. The elevator doors are the same—open the outside glass door, step in, close the door and slide shut the brass lattice screen. Just down the road, we pass the Ghirardelli Hotel. On both of my previous trips this beautifully designed cylindrical building was dilapidated and housed very poor people in evident squalor. It was recently completely refurbished and is now at least a 3-star property. Such signs of progress are heartening but I hope the building’s former inhabitants have found reasonable homes. We walk through the central park and past Eiffel’s prefabricated metal house, through Teachers Park, still strewn with garbage, and then return to our neighbourhood. Supper is at a Thai restaurant owned by a South African couple. They employ two Thai women cooks on contract from Thailand and operate the restaurant in the back yard of a building they own. Both visit with us and they are very charming people. In addition to the restaurant, they have an accounting business in Maputo and they also import Thai products to Mozambique, one of the most popular being canned coconut milk. Rather odd as coconuts abound in Mozambique. Some television, laundry sorting and a late evening dessert round out the day.
Monday, June 9, 2003
We embark upon a wonderful field trip today. Rosario and Emelia collect us in a nice van for a trip to Namaacha, near the Swaziland border. This will be my second trip along this road that heads directly west out of Maputo. Francisco and Raquel took me along this route in 1993.The main objective of today’s journey is to visit the Maputo Province Primary Teacher Training College located in Namaacha. We leave Maputo on the new freeway, stop and pay at the large toll gate, and proceed west. As we travel the land rises in a series of rocky ridges, low hills and broad valleys. At Namaacha, we stop at the district office of education and meet the director, Mrs Gilda Lumbela. She accompanies us to the teacher training school across an open area and just beyond a large Catholic church. The teaching school was once church property and its architecture reflects that of the church.
We are greeted outside by the school’s director, Gustavo Zitha, and he escorts us up a dark stairwell to his office. In the usual African practice, Gustavo sits high behind his desk and we the visitors sit in chairs lining both sides of the narrow office. He tells us of the school’s mission, its students, programs and facilities.
Students come here after completing seven years at public school. They remain as boarding students for two years and then go out for a practicum year at a primary school. By age 18, their teacher education is complete and they are placed in schools by the Ministry of Education. Normally, these students acquire two more years of schooling as well as their teacher training while attending the college. That is, they enter with Grade 7 credentials but leave with Grade 9 credentials plus a teacher’s primary certificate. Gustavo told us of a new pilot program being tried this year in which the students do not achieve higher school standing but spend more time learning teaching methods. These students will leave the institution with only Grade 7 plus a teacher’s primary certificate. In addition, lots of effort is being put into recruiting many more girls. Right now, 80 percent of the teaching profession is comprised of males. By keeping the level of courses low at graduation and by recruiting young women, the Ministry will be able to “lock in” these girls at the lowest qualifications and salary positions. Very few will ever be able to upgrade once they started teaching. This sounds like an IMF idea, meant to keep the cost of teachers to the country (and the money lenders) as low as possible.
We then take a walk around the building. It is in very poor condition, having no water supply and therefore no indoor toilets. We are shown into the girl’s dormitory, a long room on the very top floor, filled from end to end with double bunks. The girls keep their meager possessions under their beds or in cupboards that also serve as dividers between each set of two bunks. They must carry their own water for washing from an army barracks located about 500 meters from the school. There is very little personal privacy. I photograph and visit with several of the girls and I think they are happy for the distraction. Final exams are close and most of the students are studying for their courses.
We also visit the library which has a large sign commanding “silence” and practically nothing else. There are no reference books and only one or two copies of some of the text books used in schools. There are no teacher resources. We continue on to the kitchen, a large open shed located behind the main building. Here lunch is being prepared in two giant pots under which tree trunks blaze merrily to provide the cooking heat. The recipe consists of rice and ground nuts and some chicken will be added to the brew later on. This concludes our tour of the college, a place that tries to prepare young teachers under conditions that are, I feel, almost unbelievable.
Our computer council is keen on doing more in Africa. Providing a virtual library through internet access to four or five computers placed in this college may be a possibility. Other assistance could be provided through Portuguese language versions of the Tips for Primary Teachers published each week by the Johannesburg Star newspaper.
On leaving the college, we stop for lunch at a nearby hotel and then begin our return to Maputo. We take a side trip down into a picturesque valley, at the bottom of which we encounter a waterfall. I have been here before and memories of my visit in 1993 with Raquel and Francisco come flooding back. I ask for another stop at a high school that we visited on that earlier occasion. The school has been painted and repaired and seems in quite nice condition with all traces of the bullet holes, left by the rebels, having been plastered over. The flag pole remains the same, however, and its message “Vive la revoluciao socialista” has somehow survived in the country’s new capitalist regime.
A final side trip takes us past Mozal, the giant aluminum factory close to Maputo. Bauxite ore is delivered here by ship to be converted into aluminum in the foundry fired by electricity from Tete Province.This has been a very full day with lots of photographs made, new experiences encountered and some old memories revisited. Dinner tonight is at the restaurant next door to ONP.
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
Our day does not begin officially until 1030 when we meet with the four southern provincial secretaries and the national secretaries at the ONP office. The timing is necessitated by Rosario’s university exams which are scheduled for the rest of the week. It will be an extra burden for him to study for and sit exams each day and still serve as host, guide and translator. John Maluleke, the SADTU treasurer, joins us today and his presence is most welcome. It is good that South African teachers can serve in a “donor” capacity in many neighboring countries. This builds on African teacher unity and is supportive of the goals of PATC—African teachers developing networks and capabilities amongst themselves.
We begin as we did in Beira, with each provincial secretary speaking in turn about conditions within their respective provinces. Once again, I am impressed with the range of initiatives that the provinces have undertaken, often with little direct support from the national office. The ONP national secretariat has provided opportunities through workshops and seminars for ideas to be instilled in the provincial and district levels of the leadership. In many cases, the provinces have picked up the ball and carried out some highly effective programs. I was particularly impressed with the secretary from Maputo City, Chindele Fafitine, who came across as quite a powerful and forceful spokesperson for the interests and programs of his teacher members.
At the lunch break, I head to the hotel to sleep for an hour. I felt quite ill all morning and I feel the need for a break and a rest. The secretaries, Larry and John go for dinner. I go right to bed and sleep deeply for one hour after which I dress and go for a bowl of chicken soup in the hotel dining room. I feel a lot better and return to the meeting which begins at 1430. By the end of the day, we hear from all four of our colleagues and then Emelia thanks everyone and adjourns the meeting. Light refreshments are served in the back room. I take a number of photographs of everyone present.
Back at the hotel, Larry and I wind down with a beer and talk over our observations of the day. After dinner at the hotel, I check e-mail and turn in after adding to this journal but not quite bringing it up to date.
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
I’m feeling very well today, now that I have stopped taking my malaria medicine. The Malarone was giving my digestive system a lot of trouble, hence my down time yesterday at noon.
We get underway at 1030. The provincial secretaries have gone home and it is now just the five national secretaries along with John, Larry and me. Emelia takes us through a very open and forthright presentation on the state of education in Mozambique and ONP’s role within the educational scene. Up to now, I have been writing down questions I wanted answered but throughout this presentation Emelia and her colleagues answer nearly all of them. For an organization that has only one full-time executive staff member and four part-time, it manages to get a great deal accomplished and I must recognize and respect what has been achieved. The national secretaries have maintained an important presence in the eyes of government, kept up long-distance relations with overseas supporters, and continued to make ONP a well-known and respected force for education within the county. I take a lot of notes again today for later transcription and use in the report to CTF.
This evening, Jessie and Barbara, along with John, join us for dinner at the Thai restaurant we visited on Sunday. A very pleasant dinner follows and Larry and I split the bill. Peter, the owner, stops by our table to thank us for returning and then he leaves on a business trip to Thailand.We walk back to the hotel where we put the women in a taxi to forward to their respective apartments. John turns in (he is recovering from a gunshot wound to his leg) and Larry and I review the day over crème caramel and coffee.
Tonight my journal is finally up to date and at 2330, I turn on the television for a few minutes reward. Tomorrow, we will review ONP’s plan for the next three years and also visit the Minister of Education.
