A Mozambican Wedding

Our friend and co-worker Saidate is married!
The wedding was on December 26th, in the same day of other 30 weddings celebrated at the Wedding Palace, in Maputo. An unforgetable day when temperatures reached 104º F.

2 banquets where we can have a taste of mozambican food and culture.

Christmas Day in Maputo

With temperatures reaching 104º F, there is only one place to be - the pool!

It seems a new tradition for our family on Christmas Day - diving and swimming at the Maritimo Club Pool.

Xicuembo

Alex is one among many boys that live in the streets of Maputo, parking and "checking" cars, to get some coins.

This morning, Alex helped me to park the car and promised me to "check" (to take care or to protect the car from burglars) while I was in the store.

Looking to his cap, I asked:

- Bro, where did you find that cap?

A friend gave it to me, boss!

- Have you noticed what is writen?

Yes, it says Jesus!

- And you know who is Jesus?

Jesus is Xicuembo (God in Tsonga dialect), he said, pointing to the sky.

We have talked a little bit more, and I promised him a Bible, next time we will meet.

This season, the Chistmas Tree can be at the corner, but Jesus must be at the center!

Ethics

These are my students, at CDL (Leadership Development Center) where I have been teaching Ethics for this last semester.

Very good grades, and even better discussions on Ethical Issues and Dilemas.

The real test will be now, in the real life. I'm sure they will do great!

A new family member

Mia it's a cat and the new member of our family!

A birthday gift for Mariana, but arrived yesterday, as she was born on October 9th, 10 years later than Mariana.

Welcome, Mia!

Shool Awards

They call it "Excelence Award" and our daughter Raquel received it again for the 3rd time!

Congratulations Raquel!

Weelchairs for Cancer Kids

These are the two weelchairs donated to the Oncology Department of the Central Hospital.

They were donated by the Sunday School of a Church in Portugal. Thank you so much.

We still have another weelchair donated by a company in Portugal, wainting to be shipped to Mozambique.

Awakening in Maputo

4:00 AM - The day starts with the birds singing on the trees. On the background we can hear the call for prayers from the nearest mosque.

4:30 AM - The city is very quite, and the lights are still on, contrasting with the sky that is gaining is colour every second. Guards clean the sidewalk, and some residents do their morning jogging.

5:00 AM - On the radio, the National Anthem is playing and the news from the day before are repeated. The sun is there, and people start filling the streets on their daily routine to the jobs.

On the surroundings, some run for water that is still not available to everyone.

Good morning, Maputo!

Glossary

Here are some words you need to know if you want to visit us in Mozambique:

Chapa - 9 seat Toyota Van, used as public transportation for 18-22 passengers.

Mola - Money

Celular - Cell phone

Crédito - Cell phone pre-paid balance

Maningue Nice - Very Nice

Kanimambo - Thank you

Job - Job

Boss - Boss

Mulungo - White Man

Election's day in Mozambique

Maputo — All the polling stations for Mozambique's general and provincial elections will open on time, at 07.00 on Wednesday morning according to AIM.

The pledge was made at a Tuesday press conference in Maputo by Felisberto Naife, general director of the Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE), the electoral branch of the Mozambican civil service.

He said that the positioning of voting materials and electoral staff at the polling station sites in rural areas began two days ago, and should be completed on Tuesday. The materials for the urban polling stations will be positioned early on Wednesday morning.

The conditions have been guaranteed for the polling stations to open at 07.00, he insisted. To reach remote areas, seven helicopters are being used, four hired commercially by STAE, and three lent by the South African government.

Asked if there might be any repetition of the embarrassing situation that occurred in the 2004 elections when many polling stations found that they had the wrong electoral register or no register at all, which disenfranchised citizens who had registered at those stations, Naife was confident that such blunders would be avoided this time.

He said that the production and distribution of the electoral registers had been decentralised to district level, which should avoid registers going astray and ending up in the wrong part of the country.

There are a total of 12,694 polling stations for a registered electorate of over 9.8 million.

(source)

PRIME Maputo 2009

We have welcomed 5 doctors and 1 nurse, to teach different subjects at the Medical Scholl in Maputo.

Along with the training, this group was able to visit some departments of the Central Hospital, and also the Military Hospital in Maputo.

PRIME is an international network of Christians involved in healthcare education, committed to improving the quality and depth of the medical care of patients, especially those in poorer situations. This is done in partnership with health care providers worldwide, to give teaching that equips, inspires and empowers them to give excellent clinical care for the whole person.

