The wonderful warm air that greeted me as I stepped off the plane, paired with the many signs in Portuguese, gave me an immediate sense of home. At home in a country I have never been before , and the familiarity of language and climate making it a very smooth literal entry into the nation of Mozambique. After going through immigration and luggage pick up in record time, I was greeted by two young men with the Ministerio Arco Iris sign waiting to pick me up.
We had a fun drive to the base on busy roads. As we were driving along I was trying to take it all in. Trying to store in my memory the image of the man walking along train tracks with a bunch of stuff around his neck, and the sight of worn plastic waving in the wind from one of the makeshift roofs. Goats grazing by a house corner, and literally anything you can imagine being sold from small stalls everywhere on the pavement. Women in beautiful patterned skirts and blouses, and the men mostly with long trousers and closed shoes. It felt like a place with a lot of life, yet at the same time I was thinking about how it reminded me of Brazil.... when I was first there in 1998.
I asked one of the guys who picked me up at the airport what he liked most about Mozambique, and after thinking for a little while he said: "the friendliness of the people. The people here are very friendly and embrace each other." I thought that was a very good thing to take a hold of, and so far that is also my experience.
Arriving at base I was shown a small room with four metal bunkbeds. Despite it being quite worn it was nicely made up and it made me feel expected and welcome. I noticed the mosquito nets and fan, and made a mental note to make sure I actually put on my mosquite repellant once dusk arrives. The base here is huge. Around 270 children live here having different reasons why they can't live at home. They are all ages from babies to young teens, and they have a special house for special needs children. I think it will take a while till I grasp the lay out of everything as there were many sandy paths to walk.
When it was dinner time I went with a sweet South Korean girl to the dining room where the children have their meals. A siren went off at 5:30 PM to summom them to dinner, and after having their hands splashed with water, they all piled into a huge room which serves as part dining area and mostly church venue. We chatted a little bit with the cooks who overflowed with joy and tried to teach me some of the local language (I definitely need to arm myself with a notepad and pen- so far I know that "tie" is "tie" in that language, though I'm not sure how useful knowing that word only is). We sat down among a group of young boys maybe 8 or 10 years old, and ate delicious rice with sauce and meat (and I think seasoned with cardamom or cinnamon or something which made it taste wonderful). The little boys each finished off a huge plate full of food while chattering away and joking with us. They seemed to feel very safe and secure in this place, and the adults surrounding them had a really nice way of relating to them with love and boundaries.
Then I decided I needed to grab a shower before a large group of Brazilians come back from an outreach they are on. Again I was taken back down memory lane as it's been a long time since I had to pack up my shower gear and walk a bit outside, before attempting to have a shower without at the same time ending up doing laundry. It was a semi-cold, but not too bad and quite refreshing experience, followed by a quick spraying of deet-repellant to keep away hungry mosquitoes (who tend to enjoy feasting on me).
So there you go; my first hours in Mozambique. As I type this I am sitting in the visitors kitchen room. Next to me I have a cup of hot cocoa I brought from Norway and I can hear the rehearsal for church worship loud and clear coming from the church building. All familiar worship songs in Portuguese which make my heart happy. It will be fun to experience a real African church service tomorrow morning.
But for now I think I shall end this entry here. Today I have truly written for myself; to remember these first glimpses which I know will also become somewhat familiar even if I am only here for a little over a week. There is a cupboard full of books so I shall select one and enjoy not having internet access for a few days. There is something very relaxing not being able to be connected with the world... for a few days anyways.