Thursday, June 12, 2003
“Politicians will not sleep hungry,” said John this morning at breakfast. We are discussing the situation in some of Africa’s nation states—Lesotho, which had a civil war six years ago; Swaziland, which is going astray under the reign of its king, and Zimbabwe under Mugabe. This makes us all thankful that we are working in Mozambique, which seems to be the happiest of places in this part of the world.
We begin again at 10:30 and start going through the three-year plan that was developed by ONP and OAJ, with input from Nana Ababio of EI. OAJ has committed $25,000 U.S. per year for three years to help support the plan but more funding will be required to see all parts of the plan come to fruition. It is likely that CTF/BCTF/ATA can together at least match this contribution.
The object of this morning’s meeting is for us to critique the plan and offer better ideas, after which we will rejig the whole thing with the new input. I suggest that the plan generally looks pretty good and if ONP is happy with it, they should try to carry it out. Because the whole thing is not yet fully funded, they may have to make some choices about what can actually be achieved. The point for me is that this is their plan. We Canadians will help with funding as we can and if ONP can find even more funds, then so much the better.
As we proceed, a call is received from the office of the Minister of Education. We break off our meeting and prepare for the visit. Larry and I stop at the hotel and I slip on my sports jacket, carried to Maputo for just such an occasion. John, Larry and Rosario forbid me to wear a tie as none of them have them available and I comply. I take the camera along for the picture opportunities I know will be available.
The ministry building is not far from ONP and the Terminus Hotel. We arrive after a short drive and are shown into a waiting room near the minister’s office. Throughout the hallways and stairwells are wonderful black and white enlargements of photographs of children in Mozambique schools. This is really good to see and I admire the fine work.
The Minister of Education, Alcido Nguenha, served as second vice-president of ONP before his election to Parliament. It’s good to meet an education minister who is also a teacher and who seems to have the interests of teachers up front in his view of the ministry’s work. We pass a pleasant half hour together and thank him for taking the time to meet with us. I mention the increased funding that Canada will be providing for education in Mozambique and ask that he let us know if it is not being applied to the best advantage for the children of Mozambique.
When our discussion ends, I ask the minister’s secretary to come in to take a photograph with the Nikon. On this trip it seems others have taken as many pictures with the F100 as have I. At least I will be recorded in some of the photographs.
Lunch follows the visit and we eat today at the Piri Piri Restaurant, much to Larry’s delight. He loves the hot and spicy chicken that is the mainstay of the menu and claims to have single-handedly decimated the chicken population of Mozambique. I settle for a shrimp omelet and the national drink, 2M beer (Mac Mahon) that was first provided to me by Francisco during my 1996 visit.
We return to ONP late in the afternoon, wrap up the review of the three-year plan and then walk to the hotel. This evening, Emelia and her husband Roberto are taking Larry, John and me out for supper. The three of us check e-mail at the hotel, have a quick brush up and wait for our hosts.
Near the harbour, just out of the centre of Maputo, is a complex consisting of restaurants, a small amusement park and tiny shops. This is our evening destination. We take a leisurely walk through the place, mainly for the benefit of John, whose gunshot wound in his leg still gives him painful moments. Amusement rides are pointed out and opinions expressed about whether we enjoy them or not. John says he likes the dodgem cars best. I elaborate on this by saying he likes them because they are almost never car-jacked. This was how John was wounded. Washing his car in a part of Johannesburg he wasn’t familiar with, he was accosted by three young men, one of whom had a hand gun. They wanted John’s car, he resisted, struggled with the gunman, and was shot for his troubles. “He was a very good shot,” John told us. “He had been aiming the gun at my leg all the while and that is where he finally shot me.” John said his assailant could as easily have shot him in the body or the head, with likely fatal results. John’s car was later found but the bad guys have not been apprehended.
Dinner is quite a wonderful affair due to the good and plentiful food and the very large crowd of Maputans who frequent the place. I have grilled mackerel—delicious, very filling, yet the smallest serving on our table. We have a great time, eat well and return to our hotel afterward.
Friday, June 13, 2003
This will be our final day of meetings and it will be a short day at that. At 1030, we once again join with the national secretaries around the table at the ONP building. The meeting is really a formal closure to the program and to our visit. Comments are made by Larry and me concerning what the mission has accomplished, our enjoyment of the visit, the places we have traveled and the people we have met. This has been a productive visit for us and I think our Mozambican colleagues have enjoyed our company. A very full program has been planned and carried out, indicative of ONP’s ability to organize collaborative events.
At 1130 we adjourn, returning once again to the Piri Piri for lunch. Afterward, we say our farewells to three of the national secretaries and Rosario takes John, Larry and me for a drive around the city, along the marginal and eventually to the downtown market. Cashew nuts are the object of our visit, particularly for John, but Larry takes some bags as well. I hold the little one-year-old boy who belongs to one of the cashew vendors and he seems quite interested in me.
At 1400, Rosario takes Larry and me to the office of Progresso, the Mozambique NGO that works in Cabo Delgado promoting literacy. Elizabeth Sequeira is the director and she once visited my office in Barnett House in the company of Yvonne Appiah, the director of CODE. I am pleased to see Elizabeth once again and to visit her and her staff in their Maputo office, particularly as I am once again a member of the CODE board of directors
Saturday, June 14, 2003
Today is our final day in Maputo for this visit and the conclusion of my third visit to Mozambique and the ONP. The first visit was during my sabbatical leave in the fall of 1993 followed by a return visit in 1996 to work with the provincial secretaries on reorganizing the ONP structure. Ten years after the first visit, there are profound changes to be seen in Maputo. The city has rebounded from the destructive years of the 1980’s. New construction goes on everywhere, roads and services are being improved and a great many of the beautiful colonial Portuguese houses and buildings are being restored. Traffic volume is enormous and new cars, trucks and 4WDs abound. Parking downtown is becoming difficult. Similar changes can be seen in the other communities we visited but the pace of change there is slower.
I sleep until 0900 and after showering and dressing I go for breakfast—two fried eggs well done, bacon, a bowl of sliced fruit, juice and a cup or two of rich Mozambican coffee. Larry and I compare notes and then we separate to complete our packing. We have arranged to keep our rooms until 1745 when we will leave for the airport.
Rosario comes to collect us around 1000 and takes us back to the market area. I buy straw baskets and purses, wooden cooking spoons and a bag of salted cashews from our friendly vendor. I talk to her baby boy again and give him the 10,000 meticais change from my purchase. This and our general support of the Mozambique cashew industry earns us a free bag of salted nuts which we start nibbling right away. I make an additional purchase as we pass through the craft market—a beautiful wooden picture frame with bone insets—and I also buy a large batique of village houses for Harley’s new apartment.
Rosario drops us off at the hotel and I telephone Jessie Forsythe of CUSO and invite her and Barbara Murray to join us for lunch. While waiting for their arrival, I rearrange the contents of my two pieces of luggage to fit in all the new purchases. I have decided to check both pieces and carry only the camera case. That will have a few comforts added, such as medicine and towelettes. After lunch, Rosario comes for us again and takes us down to a seaside retreat so that I can become reacquainted with his good friend Eduardo Uamusse and his wife. Eduardo accompanied us on our picnic to Boame back in 1996. He worked for LAM then and when I left, he brought me a leather-bound day timer from the airline. He now works as manager of human relations at the beautiful Polana Hotel and his wife works there as well as a cashier in the casino. We renew friendships over refreshments and then it’s back to the hotel for the final time.
I had kept out a complete clean outfit in which to travel and after showering I dress, finish packing and go down and pay my bill. Ezekiel, the young man who is responsible for my room, comes to move my luggage to the lobby. I give him $5.00 U.S. and thank him for his great service and friendship. At the door, he turns and says, “Goodbye Mr Tim,” and then he heads away.
The van takes us to the airport where check-in is fairly straight-forward and we wait in the airport lounge for our TAP A340 flight to be called. Throughout the evening I begin developing a cold and I’m glad that I have my Advil Cold and Sinus tablets in the camera bag. Once underway, I visit with my seat mate, Andrew Birch. Andrew was visiting an aunt who teaches school in Nampula Province. He is a young man with a successful career in commercial banking but he tells me that career will conclude at the end of the month. He will then go to Australia to pursue a degree in ecology and will probably begin a new career based on the utilization of solar energy. Afterward, I find that sleep is just not possible and I make the best of a long night and a runny nose.
