Acunya

Greetings from Mozambique!  I was so appreciative of the miracle of my luggage arriving with me as I had 3 flights to get here and it has already been such a special time.  It has been great to meet up with some of my Latin America team who are staffing the same school as me and to get stuck into a new challenge.

My first week here was a re-welcome to all things Mozambique (the water out for days at a time, absolutely no paper down the toilet, red sand and very welcoming friendly people to name but a few!) and I was reminded of being an ‘acunya’ (white person) when I visited the local market a few days ago to buy some fresh fruit.  Work wise I was able to help get the houses ready for the students arrival and spend time getting to know the rest of my team.  Upon the students’ arrival, I had the task of ensuring that all the keys for the students were sorted and they received a good welcome.

So in the last few days about 320 students have now arrived from over 30 nations to learn how to work cross culturally in a Christ like way.  This number includes nine families with one family who has a significantly disabled child – hugely inspiring.  I am living with a group of 11 girls who are aged 19-27 from 5 different countries including the UK and I get to be their ‘house mum’ which is a great privilege.  I am very thankful though that I have my own bedroom..a perk of being a staff member in a big house!

School unofficially began on Saturday with Childrens Day.  When about half of Mozambique’s population is under the age of 16, this is a significant day.  On the base where I am living, close to 5000 children were played with, fed chicken and rice and given sweets as they left….a hugely logistical challenge which involved some of the local young adults working all the way through the night cooking…going to sleep with the sound of their singing as they worked was such a beautiful sound!  My team’s role was to be on kitchen duty which was a busy job!

Today the missions school began and we got to go with one of the local ‘mamas’ to visit their homes and many of the students were clearly impacted by the homes or lack of that people are living in.  It is so sobering to compare lives here with many of us from the West and it humbled me all over again……