A nonTraditional Hash Wedding

Every Saturday that I am in Maputo and not sick, I run with the Maputa Hash House Harriers. It is a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon and Hashers are drinkers with a running problem. get out to see places that I might not go on my own. After the run, we go back to the Maputo Aeroclube (where we're based) for a drink. Hashers like to think of themselves as drinkers with a running problem. Most people have a beer. Sometimes I go for a beer, sometimes a Fanta. Mozambicans bottle beer in 40 oz. bottles so I only drink if I can find someone to split it. 40 oz. is way too much (for me anyway).

On Saturday last, after the run, we had an impromptu and nontraditional Hash wedding. The wedding party were all Hashers and the 50% of the guests hashed. The other 50% were either relatives of the bride and groom or locals who just laughed and shook their heads at our craziness. Wonder Woman and Hotzenplotz were married in an official ceremony a few weeks earlier in Europe. This one was just part of a party to celebrate with their friends here in Mozambique.


The couple had an Irish "pope" (Big Gun) preside over their nuptials which included promising to love, keep each over inebriated, and overlook the occasional sheep shagging (bride promised) or milkman (groom promised). An acappella Hash version of "Amazing Grace" ensured that the musical bases were covered. The locals sang the real words to the hymn in Changaan.


Before kissing one another, the bride and groom had to drink a down-down (i.e. a beer). That made some of the older local men and women looking on chuckle. Afterwards everyone shouted, ululated, yipped, howled, laughed, and expressed their happiness at yet another couple being committed.

Parabens Wonder Woman and Hotzenplotz!

Rare Species Discovered

A rare species of tree grows in Mozambique - the boy tree. These boys were trying to get a good view of the Hash mock wedding ceremony I attended Saturday afternoon - more on that later.

I will keep my eye out for a girl tree.

Do you have children?

"Do you have children?"

Inevitably, this question comes up in every extended conversation I have with native Africans of all nationalities, genders, ages, and cultures. To say that children are very important to Africans is an understatement. Children represent so many things - future, fertility, wealth, adulthood...

So how do I respond? I am sorely tempted to lie. People, especially older women, always give me these pitying looks like I might as well be dead because I have certainly proven my uselessness as a woman. There is also a slightly scornful cast to their pity, because without children I am not a grown woman. But I don't lie. "No, no children yet." I always add that yet part, because if I don't they will ask why. This is just as bad as the pitying scorn. The why is so very complicated. And who knows? The women in my family often have children late. I have some time.

Today, I explained a little bit of my complicated personal reasons to the anthropology student who asked. "If you are a woman and want to be a scientist in the United States and to advance, it is pretty difficult to do so and have children." Linda started nodding. "Yes, it is the same here. Women are seen as just factories for making children."

The situation is more complicated in Mozambique, but Linda and I didn't really need to get into the unstated understood. For instance, more than 70% of agriculture, especially subsistence agriculture, is done by Mozambicanas. So women are food factories too. Mozambique is also ranked first in the world for Female Economic Activity (82.8%). The US ranks 58th, with 58.8% in case you were wondering. Let's just say that Mozambicanas have a pretty difficult life.



I'm not sure how many Americans would publicly state or agree with the baby factory comment. However, the sentiment that a woman's role is to take care of children still permeates US culture. Obviously, not everyone believes this. I've met single dads, stay-at-home dads, and dads that share childcare equally with their spouses.

I've also experienced the pitying looks and "You'll regret not having children later" type comments in the United States. Again, mainly from other women. I don't know; maybe I will and maybe I won't. I do know for certain that I am tired of having people, sometimes complete strangers, constantly harp on my lack of children to me. Why am I so much more patient about answering this question when someone outside my own culture asks?

Do men even get asked these kind of questions?

NSF Funding

May Day had a pretty exciting start for me. The first thing I do in the morning is read my email as I eat breakfast. I have been expecting a rejection letter from NSF (National Science Foundation) for my dissertation proposal now for over a month, but to my surprise my proposal was sent on by my cultural anthropology reviewers for finally approval by the head of NSF (or whoever it is that approves these things). Let's just say I didn't need a cup of coffee to get going that morning.