Sunday, June 15, 2003
We race west across the western end of the Mediterranean Sea, just ahead of daybreak, and land in Lisbon at 0540, about 40 minutes ahead of schedule. Larry and I change planes for our flight to London although Larry has to jump through many more hoops than I. He had originally planned to visit Lisbon for a few days but the passing of an elderly aunt required that he cancel his stay and press on for Vancouver. His change of travel plans required official permission from the airlines but all has worked out for the best.I’m sitting in the first row of coach as I write this and we are presently just over Cherbourg Peninsula. We should be in London within 30 minutes. I have luggage to collect there and a boarding pass to obtain from British Airways. Then it will be off again for the third stage of this trip—to Hamburg and my beautiful Galien.
London is reached on time. Larry and I say our farewells and I walk through to Terminal One and obtain my Hamburg boarding pass. The flight to Germany takes just under one hour. While waiting for my luggage in the Hamburg terminal I walk over near the exit door, hoping to catch a glimpse of Galien. And I do. There she stands, looking in for me. She is such a striking young woman. I collect baggage and walk through to meet her, careful of how I hug her because of the terrific cold that has developed in my head over the past two days. We opt for a taxi to take us to 15 Queleneweg, Galien’s home, and we make the trip in the comfort of the Mercedes cab. The five flights up to Galien’s apartment are less comforting, however, and I wait outside the building while she quickly visits the ESSO petrol station to buy bottled water. We are going to need some after lugging my bags up all those stairs.
We settle in and Galien prepares a supper of broiled salmon steaks, asparagus and rice. I’m pretty much worn out after nearly 20 hours of flying and transiting and Galien is tired from her hard physical day of work. We visit for awhile and start a movie but both of us are soon falling asleep in our chairs. I head for my air mattress in the “dining room” and Galien turns in as well. I have covered a lot of ground on this stage of the journey, battling most of the way with this damn cold, and I sleep the sleep of the angels.
Monday, June 16, 2003
This is a work day for Galien and the start of what will be a very long and demanding week for her. The Company is getting ready for “Ballet Days” with a complete new production to introduce and a lot of company repertoire to perform. Galien will start with class this morning. After breakfast, I walk across the street to the Ballet Centre with her to watch her at work in the large auditorium.
As usual, the dancers start appearing before the class begins to find their places, spread out their exercise mats and get their kits of slippers and water bottles ready. Galien begins her own stretching exercises and she is beautiful to watch. Her shape, line and movements are full of grace and beauty and in my eyes she epitomizes the classical ballet prima donna. May she be designated such as soon as possible, please.
Yukichi enters the auditorium from the dancer’s entrance below me and at first I don’t see him. Galien’s face suddenly changes from ballet concentration to amorous recognition. I’m so happy to see her face light up, simply from the presence of this young man who is now her boyfriend. Yukichi Hattori trained at the Hamburg Ballet School as a student and has done very well in his professional career and is now a soloist with the company.
After lunch, I walk to the Hasselbrook train station to wait for Aaron who is arriving from London this afternoon. I spot him coming off the train and catch up with him on the platform. We return to Galien’s apartment for a visit and then the three of us go for lunch. Galien has an evening technical rehearsal for the latest Neumier offering and Aaron and I go along with her to sit in and watch. This becomes a five hour extravaganza for what will be a two hour final performance and by the end of it all, we are completely exhausted. We decide to take a taxi home, have a snack and a visit and then turn in for the evening.
Tuesday, June 17, 2003
Galien has rehearsals at the Opera House this morning and so Aaron and I spend the morning visiting and he goes for a run around the neighborhood. We take the train to the Opera House to meet Galien and Yukichi for lunch and then return to the apartment. In the afternoon, we watch rehearsals at the Ballet Centre and in the evening the three of us go to supper at a Thai restaurant downtown. I really enjoy this time with these two kids of mine and I listen in to their comparison views on the exotic places in the world that both of them have visited.
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
It’s back to the Opera House for Galien while Aaron and I visit shops downtown as she rehearses. Aaron buys a really nice small suitcase to use on day one of his new job with De Beers Diamonds—he will be going to Milan, Italy. We have lunch with Galien and Yukichi and then return to Hasselbrook and the Ballet Centre. Holger Badekow invites Aaron and me, accompanied by Galien, of course, to a visit in his office. The place is on the main floor of the Ballet Centre and is filled with photographic images that he has made of the company, its dancers and the productions. We talk cameras and technique and he shows me his darkroom and it’s really a fine visit for me. Holger promises a copy of his book “. . . for you and your lovely wife who always buys me water . . .” and Galien is assigned to collect this and bring it with her to St Albert in the summer.
After lunch, I leave with Aaron to return to the main train station where he catches the express bus for the airport and his return to London. I return to the Ballet Centre but a special rehearsal that I was going to watch has been cancelled. Galien and I go home to prepare for our evening guests. On the way from Hasselbrook Station, I had purchased vegetables, bread, ice cream and flowers. Nikki comes over to help Galien and I cook and soon Guido arrives, followed by Boyco, and then Yukichi and his mother arrive. It’s a really nice mix of people—lots of talk, a fine meal with beer, wine and coffee. Yukichi’s mom gives massage treatments to Nikki, me and Boyco and promises an hour session for Galien. She seems pleased about her son and my daughter and cries briefly when I tell the story about Yukichi lighting up my daughter’s face. Boyco and I talk about Mozambique, where he spent eight of his childhood years while his parents were advisers sent by the Soviet Union. “I was a prince!” he says. I had brought him a straw bowl, a deck of Mozambique playing cards and a serving of cashew nuts from Mozambique and he was delighted. Tonight I give him a map of Mozambique and Maputo and he looks up the location of his childhood home. Guido quite likes my camera and sharpens his photographic skills with it throughout the evening. All-in-all, this has been a very pleasant event for everyone.
Thursday, June 19, 2003
Galien returns to the Opera House in the morning and I stay home and pick up the apartment, doing dishes and laundry and collecting a fortune in empty water bottles that Galien has stashed around the place. I head downtown to meet her and Yukichi for lunch and I stop along the route Aaron and I took yesterday looking for my lost my Eddie Bower jacket. Returning to the Ballet Centre, I find my jacket on the back of a chair in the visitors’ box, exactly where I had left it yesterday. I watch a difficult and exhausting rehearsal for Galien and five of her colleagues and then leave by train and bus for the airport. Kalie and Julia arrive from London, burdened with backpacks front and rear and towing small suitcases. We return the same way to the apartment and Galien runs down to meet us and to help carry bags. Once inside, we are overtaken with hugs, laughter, stories and gifts. We go by bus to supper at a neighborhood German restaurant where schnitzel seems to be the meal of choice. We return home in the rain and I pack for my journey home tomorrow. I have a taxi reserved for 0530 and so I will start the day very bright and early. The alarm is set for 0430.
Friday, June 20, 2003
At 0400, Galien wakes me and tells me she is sick and throwing up. She sits with me under my comforter for a few minutes and then goes back to bed. I shave, shower, and dress, check on her and Kalie and at 0530 the taxi arrives. I have to go but I feel very badly about leaving Galien when she is not well. Fortunately, she can stay home in Kalie’s care today—I’m so glad Kalie is here to be with her. The girl is just exhausted, I think, from her very strenuous work schedule, all the company she has had, and some rather late nights.
My travel home is uneventful and I’m delighted to be back at 11 Harmony with Rebecca, Chris and the two dogs. This has been an exceptional three weeks for me, seeing Mozambique again and visiting with three of my children at Galien’s Hamburg home.
May 30 – June 14, 2003
_____________________________________________________________________________
Friday, May 30, 2003
Today I begin my third visit to Mozambique, starting with a flight from Edmonton to Calgary where I will join a direct flight to London. As my flight leaves Edmonton just after 1600, I spend the morning packing and getting the final details of the trip in order. This is a fairly calm departure for me. When I leave for the airport, Rebecca and Chris leave for a game of golf.While checking in at the airport, I notice Mohammed Houchaimi and his family. Mohammed works at Barnett House helping to maintain our computers. In the departure lounge I meet up with all of them, less Mohammed, and I learn that they are traveling to Lebanon for a vacation. Mohammed will join them there in July.The flight to London is uneventful and at Heathrow I go through the terminal changes required at that immense and somewhat confusing airport. By mistake, I end up in the wrong terminal and have to backtrack to get to the proper one. This means an extra and unnecessary trip for my camera and film through the security inspector’s x-ray machine.
