Life in Massinga

Well, as you have noticed, the blog has not been going that well!!!
We rarely have access to the Internet, and when I get a chance… I am not always able to log into the blog. It is a little frustrating. Anyway… here is a bit of an update from the past few weeks.
As you may have heard, there was a cyclone in Mozambique a few weeks ago. It came very close to Massinga, but thankfully just missed our town. Unfortunately, there has been quite a lot of destruction for many people in the country. The Massinga health centre (where I live) has been sending health workers and supplies to the affected areas.
On March 2nd we had a successful Canada Night party, feeding around 100 people some potato salad and other yummy things. I have never cooked such large quantities in my life! We also had a hockey tournament, and a dance to finish off the evening. We are looking forward to a Mozambican Night before we leave.
As far as clinical, we have been participating in various activities. I have enjoyed them all, whether it has been working in a nutritional program for children affected by HIV/AIDS, going to rural communities and participating in community development, or teaching English to the students at the Centre. Some of these activities are described further in the group blog (www.nursingmozambique.blogspot.com).
Last Sunday we went to Murongoolu, a beautiful beach 30 minutes away. It was so wonderful to be on a beach, and to see another part of the country, especially since it has been rainy. There is still a chance I will have a tan when I get home. J Oh, and I got stung by a jelly-fish on my arm and hand. So what did I do? I peeed on it, since that’s what I learned to do in Thailand. It is definitely an interesting experience to deliberately urinate on oneself!

With 2 weeks left, I feel that time here is coming to a close, and have already started the process of saying goodbye. I am missing Brendon so much, and so I will definitely feel ready to come home. Even so, the students here are wonderful, and it will be hard to say goodbye, especially since keeping in contact with them will be difficult (none of them have e-mails addresses).
Mozambique is a truly beautiful country, and I am excited to share some of my pictures and experiences when I return home. Thanks again for all the prayers and support!

Inhambane- Feb 16th

I am at my first internet cafe in Inhambane (a city 1.5hrs away from Massinga). We came to this city today and toured the hospital here as well as the health training centre. The hospital tour was 4 hours long- not exaggerating at all.. and we had to leave at 6am this morning to get there... so it's been a kind of frustrating day. We actually all felt like we were going to die during the tour (as it was in Portuguese).
On a positive note, we are now headed to Tofo to spend the weekend there!! YAY! We are staying in another hostel... this time on the beach. This is our only beach weekend.. so I hope we really enjoy ourselves. It can be a little stressful at times, especially when everyone is hot and tired and there are personality clashes! Overall it's going well though. No one has bitten anyone's head off- yet.

Last week we worked in the Hospital across the street from the health centre we are living at. The hospital is very sad at times... but I enjoyed myself, even in the mad house that it was. One day I spent in prenatal, assessing all these moms from villages, who speak local languages (not Portuguese), along with the Mozambican nurses speaking crazy fast in Portuguese. It was awesome though. Then the next day I was in an assessment area where we weighed children and then gave them immunizations. That place was complete chaos.

Mozambique is absolutely beautiful. It reminds me of Thailand in many ways... but obviously there are many differences as well.
I am feeling like it is forever since I've been here, and forever until I will be home.

Well.. we have to go now. One think that is definitely something to adjust to is that everything we do is as a group and everything we do is related to each other. I guess what I am saying is that there is no independence!

Anyway.. I am doing fine and have had no break-downs or anything. Thank you so much for all the support and prayers. You have no idea what it means to me.

pics of maputo

This is our visit to the Central Market where we bought food for lunch. It was a labyrinth of stalls! Anything and everything could be found there! Such fun!

Several of our group posed in front of one of the Central Market stalls.

We walked around the city until we were all too sunburnt, tired, or hungry to walk anymore. Then we gratefully settled around a table at a local bar/restaurant for fried chicken and fries! So refreshing!

Brittany sporting the style of the day at the airport in Johannesburg, South Africa.

We are ALL having this much fun!

This is a view of the bay from our balcony at "The Base", our hostel. The breeze makes this a desirable place to retreat to when the heat becomes too much for us!

My Reasoning

I decided to set up a blog so that my friends and family could hear how I'm doing while I am away.
I've been told I will not have consistent or frequent Internet access, but I will try my best I guess!