Dia de Mulher

On April 7^th Mozambique celebrates women and girls in a national holiday called “Dia da Mulher”.  What a fabulous idea…a national day to recognize and celebrate the huge-ass role women play in Mozambican society.  Women play an enormous role in the daily life functions in Mozambique.  They fetch water (numerous times a day), grow food, harvest food, cook food, clean, care for children, care for the sick, teach children, sell things, buy things, and almost anything else you can think of.  I am in awe of Mozambican women.  They are truly amazing!    

Yet on this national day dedicated to women and girls, I can’t help but think about what it would be like if Mozambique was a society that celebrated and truly valued women and girls everyday.  It would be a society that would not tolerate gender violence.  It would provide endless opportunities to women and girls.  It would not tolerate sexism and would dispel traditional gender roles.  It would empower women and girls and ensure that they have control over their bodies and lives. 

I am really hoping that one day we can live in such a society. 

Cell Phones in MOZ

While there are lot of things that people don’t have here in Mozambique that we would consider necessities in the States (although they are certainly not), a Cell Phone is not one of those things. 

Almost everyone past the age of 15 has a cell phone here.  It may not be the nicest phone…almost no one has a blackberry or iphone, but they do have a simple cell phone that they can receive and accept calls and texts, which are called SMS here. 

What people don’t have here is phone credit.  Let me explain.  In the States most everyone has a cell phone and connected to that cell phone is a contract, normally for 2 years with one of the various cell phone providers.  Shout out to Sprint! They are the best!  Under the contract the person pays a monthly fee for various services they want for their phone. 

In Mozambique no one has a contract.  Instead people have a cell phone, with a removable sim card, that is provided by one of the 2 cell phone providers here, mCel and VodaCom.  Each sim card has a phone number connected with it.  You put the sim card into your phone and then your phone is connected with that particular phone number.  But to send SMSs or to call out you have to buy phone credit.  Phone credit is sold on literally every street corner in various amounts.  You buy the credit and then upload it onto your phone. 

Because phone credit is expensive and using that credit to call people is every expensive, people rarely call each other just to chat.  Most people just text message each other.  This system works great for a country like Mozambique.  It allows almost everyone to have a phone and they just buy phone credit when they can afford to.  The major problem with it is that most people don’t always have enough money to buy phone credit, which means, even if they have a phone they can’t call out.  And because most people don’t have a lot of credit they often turn their phone off, which makes it virtually impossible for people who does have phone credit to contact them. 

In short…everyone here has cell phones but they certainly don’t use them as much as we do in the States.    

ps… they don’t have voicemail on their phones either…it would probably be lots more credit.   

Dancing with Criancas (children in Portuguese)

Last week I rode my bike out to visit one of women’s groups that is connected with my organization.  I have kind of taken upon myself to work with these women, providing them support and guidance...as well as just hanging out with them. 

When I arrived at the women’s group there were not that many women but there was a bunch of kids there.  When I sat down the leader of the group told me that these kids wanted to be part of the youth group that I also work with and is also connected to the women’s group.  I asked how old the kids were and she said that most were 9 or 10 years old.  I then turned to the kids and told them that they were too young to be part of the youth group but that we could start a children’s group, which they all seemed to like.  There were a lot of smiles. 

When I asked what they wanted to do in their group.  They told me they wanted to start a dance group.  Now I was the one smiling.  They must have known that I LOVE to dance!   We talked and decided that it would be a Mozambican/American dance group.  I would teach them American dances and they would teach me Mozambican dances.  We would also spend a good amount of time doing activities that will build their self confidence and such. 

Not your typical youth group

Besides the work I am doing with my 2 community organizations (which is still moving at a snails pace) I also have the opportunity to take on what is called “secondary projects”.  There are all kinds of things that I could do as secondary projects.  But Peace Corps Mozambique has 2 national secondary projects, JOMA and REDES, that I have decided to become involved in. 

JOMA, is essentially a youth group, comprised of both guys and girls.  It’s goal is to prevent HIV/AIDS and promote gender equality and healthy living.   JOMA groups often discuss issues of gender, sexual health, HIV/AIDS, violence prevention and community development.  Besides discussing these various issues, my JOMA group will also be trained in theatre and hopefully will use their training to promote gender equality and HIV/AIDS education and prevention in the community. 

REDES, is a group for young girls only.  It’s goal to promote the healthy development of young women in Mozambican society.  REDES groups provide a space for young girls to talk with each other about various issues they may be facing such as: sexual health, HIV/AIDS, violence, gender inequality, etc.  My REDES group is also a dance group.  They will teach me Mozambican dances and I will teach them American dances!

Both of my groups are very strong and excited and I look forward to working with them.  My Mozambican counterpart, the Mozambican working directly with me is also very excited and dedicated.  She also works with me at one of my organizations and is a good friend of mine.  She is very knowledgeable in the areas of HIV/AIDS, gender and facilitation. 

Nevertheless if my experience in working with youth has taught me anything… it is that we will all have a fantastic time and probably all grow to be better people!

Power to ALL Women Everywhere!

It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me or those of you following this blog, that I have an extremely strong commitment to social justice and human rights and while I don’t advocate for one issue over another, I do have a special connection to issues of gender and inequality. March 8^th 2011 marked the 100^th anniversary of International Women’s Day.  A day not only to honor women around the world but a day that aims to expose the gross injustices that women and girls, a 100 years later, still experience. 

The truth is, the world over, that the wellbeing of women has greatly improved in the last 100 years.  In today’s world women hold government positions, run businesses, lead communities, participate in revolutions, are seen and heard, control their money, heal the sick, are educated, have professional careers, have reproductive freedom, receive respect from men and wear what they choose.  But while all this is true and important to honor, it is also important to recognize that this is only the case for SOME women, not ALL women. 

These opportunities and countless others must be afforded to all women everywhere.  Not just to women of a certain class, race, religion, nationality or age.  All women, everywhere, must be provided with opportunities and rights and respect.  All women, everywhere must be given full and true equality.  They must be free from oppression and violence, from discrimination and prejudice and from lower expectations and conventional gender norms.