Saturday, May 31, 2003
Waiting in Terminal Two for my TAP flight to Lisbon, I recognize Larry Kuehn and we join up for our onward travels together. The terminal is very warm and crowded and altogether a place to be avoided as much as possible. Unfortunately, I have spent nearly seven hours here and I am delighted to experience the relatively fresh air inside the TAP Airbus 321. Two and a half hours later, we land in Lisbon and take a taxi to the hotel Tivoli Jardin. As it’s fairly late when we arrive, we call an early evening and rest up.
Sunday, June 1, 2003
Our ten hour flight to Maputo does not leave until 2010 and so we have much of the day to walk around Lisbon’s harbour front. Stores are closed, of course, and the city in the morning is quiet. The steps leading to the sea at the central square are off limits due to the construction of a new subway line and I rather miss visiting them. Lunch is taken at a small restaurant several streets up from the harbour after which we carry on with our walking tour. Returning to the hotel we collect our luggage and take a taxi back to the airport for check-in.
Our flight to Maputo is to be on LAM’s one and only 767 ER, on lease from South African Airlines. It turns out to be quite comfortable, far better than the Air France A340 experience out of Lomé in November, and I find it possible to sleep much of the way. We are awakened at 0300 MST for breakfast followed shortly afterward by preparations for landing in Maputo.
Monday, June 2, 2003
Clearing immigration and the SARS inspection station, Larry and I are directed out of the stream headed for customs and we soon come to the terminal exit. There Rosario Quive, his wife Angela and their young son greet us. We are taken into town by the Hotel Terminus bus to check in at the hotel. I am given Room 241 and, on walking toward it, old memories come back to me. I’m ushered in to the room I had when I stayed here in 1996, quite a coincidence.
The city of Maputo, on this my third visit, appears cleaned up and progressive in remarkable ways. Lots of effort has gone into the redevelopment of old buildings and construction of new ones. The streets are full of cars and traffic flow downtown is quite dense.
Rosario leaves us to settle in and to rest and says he will pick us up at 1430 to go over to the ONP office. I take out the contents of both pieces of my luggage and repack the small one for the trip to Beira two days hence, then I shower and sleep for a couple of hours. Rosario arrives to take us to ONP where we are greeted by Emilia Poulo Afonso, the general secretary, and Lucas Thomas, the treasurer, Narciso Uaciquete, director of organization and information, Angela, Rosario’s wife and Nazare Raice, my friend and ONP’s printer. The executive members gather in the meeting room (once Mervi from Finland’s office) and a general review of the program for our visit takes place. Emelia and the other secretaries talk about some general conditions ONP faces as well. Our discussion takes us to 1530 and Rosario then drives us the short distance to our hotel. Supper is in the hotel dining room. Afterward, Larry and I visit the hotel computer centre where Larry walks me through the establishment of my very own hotmail account. I choose bcatp@hotmail as my address, assign a pass word, and I’m in business! I send a message home and look forward to a response tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 3, 2003
Larry and I meet for breakfast and then walk to the ONP building. Our morning begins with a review of what is known about the Beira centre, with the same folk at the table as yesterday but with the addition of Maria da Vera Cruz, director of professional and social affairs. At 1100, we leave for the Canadian Consul’s office and a meeting with the Laurent Charette, Canada’s man in Maputo, and Antonio Mize Francisco, his chief Mozambican aide for education. A most enlightening experience, seeing Canada’s official representative at work. Antonio is very well informed and tells us of Canada’s growing commitment to assistance for Africa, and for Mozambique in particular, and that health and education are to be the primary beneficiaries of our aid. Canada and the other countries supporting education here have established a pool where money is deposited and then allocated to programs after mutual discussions with the Mozambique government. It would be nice if CTF could convince our government to encourage a couple of initiatives attached to this generous gift—a national check-off system for ONP members and legislation recognizing ONP as a legitimate union. Both would go a long way toward reinforcing the mission of ONP and allowing the implementation of national programs of benefit to teachers and students.
After lunch, Rosario takes us in his car to visit the local CUSO office. Part way there, he receives a call on his cell phone (these things are ubiquitous in Maputo) informing him the CUSO reps are waiting for us at the ONP office. Back we go to meet Sylvan Boutin and Jesse Forsythe. Mr Boutin is quite at home speaking Portuguese but has to struggle with English. Ms Forsythe, hailing from Nova Scotia and not Montreal, has no problem with English at all. They tell us of the projects they have underway—Sylvan with “linkages” working to coordinate the efforts of NGO’s and Jesse working with Mozambique unions.
We return to the Terminus for a bit of a rest then venture out to a local restaurant for dinner. Afterward, I visit my hotmail address and delete all of the SPAM I find there, reading and retaining messages from Rebecca and Aaron. I send a general note to family addresses saying that I leave for Beira in the morning and that I will check in by e-mail upon my return. I pay my hotel bill for two days with traveler’s cheques, accepted at par, and then turn in for the evening.
As I sleep, I become aware of music drifting in and out of my consciousness. This finally fully awakens me and I get up to try to determine the source—a room nearby, perhaps. I call the desk but no one answers. Finally, I get dressed and walk back to the pool area to discover the outside speakers blaring away with no one in sight. I see people inside the bar and go in. There are four inebriated customers dancing and drinking and a very tired looking bartender keeping the place open. Over the din inside, I ask if he can shut off the outside speakers. He sees the problem right away and hits a switch under the bar. Silence and peace are restored outside and I go back to my room. It’s now 0400 and I have to get up at 0530 for the flight to Beira.
Wednesday, June 4, 2003
Larry and I leave most of our luggage in the care of the Terminus, have a quick breakfast and load ourselves into the hotel van. At the airport, security clearance for domestic flights is cursory and made more so by an x-ray machine that is not working. My film gives latent thanks for being spared another indignity. We meet up with Rosario and Emelia. Open seating prevails on board the old LAM 737 and we are soon jetting north to Beira, sleeping along the way. As we step off the airplane at Beira, we are met by Beatrice Muhoro. I met Beatrice in 1996 when she was the provincial secretary of Sofola Province, in which Beira is located. At that time I talked her into becoming the director of the Beira ONP Centre, which we hoped could be revitalized.
Beatrice is a very slender woman, quite striking in looks and extremely vivacious. She leads us away from the herd of deplaning passengers and takes us to the VIP lounge inside the terminal to await the arrival of our luggage. Beatrice and Emelia hail from Nampula and are very good friends. We have a nice visit, all of us sitting in leather couches while waiting for bags. Our van, driven by José Ramos, then takes us to the Hotel Mozambique, located in the downtown part of Beira. The hotel is a 12-story structure and in its day was probably quite impressive, in a florid sort of way. Now it suffers from the related problems of old age and poor maintenance exemplified by shabby carpets, a reluctant and peculiar elevator, strange smells and a water system that compels me on one occasion to fill the toilet tank using a wine glass, supplied as part of the room’s accoutrements.
After checking in we travel to the ONP building, located on the edge of the city. We have a brief guided tour and then go for lunch at the Pic Nic Restaurant, a local eatery characterized by nice service and good food and full of many of the city’s luminaries, in addition to our group.
After lunch, we travel out of Beira about 60 kilometers and arrive at Dondo Secondary School in the District of Dondo, Sofala Province. The young principal, Eduardo Mocário, greets us and shows us around what appears to be a very efficient school. The school includes Grades 8 to 12 and has a total of 3,800 students enrolled in three shifts plus evening classes. To handle this load the school has 53 teachers. Eduardo assigns himself four hours of classroom instruction per week in addition to his administrative duties. Two hundred and seventy students, including 67 girls, live in residences near the school. These are students whose parents work in Beira or elsewhere or who were previously enrolled at boarding schools that only taught up to Grade 10.
I spend a lot of the visit photographing students in classrooms and at rest on the grounds between classes. This results in a lot of fun for me and good interaction with the students who quite enjoy the attention of the camera. I startle one girl out of her wits, however, when I come upon her sitting in an opening in a wall, deeply immersed in her own thoughts. As I am framing the photograph, some friends call out to her. She turns and sees me, jumps up yelping and runs off the veranda where she had been sitting. Her friends think this great fun but I go to her and, taking her hand, lead her back to the opening to be photographed. When she finally stops laughing, I think we make a good picture. It is a good experience seeing this very large and very busy rural high school where all the teachers are smartly dressed in suits or dresses, all covered over with starched white lab coats and looking very professional. The students, of course, all wear uniforms.
