WE’RE ALIVE!!!

Alright guys, this is long overdue but, finally, here is a blog post! We had the unfortunate luck to have our computer crash on us again about a week after we returned to site so have been stuck these past couple months. Couple that with our cell service not being very good in Gorongosa since we have returned and I feel like we have not been able to keep in touch lately.

Well first of all, we want to say thank you to everyone for when we came home last July. We had such a great time seeing everyone and having the opportunity to catch up. It was a really refreshing break for us and now we are set to finish out our service. We already miss everyone and are now looking forward to Jordan’s parents coming out in November. That will be really exciting and another refresher to keep us going!

Well, I guess I should start from when we returned. Much has happened in the past couple months. Life was really crazy when we got back to Moz. First of all, we had dental check-ups in Maputo so had the opportunity to get to stay in a nice hotel on Peace Corps dime for a couple nights in order to see the dentist. After two nights, I then went off to Inhassoro for a JOMA meeting. I then had the luck to stay in a resort hotel in Inhassoro, which is on the beach, and eat great food and just have a really relaxing time. Meanwhile, Jordan remained in Maputo for a conference called PSN. PSN stands for Peer Support Network, so if any volunteer is having any troubles with any issue, Jordan is one of a few volunteers who they can contact to discuss these issues anonymously. So needless to say, we had a really easy time reacclimating to Mozambique. It was really surreal because we not only got to attend those fun conferences and stay in resort-like hotels, but we were granted the opportunity to catch up with a lot of PC friends that we hadn’t seen in awhile!

Once these conferences were over, we were flown back to Chimoio, which was really lucky because we had all our suitcases from home so we didn’t have to worry about travelling with them by car. It was really nice to finally get back to Gor though; I was really excited to see everyone at site that I missed, including Thika, Espanhol, and all my students.

However, time for being home was really short lived because after being home for two nights, I had to pack up and head to Beira for the Sofala Provincial Science Fair. I had four students in tow and they all did a great job. Two of them, created a skin lotion from local matierials that is supposed to be used for skin irritants or rashes, and then the other two did research on a disease that is plaguing the chickens in our community. One of these two kids ended up taking second place so that was exciting. I had a good time with Science fair and look forward to doing it again next year when I will be around for more of the planning and preparation.

Once Science Fair was over, I finally was able to return to site and relax for a while. Of course, a week later, Jordan had to fly down to Maputo for a REDES meeting that lasted over the weekend. It was starting to seem like we were never going to be able to just relax at site but after that, we didn’t have anything to do for about a month so that was nice. Once Jordan returned from her conference in Maputo we started preparing our English Theater group.

English Theater was definitely more of Jordan’s project but I would assist from time to time but Jordan organized a great skit and the kids were amazing. It was incredible to see how quickly they learned their lines and we were both really proud of them once they delivered their play on Sept. 18. The theme of this year’s English Theater was Be The Change. The script told the story of a Mozambican student, Jenny, who was not allowed to study because as a woman, she was supposed to stay in the house and clean and do work. She had a dream to be a Biology teacher but never had enough time to study or go to class so had to resort to sleeping with her teacher in order to get a passing grade. However, she also received HIV from sleeping with this teacher so then had to deal with that on top of everything else. She had good friends and a good teacher who helped her and she moved in with the good teachers sister and was able to achieve her goal as being a teacher and went on to help her students in the future who suffered the same trials. It was a well written script and you guys would be amazed at how well the kids performed it. I recorded their play with my camera and will try and send it out sometime in the future when I have good internet again so you guys can see it. Hopefully, it will work….but no promises!

Finally, the reason that I am in Maputo right now is because the new training group has arrived and I was able to come down and help receive them so I am helping out with the orientation right now in a swanky Maputo hotel. It has been real fun and definitely a trip getting to see all their faces and think back to those days when I was coming to Moz and not knowing what I was getting myself into. Tomorrow, we head to Namaacha and I get to spend the next week with them there and help them get acquainted to their life in Training. I am really looking forward to it. Meanwhile, Jordan remained in Gor for these couple weeks and is helping out with my class but I will be returning the favor in a couple weeks when she gets to come down and help out with the trainees at training and I have to stay at site and teach her classes. God help me….

Well, let me reiterate, we miss all you guys so much and think of you all the time. We have pictures of many of you up on our wall at our house and are so proud to show people when they come over and talk about you guys. Now that we finally have a computer again we will try harder to keep in touch with y’all and hope that you guys have a great winter and football season. GO BEAVS!! They will be back, don’t lost faith yet!!

Tchauzinho,

Brian and Jordan