For more on OVC http://www.habitat.org/hw/Sept_2008/feature1C.html
I was in a group of four with Gomez “chop chop, time is money” of foundation fame, a fun leader who kept us busy! Our homeowner for this first house was “Crazy Grandma” (CG) with her sweet granddaughter Juliette 15. CG loves her Juliette and has a smile that never seems to dim. Building materials were not on site to we went to “home depot” a storage lot on the dirt and sand paths, one left turn, one right turn away from CG’s location. We carried the wall posts in staggered shifts, then learned to start the foundation we would need rock and sand and lots of it, and none of it was close. We quickly saw that an older woman and her girls can haul wheel barrows full of rock and sand through the soft dry sandy pathways better than any of us, and they push these wheel barrows in bare feet! Those girls a strong. SEE a laboring culture. Gomez started outlining the circle for the foundation and we started shoveling, mixing, setting block and learning the rhythms that this build and the village would teach us and share with us.
Juliette helped us and then was with her Grandma for awhile. A smell of thick smoke wafted over our foundation building as we worked. CG was cooking inside her old hut and the smoke was our first introduction to a familiar daily occurance. SMELL the culture. This can’t be good for CG and her supportive women friends who cook everyday if they do this indoors. Some had more open cooking areas in their yards. Juliette is so you and the other kids who help, what does that smoke do to them eventually…we know but they may not. There would be many other odors during the trip to give us hints of life here, lives that we are blessed to brush up next to for a brief moment in time.
Habitat used to provide block houses but now the style is the local round reed huts with thatched roofs. The foundation is concrete to make sure the floor is dry and to help prevent termite invasions. The reed walls are thick to prevent rain and wind from entering. Each home will have a lockable door. The block and mortar houses became too expensive. Partly due to the 2010 World Cup in Johannesburg cement is in short supply in Mozambique and has elevated in cost.
OVC is essentially a “disaster response” so women and children primarily can get into shelter rapidly. Habitat has partnered with USAID and a variety of benefactors including the Catholic church of Portugal.
Even though lunch is supposed to be at around noon(ish) this first day it was half past two. On the menu; kale in coconut sauce, green beans in garlic, white corn with the consistency of polenta.
Back at the CG’s site the community showed up and we had Chels leading a tamping dance with the kids and I on the foundation floor! Gomez is amazing, even with the slow start getting the supplies we finished CG’s foundation and she was happy. It was a great day.
Dinner decompression – we talked about the day and the surprises. Chels mentioned that knowing we were going into an area of such poverty she was surprised on the first day of the first build to be so happy. It was a lovely day.
SPIRITUAL FOCUS - BUILD DAY TWO
We got up early and while waiting for the van prepared for the day with a moment of focus. Team members volunteered to say whatever they wish…(excerpts will run through the blog entries).
“There is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled.
There is a void in your soul, ready to be filled.
You feel it, don’t you?”
- Rumi
We learned the first day that teamwork on wheelbarrows is key in the deep dry sand as we observed the local girls tying their sarongs or rope to the front above the wheel. After breakfast and before the van’s arrival we saw that the local sewing school had opened and we commissioned several strips of fabric for the wheelbarrows. And while we were at it selected fabrics for bags and aprons. What a pleasure it is to leave a country with a sourvenir after meeting the person who made it! (Photos by Bob Bell)
I was on foundations again for day two though some of the team had switched to walls. As long as the ole’ back can hold up I’m all for the labor of shoveling sand and gravel and mixing the ever precious concrete. Magaia and his pickup make appearances at the different home sites as he checks on all of us, works with Alex to attempt to keep the supplies on hand and juggles the myriad of problems, questions and interpretations that need his constant attention. Magaia is our anchor. He has such character, a velvety deep voice and a great smile and is entirely capable. In life, somewhere along the way we meet people who we know are destined to do great things, Magaia is one of those. His truck works hard too, especially when overloaded with a bed full of sand!
We developed the knack for foundations and quickly worked the floor to the point where we could place the wall posts until we ran out of cement for the floor and came to a screeching halt. The first shift of kids was being let out of school. The oldest girl came straight home and started pounding the dried corn in a wooden mortar and pestle with more power and endurance than I could even when I was in shape! The younger kids hang out and play, they take strings from bags and tie them together to make a long loop and use if for Chinese jump rope. It is past noon on the second day, no concrete is available and so we play. The kids hung out with us and danced and sat in the dirt paths drawing with sticks in the dirt.
LUNCH! Same as yesterday, kale, beans, corn and rice and it’s oh so good….TASTE THE CULTURE.