We return to Beira for supper at the Pic Nic Restaurant. Beatrice joins us there, along with the secretaries who have arrived in Beira from the north, and a spirited evening ensues. Tales of travels to Beira, salutations passed on by mutual friends, and issues of interest to these organization stalwarts prevail. Beatrice has some pleasant news for those of us from Maputo—she has been able to reschedule our return to Maputo for Friday evening rather than Saturday evening. Good news indeed, considering our lodgings. Following supper, the Maputo bunch return to the gloomy Hotel Mozambique and the secretaries are taken in the van to their pleasant pension.
On entering my room, I dispatch an inverted but still kicking cockroach and toss the remains into the toilet. The toilet flushes, thankfully, without the need of its usual topping up by wine glass. Oh well, only two nights to spend here, not three, and the company of the secretaries through the next two days will sustain me.
Thursday, June 5, 2003
I awake to the inside of a cloud. A heavy fog has come on shore and visibility is very limited. I shave and shower, carefully monitoring the water temperature, dress and go down for breakfast. I don’t even attempt the elevators—they simply refuse to stop if anyone is already on board. There is only one door for these contrivances. Should one stop, the passenger pulls open the heavy marbled glass door and steps inside the elevator car, pulling the door closed behind him. There is no inside door for the car and it’s rather important not to be leaning against the entry door when the car takes off. Chances are one could be dragged down the entire inside of the elevator shaft. So, mainly, I take the stairs.
Breakfast is surprisingly good and plentiful and is included in the $40 U.S. price of the room. I order fried eggs and bacon, get my own juice and toast and have an instant coffee brought to the table. Larry joins me and then Emelia and Rosario. We depart for the ONP building at 0900.
Our task today is to hear reports from the northern provincial ONP secretaries. They will talk about the problems of organizing ONP activities and about achievements attained in the face of some serious constraints. The north and central provinces are the most remote and least developed of any in the country. We hear some quite amazing stories from the secretaries and ask a lot of questions so that we can better understand the reality of their situations. Notes of the meeting are taken but just a couple of items here will give some flavor of what we heard: teachers in the remote districts of Niassa Province commonly walk for two or more days after final exams to bring the results to the district education officer; Grade 10 graduates in Nampula can be placed as teachers after taking a 15 day teaching course; in Manica, only 1855 of the province’s 4487 teachers have permanent job contracts; teachers in some districts of Cabo Delgado are often three or more months behind on receiving their salaries.
These reports and the discussion they provoke take the full day, with two hours out for lunch at the Pic Nic. Near the end of the afternoon session, we pose a question to be answered tomorrow morning: what would be the best way to use CTF resources in support of the work of ONP? The secretaries meet on their own to discuss this and the Maputo mob wait out front. I photograph some of the children who play on the steps and watch life passing along the road and in the adjoining rice fields.
Supper is at the Pic Nic and after-dinner beers are in the lounge at the Hotel Mozambique. Bedtime is in a different but equally forlorn room one floor down from our first night’s digs. Water pressure problems, we are told.
Friday, June 6, 2003
The morning dawns blue and beautiful and after dressing, I spend about 15 minutes photographing the panorama from my window. I face the harbour and much of the city’s business district is within my view. An ocean vessel approaches, riding high and empty, and I wait for it to be centred between buildings that are between me and the water. Beira is the port for Zimbabwe and Malawi and quite a lot of shipping stops by, perhaps less now with Zimbabwe in turmoil.
I join our group for breakfast and then we leave for the ONP Centre. Our meeting area has been moved from the larger conference area to around the table in the secretary’s office. We sit on plastic lawn chairs and, as I slide back to make some room for a late arrival, the back legs of my chair fold under. I make a beautiful free-fall onto my back and end up sitting in the chair in a horizontal position. I’m aware of some confusion over my sudden disappearance but I’m incapable of moving and I’m laughing my head off. Hands reach down to my rescue and I’m pulled back to my feet. Lawn chairs are suddenly stacked in two’s and I’m provided with a wood and metal fixture that appears to have no intention of letting me down.
Today we hear about what CTF can do to help ONP. Communications is a key theme and ideas include providing everything from cell phones to vehicles for the secretaries and the regions. Scholarship money for the advancement of teachers is recommended as is a strong lobby by CTF to have part of the CIDA money for education in Mozambique allocated for teacher housing. A national dues check-off system for the organization is urgently needed. Larry and I will hear more about these issues during the upcoming meetings in Maputo but as yet, I’m not clear on the best way to go forward.
The Beira meetings end with an examination of the operations of the Beira Centre and we then adjourn to the Pic Nic. Afterward Ramos, our driver, takes us on a tour of the city and I’m provided with lots of opportunities for photography. There are many quite classical buildings in Beira, reflective of the tastes of the Portuguese colonial settlers. Some buildings are being restored and they add a lot of charm to the spaciously laid out old city. Lots of round-a-bouts are built into the road system and trees and plants line the broad avenues.
Just a few blocks from the Pic Nic, along part of the shore, is a graveyard of abandoned ships. There must be at least 20 vessels here, discarded over time as they became uneconomic to operate. Sizes range up to perhaps 300 feet. Some have been here so long that only their iron ribs and the heavy blocks of their diesel engines remain visible above the sands. Others are more recent arrivals, still showing paint but often sunk at the bow or stern into the mud below. I make lots of pictures here and struggle with a strong urge to go aboard some of the more accessible vessels. Larry observes and Rosario carries on reading his paper as I climb upon the harbour wall searching for views.
Our tour continues along the shore, toward the working harbour and then deep into the industrial and warehouse section of the city. Because of Ramos’ personal interests, I now know the locations of the Toyota, Nissan, Land Rover, Isuzu and all other automobile outlets in Beira.
Our travels take us back to the shore but through a part of town we haven’t yet visited. In a bend in the road joining the avenue from the city to the shoreline drive, we encounter the Grande Hotel. This was built in the 1950s perhaps, and it is one of the most beautiful architectural specimens I have ever seen. It is only about six or seven stories tall but it is made up of a series of different shaped buildings all linked together by breezeways and by the architectural style. The place is now home to hundreds of people who have simply taken up residence in its palatial arms. I encountered another hotel in Maputo that was in a similar state of dereliction when I first visited Mozambique in 1993. Today, that hotel has been completely restored and brought up to international standard. Perhaps there is hope for the Grande Hotel as well. It is simply a gorgeous building.
Our travel takes us down the coast a short distance and we pass by an open air bar facing the ocean. I suggest we stop for a Coke and everyone agrees. Ramos carefully backs up the van and parks it near the bar of the Hotel Miramar. Rosario, Joao Tomo from Tete Province, Larry, Ramos and I keep company through games of pool, several 2M beers and photography of the shoreline, enjoying the company and the circumstances of our visit and observing the constant subtle change in colors from daylight to evening. Emelia and Mariano Marione from Sofala Province join up with us and we then make our way to the Pic Nic Restaurant for our final Beira rendezvous.
Beatrice joins us here as do the other provincial secretaries who have been visiting and shopping during the afternoon. After dinner, we depart with best wishes all around, the Maputo group for the airport and the secretaries for their pension. Beatrice performs her usual magic and we give her our tickets, leave our luggage and head for the now familiar VIP lounge. She joins us shortly afterward with our boarding cards, complete with tax-paid stamps and luggage claim checks. The last few minutes before the flight is called are spent in comfortable, unrushed splendor. Beatrice accompanies us on our walk across the ramp to the waiting 737. Beira, its airport and all whom she encounters are hers to command, it seems. She has added a very classy touch to our time in Beira and we are indebted to her.
Entering the front door of the aircraft, the attendant asks me to sit anywhere I would like. I take a seat in the last row of the business section and Larry settles in beside me. By midnight we are back in Maputo and checked in at the Terminus, although not without some confusion over which rooms are already occupied and which are free. Beira was a pleasant and an informative destination. For the next two days, we will be free to explore Maputo.