World Health Organization Report 1998: "Until recently the health professions have largely followed a medical model, which seeks to treat patients by focusing on medicines and surgery, and gives less importance to beliefs and to faith in healing, in the physician and in the doctor-patient relationship. This reductionist or mechanistic view of patients is no longer satisfactory. Patients and physicians have begun to realise the value of elements such as faith, hope, and compassion in the healing process"

PRIME seeks to redress this balance and restore a compassionate whole person perspective to modern medicine. This is achieved through direct training activities and educating the trainers by equipping them with appropriate skills and support networks. PRIME courses are designed to be acceptable to and accessible by medical professionals, of all faiths or of none, skills and support networks.

On behalf of those students and professionals trained during these 3 days, Thank you!

More about PRIME.

Initiative...

His name is Narciso, has only one leg, and is for a long period under treatments at the Oncology department in the Central Hospital of Maputo.

He needed a little bit more that 1 USD to start his own business, which gave him already a 800% profit, in few weeks.

This is not "The secret" but only the strenght and willing to live, making him stand up every morning to go out and sell "credit" at the street near the hospital.

"Credit" is what we call the "airtime/minutes" to recharge our cell phones. It is sold all over the place in the city.

No market research or any advanced study to find out that street didn't have anyone selling this product.

With a "microcredit" of USD 1,60 (50 meticais), he was able to buy "minute cards" and sell them with a 10% profit.

Well, the more you sell, the more you make, and the less you spend, the more you keep!

What about this?

10 Years old

Good morning everyone! It's 6:40 AM and Mariana is ready for school, as always!

The difference: She is not 9 anymore! She is 10!

We are thankful for the wonderful way God has been protecting and caring for Mariana, and allowing us to be her parents.

Sorry, sorry...

Dear friends,

We have been out of the blogsphere for a while!

After our return from furlough last month, we are still on the process of getting back to normal life.

It hasn't been easy to find time to write here and share as we promised we would. Sorry for this.

Raquel and Mariana started a new school year at the Portuguese School of Mozambique, with new teachers, new classmates, and also completely different schedules.

Alice is back to the Central Hospital of Maputo where she volunteers at the Oncology department, and Jorge is back to his soccer players and friends at the orphanage, to his Ethics classes, translations and many other projects.

Step by step, we are re-arranging everything and prepared for a new season.

After almost 7000 miles traveling during 9 weeks, we had our first weekend of rest, at a small place in South Africa, 1 hour from the Mozambican border.

This place is called White River, but it's knowned for the beautiful green landscapes.

I believe...

Home,Sweet home

After 62 days e 7.000 miles, not considering 23 hours travelling between the two hemispheres, we arrived home safely.

At Frankfurt Airport, having coffee and the delicious homemade portuguese cake "Pão de Ló". Thank you Mrs. Elisa.

Take-off ...

Somewhere in the sky...

11 hours later, landing in África...

Soccer and Kids, what a combination...

We have started our "whole life soccer coaching" school 1 year and half ago, but for the last months, we've decided to do the training, not at the orphanage facilities but outside, at the soccer field, on a primary school in the area.

Every sunday, our group of 35 teens, walk for 5 minutes from the orphanage to this primary school. Today, as always, we went there, but for our surprise, there was a group of 30 kids already at our spot. "Well, someone get here first" I thought. But I was wrong, they were waiting for us! They said "We want to play with your team, can we?"

"Well, if you want to play with our team, you have to join us for all the training, including the discussion time and lesson, is that ok?" Sure! We are ready to join!


This is just incredible. We have started with 30 orphans and know we have 65 kids and teens wanting to be part of our coaching program! We had to split the group, and while Saidate was coaching "long pass" to one group, I was talking with the other group, about "serving others" and the history of the man who asked Jesus about what was the most important commandment!

We are so grateful for this opportunity to serve this group of kids. We know that maybe they will never reach a top position at the sports world, but we can't wait to see what kind of men, they will became, as we have this opportunity to coach "life skills" on their lives.

She is ready for 5th grade...

Mariana completed this week the first "cicle" of her "student life". At the Portuguese School of Mozambique, all the 4th graders received their certificate and were challenged for a new beginning next September.

Play Doh

Our little friends at the Central Hospital with their new funny activity! Everything is possible with play doh, from fruit baskets to people! Wonderful to see their faces.

Angola2010 Challenge

Angola is getting ready to host one of the major sports events ever held in this country - The Cup of African Nations in Soccer, by January of 2010.

During these last two weeks, we had the opportunity to train 40 volunteers and church leaders to serve their country during this Major Event.

Ubabalo "Whole Life Soccer Coaching", KidsGames and a overview of all the potential tools to be used with sports for community transformation, were the main topics of the training. We also had a city comittee from each one of the hosting cities in Angola for the CAN2010: Cabinda, Luanda, Benguela and Lubango.

We will be back soon in Angola, I'm sure!