Every day the lunches were the same menu and about the same time with an occasional dish of chicken or beef. It was all good. The lunch volunteers had stories of the pace of the lunch preparation, stringing both sides of each bean (for 30+ people!), chopping the kale with a dull knife, slow cooking over an open fire. Expedience was not a priority but the finished product was always welcome and more so to see Gomez, Albino, Tony the roof man and all the other builders pile the food on and take a break. Children were around for the first couple of days, watching them from a cherished shady spot one of the many highlights.
THE PEOPLE, THE FACES OF A CULTURE
Today was the first introduction to some of our homeowners.
• Vitoria – her house fell down, she is 50 and her husband died. Her daughters are 12 and 14. She thanked us for being there.
• Juliette - representing her grandmother who was sick that day. She wanted to thank us all and asks God to bless us all. She is 16 years old and her mother died when she was 2 months of age and she is thankful for her Grandma. (CG in red in photo above)
• Maria Machalla – is 39 years old and wants to thank Habitat. She tried to keep up with her work, she lost her husband and she is grateful.
• Matilda Machaye – “I want to thank you for caring for us, for building a house. I lost my husband and am by myself with all of my kids.”
HEAR the culture as they speak. Even through interpretation with Magaia they convey their emotion and their personalities.
On the second day we met:
• Ambrosa - (no information)
• Carolina - Natanlie 12, Avid 8 and Manuel 3 ½. “I never expected something like this to happen in my life and I feel so happy I want to touch the sky!”
• Penina Bila - is taking care of her grandchildren Fernando and Celia and ther mother Ruth. The mother is sick (this is the 2nd mother in 2 days). They left the Gaza area during the civil war and they haven’t seen the father since that time and assume he died.
• Alicia Zalias – “My grand daughter is Zalia 12 and I have a 5yo niece. I am taking care of my grandchildren and niece who have both lost their parents. I never expected this and it’s overwhelming to be given such a big wonderful thing as a house. Thank you for helping me go through the difficult moments.”
Not all of them are present, not all will want to speak. In the end we started 23 houses and didn’t meet every homeowner. All are special and each has a story, like beautiful Rosey. The joy shows on some faces like Vitoria and CG, but the impact of the statistics have etched themselves into the faces of others in a very real way....AIDS, abandonement, hard work. They are grateful for their new homes but we must never forget how their lives play out. They still need help and support.
Our builders have stories too; Francisco, Tony and sweet tortured Nando.
A CULTURE IN SONG
HEAR the culture in song; Vitoria led a song of thanks and blessings. Then Magaia led a song about the Mololo, the lazy boy. Phonetically are sounds like:
“Kuavala, kuavala
Kuavala kuavala tete!
Kuavala kuavala
Kuavala kuavala tete”
Vitoria dancing, Magaia in red shirt all singing the Mololo song>The song is about the lazy boy who complains about pain here and pain there when he’s supposed to work, he needs to lie down instead. But when it’s time for lunch he’s there eating more than anyone and afterward he starts complaining about his aches and pains again and lays down for a nap.
A CULTURE IN PLAY
We have a terrific building team with Greg, Barb and Chels. The ipod and speakers brought smiles, and the Frisbees were a huge hit! They know Michael Jackson songs! The delays in delivery of more cement created down time to play. Chels taught the kids some clapping songs and we drew in the dirt, did cartwheels and danced to Michael Jackson.
The faces are beautiful! Most of the children smile right away and squeal when we take a photo and show it to them on the camera! They laugh and laugh. They also seem to stick together and the older children would carry or hold the younger ones. It made our hearts glad to see them together, even the two little girls who were inseparable; they stood side by side with their arms over each other’s shoulders, moving as one person. And they wouldn’t smile until, until, between Chels and Barb and I we managed to coax a little smile out of them.
One of their toys is a wheel that some of the boys roll skillfully with a stick. Some children were able to make a rudimentary swing. Kids like to get together and play after school just as they do anywhere. They also sometimes worry or irritate their parents and caregivers, just as they do anywhere.
We draw and play in the dirt and there’s a lot of it. Gardens do amazingly well, the corn was just below knee high and almost every garden has some. The chickens (Galina in Portuguese) run around with their chirping chicks, kicking up dirt and being free to roam. Goats and pigs aren’t so lucky; most are tied on 4-5 feet of rope and rotate sites.
A CULTURE WITHOUT
What can they do with all that dry dirt? How do they live in a village with a community well and only their ability to walk to get the water. No vehicles. There is a little power new “home depot” but what do our homeowners do with none; no power, no running water, no sewer and in many cases, no men. Many have known no other way, some have never even been to Maputo, and Boane would seem like a booming metropolis. And yet they have space, they have some support with each other and now support from Habitat for their family, the have their crops. They also have a short lifespan and disease. Many don’t know their actual age. HIV/AIDS leaves a lot of orphans.
See the culture of poverty.
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