Saturday, June 7, 2003
This was the day we were to return from Beira. Thanks to Beatrice’s contacts we are “home” in Maputo instead. I take advantage of the down time and sleep until noon, rising and having a light lunch. In the afternoon, two Canadian cooperants from CUSO—Jessie Forsythe and Barbara Murray—come for lunch beside the pool and another discussion about their work in Maputo and ours. For supper, Larry and I meet up with a former colleague of his who is here conducting an evaluation of one of CUSO’s programs that encourages the exchange of weapons for agricultural implements. He is a professor of sociology at UBC and he has a graduate student with him to assist with the evaluation and to collect data for her degree. And that pretty much takes care of Saturday.
Sunday, June 8, 2003
I have another late morning today but not as late as yesterday’s. After lunch, Barbara Murray comes by and takes us on a three hour walking tour of parts of Maputo. I make a sentimental return visit to the Escola Andalusia Hotel—it is unchanged since it served as my home in 1993. The elevator doors are the same—open the outside glass door, step in, close the door and slide shut the brass lattice screen. Just down the road, we pass the Ghirardelli Hotel. On both of my previous trips this beautifully designed cylindrical building was dilapidated and housed very poor people in evident squalor. It was recently completely refurbished and is now at least a 3-star property. Such signs of progress are heartening but I hope the building’s former inhabitants have found reasonable homes. We walk through the central park and past Eiffel’s prefabricated metal house, through Teachers Park, still strewn with garbage, and then return to our neighbourhood. Supper is at a Thai restaurant owned by a South African couple. They employ two Thai women cooks on contract from Thailand and operate the restaurant in the back yard of a building they own. Both visit with us and they are very charming people. In addition to the restaurant, they have an accounting business in Maputo and they also import Thai products to Mozambique, one of the most popular being canned coconut milk. Rather odd as coconuts abound in Mozambique. Some television, laundry sorting and a late evening dessert round out the day.
Monday, June 9, 2003
We embark upon a wonderful field trip today. Rosario and Emelia collect us in a nice van for a trip to Namaacha, near the Swaziland border. This will be my second trip along this road that heads directly west out of Maputo. Francisco and Raquel took me along this route in 1993.The main objective of today’s journey is to visit the Maputo Province Primary Teacher Training College located in Namaacha. We leave Maputo on the new freeway, stop and pay at the large toll gate, and proceed west. As we travel the land rises in a series of rocky ridges, low hills and broad valleys. At Namaacha, we stop at the district office of education and meet the director, Mrs Gilda Lumbela. She accompanies us to the teacher training school across an open area and just beyond a large Catholic church. The teaching school was once church property and its architecture reflects that of the church.
We are greeted outside by the school’s director, Gustavo Zitha, and he escorts us up a dark stairwell to his office. In the usual African practice, Gustavo sits high behind his desk and we the visitors sit in chairs lining both sides of the narrow office. He tells us of the school’s mission, its students, programs and facilities.
Students come here after completing seven years at public school. They remain as boarding students for two years and then go out for a practicum year at a primary school. By age 18, their teacher education is complete and they are placed in schools by the Ministry of Education. Normally, these students acquire two more years of schooling as well as their teacher training while attending the college. That is, they enter with Grade 7 credentials but leave with Grade 9 credentials plus a teacher’s primary certificate. Gustavo told us of a new pilot program being tried this year in which the students do not achieve higher school standing but spend more time learning teaching methods. These students will leave the institution with only Grade 7 plus a teacher’s primary certificate. In addition, lots of effort is being put into recruiting many more girls. Right now, 80 percent of the teaching profession is comprised of males. By keeping the level of courses low at graduation and by recruiting young women, the Ministry will be able to “lock in” these girls at the lowest qualifications and salary positions. Very few will ever be able to upgrade once they started teaching. This sounds like an IMF idea, meant to keep the cost of teachers to the country (and the money lenders) as low as possible.
We then take a walk around the building. It is in very poor condition, having no water supply and therefore no indoor toilets. We are shown into the girl’s dormitory, a long room on the very top floor, filled from end to end with double bunks. The girls keep their meager possessions under their beds or in cupboards that also serve as dividers between each set of two bunks. They must carry their own water for washing from an army barracks located about 500 meters from the school. There is very little personal privacy. I photograph and visit with several of the girls and I think they are happy for the distraction. Final exams are close and most of the students are studying for their courses.
We also visit the library which has a large sign commanding “silence” and practically nothing else. There are no reference books and only one or two copies of some of the text books used in schools. There are no teacher resources. We continue on to the kitchen, a large open shed located behind the main building. Here lunch is being prepared in two giant pots under which tree trunks blaze merrily to provide the cooking heat. The recipe consists of rice and ground nuts and some chicken will be added to the brew later on. This concludes our tour of the college, a place that tries to prepare young teachers under conditions that are, I feel, almost unbelievable.
Our computer council is keen on doing more in Africa. Providing a virtual library through internet access to four or five computers placed in this college may be a possibility. Other assistance could be provided through Portuguese language versions of the Tips for Primary Teachers published each week by the Johannesburg Star newspaper.
On leaving the college, we stop for lunch at a nearby hotel and then begin our return to Maputo. We take a side trip down into a picturesque valley, at the bottom of which we encounter a waterfall. I have been here before and memories of my visit in 1993 with Raquel and Francisco come flooding back. I ask for another stop at a high school that we visited on that earlier occasion. The school has been painted and repaired and seems in quite nice condition with all traces of the bullet holes, left by the rebels, having been plastered over. The flag pole remains the same, however, and its message “Vive la revoluciao socialista” has somehow survived in the country’s new capitalist regime.
A final side trip takes us past Mozal, the giant aluminum factory close to Maputo. Bauxite ore is delivered here by ship to be converted into aluminum in the foundry fired by electricity from Tete Province.This has been a very full day with lots of photographs made, new experiences encountered and some old memories revisited. Dinner tonight is at the restaurant next door to ONP.
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
Our day does not begin officially until 1030 when we meet with the four southern provincial secretaries and the national secretaries at the ONP office. The timing is necessitated by Rosario’s university exams which are scheduled for the rest of the week. It will be an extra burden for him to study for and sit exams each day and still serve as host, guide and translator. John Maluleke, the SADTU treasurer, joins us today and his presence is most welcome. It is good that South African teachers can serve in a “donor” capacity in many neighboring countries. This builds on African teacher unity and is supportive of the goals of PATC—African teachers developing networks and capabilities amongst themselves.
We begin as we did in Beira, with each provincial secretary speaking in turn about conditions within their respective provinces. Once again, I am impressed with the range of initiatives that the provinces have undertaken, often with little direct support from the national office. The ONP national secretariat has provided opportunities through workshops and seminars for ideas to be instilled in the provincial and district levels of the leadership. In many cases, the provinces have picked up the ball and carried out some highly effective programs. I was particularly impressed with the secretary from Maputo City, Chindele Fafitine, who came across as quite a powerful and forceful spokesperson for the interests and programs of his teacher members.
At the lunch break, I head to the hotel to sleep for an hour. I felt quite ill all morning and I feel the need for a break and a rest. The secretaries, Larry and John go for dinner. I go right to bed and sleep deeply for one hour after which I dress and go for a bowl of chicken soup in the hotel dining room. I feel a lot better and return to the meeting which begins at 1430. By the end of the day, we hear from all four of our colleagues and then Emelia thanks everyone and adjourns the meeting. Light refreshments are served in the back room. I take a number of photographs of everyone present.
Back at the hotel, Larry and I wind down with a beer and talk over our observations of the day. After dinner at the hotel, I check e-mail and turn in after adding to this journal but not quite bringing it up to date.
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
I’m feeling very well today, now that I have stopped taking my malaria medicine. The Malarone was giving my digestive system a lot of trouble, hence my down time yesterday at noon.
We get underway at 1030. The provincial secretaries have gone home and it is now just the five national secretaries along with John, Larry and me. Emelia takes us through a very open and forthright presentation on the state of education in Mozambique and ONP’s role within the educational scene. Up to now, I have been writing down questions I wanted answered but throughout this presentation Emelia and her colleagues answer nearly all of them. For an organization that has only one full-time executive staff member and four part-time, it manages to get a great deal accomplished and I must recognize and respect what has been achieved. The national secretaries have maintained an important presence in the eyes of government, kept up long-distance relations with overseas supporters, and continued to make ONP a well-known and respected force for education within the county. I take a lot of notes again today for later transcription and use in the report to CTF.
This evening, Jessie and Barbara, along with John, join us for dinner at the Thai restaurant we visited on Sunday. A very pleasant dinner follows and Larry and I split the bill. Peter, the owner, stops by our table to thank us for returning and then he leaves on a business trip to Thailand.We walk back to the hotel where we put the women in a taxi to forward to their respective apartments. John turns in (he is recovering from a gunshot wound to his leg) and Larry and I review the day over crème caramel and coffee.
Tonight my journal is finally up to date and at 2330, I turn on the television for a few minutes reward. Tomorrow, we will review ONP’s plan for the next three years and also visit the Minister of Education.
Thursday, June 12, 2003
“Politicians will not sleep hungry,” said John this morning at breakfast. We are discussing the situation in some of Africa’s nation states—Lesotho, which had a civil war six years ago; Swaziland, which is going astray under the reign of its king, and Zimbabwe under Mugabe. This makes us all thankful that we are working in Mozambique, which seems to be the happiest of places in this part of the world.
We begin again at 10:30 and start going through the three-year plan that was developed by ONP and OAJ, with input from Nana Ababio of EI. OAJ has committed $25,000 U.S. per year for three years to help support the plan but more funding will be required to see all parts of the plan come to fruition. It is likely that CTF/BCTF/ATA can together at least match this contribution.
The object of this morning’s meeting is for us to critique the plan and offer better ideas, after which we will rejig the whole thing with the new input. I suggest that the plan generally looks pretty good and if ONP is happy with it, they should try to carry it out. Because the whole thing is not yet fully funded, they may have to make some choices about what can actually be achieved. The point for me is that this is their plan. We Canadians will help with funding as we can and if ONP can find even more funds, then so much the better.
As we proceed, a call is received from the office of the Minister of Education. We break off our meeting and prepare for the visit. Larry and I stop at the hotel and I slip on my sports jacket, carried to Maputo for just such an occasion. John, Larry and Rosario forbid me to wear a tie as none of them have them available and I comply. I take the camera along for the picture opportunities I know will be available.
The ministry building is not far from ONP and the Terminus Hotel. We arrive after a short drive and are shown into a waiting room near the minister’s office. Throughout the hallways and stairwells are wonderful black and white enlargements of photographs of children in Mozambique schools. This is really good to see and I admire the fine work.
The Minister of Education, Alcido Nguenha, served as second vice-president of ONP before his election to Parliament. It’s good to meet an education minister who is also a teacher and who seems to have the interests of teachers up front in his view of the ministry’s work. We pass a pleasant half hour together and thank him for taking the time to meet with us. I mention the increased funding that Canada will be providing for education in Mozambique and ask that he let us know if it is not being applied to the best advantage for the children of Mozambique.
When our discussion ends, I ask the minister’s secretary to come in to take a photograph with the Nikon. On this trip it seems others have taken as many pictures with the F100 as have I. At least I will be recorded in some of the photographs.
Lunch follows the visit and we eat today at the Piri Piri Restaurant, much to Larry’s delight. He loves the hot and spicy chicken that is the mainstay of the menu and claims to have single-handedly decimated the chicken population of Mozambique. I settle for a shrimp omelet and the national drink, 2M beer (Mac Mahon) that was first provided to me by Francisco during my 1996 visit.
We return to ONP late in the afternoon, wrap up the review of the three-year plan and then walk to the hotel. This evening, Emelia and her husband Roberto are taking Larry, John and me out for supper. The three of us check e-mail at the hotel, have a quick brush up and wait for our hosts.
Near the harbour, just out of the centre of Maputo, is a complex consisting of restaurants, a small amusement park and tiny shops. This is our evening destination. We take a leisurely walk through the place, mainly for the benefit of John, whose gunshot wound in his leg still gives him painful moments. Amusement rides are pointed out and opinions expressed about whether we enjoy them or not. John says he likes the dodgem cars best. I elaborate on this by saying he likes them because they are almost never car-jacked. This was how John was wounded. Washing his car in a part of Johannesburg he wasn’t familiar with, he was accosted by three young men, one of whom had a hand gun. They wanted John’s car, he resisted, struggled with the gunman, and was shot for his troubles. “He was a very good shot,” John told us. “He had been aiming the gun at my leg all the while and that is where he finally shot me.” John said his assailant could as easily have shot him in the body or the head, with likely fatal results. John’s car was later found but the bad guys have not been apprehended.
Dinner is quite a wonderful affair due to the good and plentiful food and the very large crowd of Maputans who frequent the place. I have grilled mackerel—delicious, very filling, yet the smallest serving on our table. We have a great time, eat well and return to our hotel afterward.
Friday, June 13, 2003
This will be our final day of meetings and it will be a short day at that. At 1030, we once again join with the national secretaries around the table at the ONP building. The meeting is really a formal closure to the program and to our visit. Comments are made by Larry and me concerning what the mission has accomplished, our enjoyment of the visit, the places we have traveled and the people we have met. This has been a productive visit for us and I think our Mozambican colleagues have enjoyed our company. A very full program has been planned and carried out, indicative of ONP’s ability to organize collaborative events.
At 1130 we adjourn, returning once again to the Piri Piri for lunch. Afterward, we say our farewells to three of the national secretaries and Rosario takes John, Larry and me for a drive around the city, along the marginal and eventually to the downtown market. Cashew nuts are the object of our visit, particularly for John, but Larry takes some bags as well. I hold the little one-year-old boy who belongs to one of the cashew vendors and he seems quite interested in me.
At 1400, Rosario takes Larry and me to the office of Progresso, the Mozambique NGO that works in Cabo Delgado promoting literacy. Elizabeth Sequeira is the director and she once visited my office in Barnett House in the company of Yvonne Appiah, the director of CODE. I am pleased to see Elizabeth once again and to visit her and her staff in their Maputo office, particularly as I am once again a member of the CODE board of directors
Saturday, June 14, 2003
Today is our final day in Maputo for this visit and the conclusion of my third visit to Mozambique and the ONP. The first visit was during my sabbatical leave in the fall of 1993 followed by a return visit in 1996 to work with the provincial secretaries on reorganizing the ONP structure. Ten years after the first visit, there are profound changes to be seen in Maputo. The city has rebounded from the destructive years of the 1980’s. New construction goes on everywhere, roads and services are being improved and a great many of the beautiful colonial Portuguese houses and buildings are being restored. Traffic volume is enormous and new cars, trucks and 4WDs abound. Parking downtown is becoming difficult. Similar changes can be seen in the other communities we visited but the pace of change there is slower.
I sleep until 0900 and after showering and dressing I go for breakfast—two fried eggs well done, bacon, a bowl of sliced fruit, juice and a cup or two of rich Mozambican coffee. Larry and I compare notes and then we separate to complete our packing. We have arranged to keep our rooms until 1745 when we will leave for the airport.
Rosario comes to collect us around 1000 and takes us back to the market area. I buy straw baskets and purses, wooden cooking spoons and a bag of salted cashews from our friendly vendor. I talk to her baby boy again and give him the 10,000 meticais change from my purchase. This and our general support of the Mozambique cashew industry earns us a free bag of salted nuts which we start nibbling right away. I make an additional purchase as we pass through the craft market—a beautiful wooden picture frame with bone insets—and I also buy a large batique of village houses for Harley’s new apartment.
Rosario drops us off at the hotel and I telephone Jessie Forsythe of CUSO and invite her and Barbara Murray to join us for lunch. While waiting for their arrival, I rearrange the contents of my two pieces of luggage to fit in all the new purchases. I have decided to check both pieces and carry only the camera case. That will have a few comforts added, such as medicine and towelettes. After lunch, Rosario comes for us again and takes us down to a seaside retreat so that I can become reacquainted with his good friend Eduardo Uamusse and his wife. Eduardo accompanied us on our picnic to Boame back in 1996. He worked for LAM then and when I left, he brought me a leather-bound day timer from the airline. He now works as manager of human relations at the beautiful Polana Hotel and his wife works there as well as a cashier in the casino. We renew friendships over refreshments and then it’s back to the hotel for the final time.
I had kept out a complete clean outfit in which to travel and after showering I dress, finish packing and go down and pay my bill. Ezekiel, the young man who is responsible for my room, comes to move my luggage to the lobby. I give him $5.00 U.S. and thank him for his great service and friendship. At the door, he turns and says, “Goodbye Mr Tim,” and then he heads away.
The van takes us to the airport where check-in is fairly straight-forward and we wait in the airport lounge for our TAP A340 flight to be called. Throughout the evening I begin developing a cold and I’m glad that I have my Advil Cold and Sinus tablets in the camera bag. Once underway, I visit with my seat mate, Andrew Birch. Andrew was visiting an aunt who teaches school in Nampula Province. He is a young man with a successful career in commercial banking but he tells me that career will conclude at the end of the month. He will then go to Australia to pursue a degree in ecology and will probably begin a new career based on the utilization of solar energy. Afterward, I find that sleep is just not possible and I make the best of a long night and a runny nose.
Sunday, June 15, 2003
We race west across the western end of the Mediterranean Sea, just ahead of daybreak, and land in Lisbon at 0540, about 40 minutes ahead of schedule. Larry and I change planes for our flight to London although Larry has to jump through many more hoops than I. He had originally planned to visit Lisbon for a few days but the passing of an elderly aunt required that he cancel his stay and press on for Vancouver. His change of travel plans required official permission from the airlines but all has worked out for the best.I’m sitting in the first row of coach as I write this and we are presently just over Cherbourg Peninsula. We should be in London within 30 minutes. I have luggage to collect there and a boarding pass to obtain from British Airways. Then it will be off again for the third stage of this trip—to Hamburg and my beautiful Galien.
London is reached on time. Larry and I say our farewells and I walk through to Terminal One and obtain my Hamburg boarding pass. The flight to Germany takes just under one hour. While waiting for my luggage in the Hamburg terminal I walk over near the exit door, hoping to catch a glimpse of Galien. And I do. There she stands, looking in for me. She is such a striking young woman. I collect baggage and walk through to meet her, careful of how I hug her because of the terrific cold that has developed in my head over the past two days. We opt for a taxi to take us to 15 Queleneweg, Galien’s home, and we make the trip in the comfort of the Mercedes cab. The five flights up to Galien’s apartment are less comforting, however, and I wait outside the building while she quickly visits the ESSO petrol station to buy bottled water. We are going to need some after lugging my bags up all those stairs.
We settle in and Galien prepares a supper of broiled salmon steaks, asparagus and rice. I’m pretty much worn out after nearly 20 hours of flying and transiting and Galien is tired from her hard physical day of work. We visit for awhile and start a movie but both of us are soon falling asleep in our chairs. I head for my air mattress in the “dining room” and Galien turns in as well. I have covered a lot of ground on this stage of the journey, battling most of the way with this damn cold, and I sleep the sleep of the angels.
Monday, June 16, 2003
This is a work day for Galien and the start of what will be a very long and demanding week for her. The Company is getting ready for “Ballet Days” with a complete new production to introduce and a lot of company repertoire to perform. Galien will start with class this morning. After breakfast, I walk across the street to the Ballet Centre with her to watch her at work in the large auditorium.
As usual, the dancers start appearing before the class begins to find their places, spread out their exercise mats and get their kits of slippers and water bottles ready. Galien begins her own stretching exercises and she is beautiful to watch. Her shape, line and movements are full of grace and beauty and in my eyes she epitomizes the classical ballet prima donna. May she be designated such as soon as possible, please.
Yukichi enters the auditorium from the dancer’s entrance below me and at first I don’t see him. Galien’s face suddenly changes from ballet concentration to amorous recognition. I’m so happy to see her face light up, simply from the presence of this young man who is now her boyfriend. Yukichi Hattori trained at the Hamburg Ballet School as a student and has done very well in his professional career and is now a soloist with the company.
After lunch, I walk to the Hasselbrook train station to wait for Aaron who is arriving from London this afternoon. I spot him coming off the train and catch up with him on the platform. We return to Galien’s apartment for a visit and then the three of us go for lunch. Galien has an evening technical rehearsal for the latest Neumier offering and Aaron and I go along with her to sit in and watch. This becomes a five hour extravaganza for what will be a two hour final performance and by the end of it all, we are completely exhausted. We decide to take a taxi home, have a snack and a visit and then turn in for the evening.
Tuesday, June 17, 2003
Galien has rehearsals at the Opera House this morning and so Aaron and I spend the morning visiting and he goes for a run around the neighborhood. We take the train to the Opera House to meet Galien and Yukichi for lunch and then return to the apartment. In the afternoon, we watch rehearsals at the Ballet Centre and in the evening the three of us go to supper at a Thai restaurant downtown. I really enjoy this time with these two kids of mine and I listen in to their comparison views on the exotic places in the world that both of them have visited.
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
It’s back to the Opera House for Galien while Aaron and I visit shops downtown as she rehearses. Aaron buys a really nice small suitcase to use on day one of his new job with De Beers Diamonds—he will be going to Milan, Italy. We have lunch with Galien and Yukichi and then return to Hasselbrook and the Ballet Centre. Holger Badekow invites Aaron and me, accompanied by Galien, of course, to a visit in his office. The place is on the main floor of the Ballet Centre and is filled with photographic images that he has made of the company, its dancers and the productions. We talk cameras and technique and he shows me his darkroom and it’s really a fine visit for me. Holger promises a copy of his book “. . . for you and your lovely wife who always buys me water . . .” and Galien is assigned to collect this and bring it with her to St Albert in the summer.
After lunch, I leave with Aaron to return to the main train station where he catches the express bus for the airport and his return to London. I return to the Ballet Centre but a special rehearsal that I was going to watch has been cancelled. Galien and I go home to prepare for our evening guests. On the way from Hasselbrook Station, I had purchased vegetables, bread, ice cream and flowers. Nikki comes over to help Galien and I cook and soon Guido arrives, followed by Boyco, and then Yukichi and his mother arrive. It’s a really nice mix of people—lots of talk, a fine meal with beer, wine and coffee. Yukichi’s mom gives massage treatments to Nikki, me and Boyco and promises an hour session for Galien. She seems pleased about her son and my daughter and cries briefly when I tell the story about Yukichi lighting up my daughter’s face. Boyco and I talk about Mozambique, where he spent eight of his childhood years while his parents were advisers sent by the Soviet Union. “I was a prince!” he says. I had brought him a straw bowl, a deck of Mozambique playing cards and a serving of cashew nuts from Mozambique and he was delighted. Tonight I give him a map of Mozambique and Maputo and he looks up the location of his childhood home. Guido quite likes my camera and sharpens his photographic skills with it throughout the evening. All-in-all, this has been a very pleasant event for everyone.
Thursday, June 19, 2003
Galien returns to the Opera House in the morning and I stay home and pick up the apartment, doing dishes and laundry and collecting a fortune in empty water bottles that Galien has stashed around the place. I head downtown to meet her and Yukichi for lunch and I stop along the route Aaron and I took yesterday looking for my lost my Eddie Bower jacket. Returning to the Ballet Centre, I find my jacket on the back of a chair in the visitors’ box, exactly where I had left it yesterday. I watch a difficult and exhausting rehearsal for Galien and five of her colleagues and then leave by train and bus for the airport. Kalie and Julia arrive from London, burdened with backpacks front and rear and towing small suitcases. We return the same way to the apartment and Galien runs down to meet us and to help carry bags. Once inside, we are overtaken with hugs, laughter, stories and gifts. We go by bus to supper at a neighborhood German restaurant where schnitzel seems to be the meal of choice. We return home in the rain and I pack for my journey home tomorrow. I have a taxi reserved for 0530 and so I will start the day very bright and early. The alarm is set for 0430.
Friday, June 20, 2003
At 0400, Galien wakes me and tells me she is sick and throwing up. She sits with me under my comforter for a few minutes and then goes back to bed. I shave, shower, and dress, check on her and Kalie and at 0530 the taxi arrives. I have to go but I feel very badly about leaving Galien when she is not well. Fortunately, she can stay home in Kalie’s care today—I’m so glad Kalie is here to be with her. The girl is just exhausted, I think, from her very strenuous work schedule, all the company she has had, and some rather late nights.
My travel home is uneventful and I’m delighted to be back at 11 Harmony with Rebecca, Chris and the two dogs. This has been an exceptional three weeks for me, seeing Mozambique again and visiting with three of my children at Galien’s Hamburg home.