Holding back my excitement was really difficult. I can't just randomly shout for joy in a city. Srs. Pedro, Jaime, and Sergio, my building guards, would probably take issue for the false alarm. Instead, I did a silent Snoopy dance; taking care not to stomp too loudly because of my downstairs neighbors since it was pretty early. It might seem silly to get so excited, but I felt the same when I received word that I had been awarded a Fulbright. In fact, I had Ted Gragson, my faculty advisor, read my Fulbright acceptance email just to make sure that I wasn't hallucinating. I actually turned cartwheels that time.

I wasn't going to post about it until I had a confirmation letter in hand (but I got scooped), because there is still the off chance that the US Congress will completely lose it and NSF will lose its funding budget. You might find that a bit unbelievable, but only the day after I found out that I would most likely be awarded NSF funding for my dissertation, there was a vote in the House to stop funding certain anthropological research. Two congressmen, Campbell (CA-R) and Garrett (NJ-R), decided that some of the titles were too ridiculous to fund, regardless of what they might tell us about humanity and human history. Some of them had funny titles like "the accuracy in the cross-cultural understanding of others' emotions" or "cognitive model of superstitious belief" or "bison hunting on the late prehistoric Great Plains" or "social relationships and reproductive strategies of Phayre's Leaf Monkeys" The House representatives also proposed to limit NSF funding in general.

This is just typical of the anti-intellectualist and over-the-top fundie religious bullshit that has been directing my country for at least the past decade. Fortunately, H.R. 1867 got voted down. If people wonder why the US is slipping in science and math, or why more native-born US citizens don't become scientists, this might be a clue. I seriously doubt that if these studies contributed to building better bombs or killing people more efficiently that they would have ever been considered for funding restrictions. [sarcasm] Understanding how emotions work in other cultures could only contribute to greater understanding between people working in cross-cultural situations, so lets screw that project over. What a complete and utter waste of Americans' tax dollars. [/sarcasm]

In the interests of full disclosure of where your tax dollars are going, here is the abstract I submitted to NSF for public review. A silly title is attached. Thank you everyone (including my advisor and the anonymous NSF reviewers) for contributing to my education, a greater understanding of the relationship between culture and landscape, and the advancement of science. Seriously. In the words of one of my reviewers, "It is not flashy or very exciting but it may be a useful contribution, and it has a practical side as well."

Ronga Wild Plant Harvest and the Conservation of Coastal Savanna Landscape in Southern Mozambique

ABSTRACT
Social and ecological factors, as well as, the spatial and temporal patchiness of resource distribution, direct resource user behavior in a landscape. Southern Mozambique's coastal savanna landscape is rich in flora and faunal species due to the highly diverse range of available habitats like forest, grasslands, and wetlands. This landscape’s spatial and temporal heterogeneity offers Ronga horticulturists a high diversity of wild plants to harvest for various subsistence needs. Preliminary fieldwork shows a high dependence on plant resources by Ronga communities in the region. This dissertation project proposes to (1) analyze the importance of various social and ecological factors in directing the spatial and temporal patch choice and use of Ronga wild plant harvest, and (2) investigate the specific effects of Rongan wild plant harvests on coastal savanna vegetation diversity, abundance, and distribution.

The proposed research combines ethnographic and ecological approaches to gather information about current and historic Rongan use of wild plant resources and landscape in two coastal savanna communities over a 16-month period. Incorporation of user spatial behavior, and the factors directing it, is critical for developing realistic landscape conservation management plans that meet locally specific needs for both humans and wild species. The proposed research will be used to develop a management plan recognizing Ronga resource use and needs for the Futi Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA). It will also serve as a methodological model for documenting the community resource use information needed to create conservation plans at Great Limpopo and Gorongoza TFCAs in Mozambique, and potentially elsewhere.

Microcredit in Matutuine District

Last year, Dr. Muhammed Yunus and the Grameen Bank (the bank he created in Bangladesh) shared the Nobel Peace Prize for an idea that is helping people help themselves get out of poverty. Microcredit loans provide individuals the capital they need to do things like buy farm animals to raise for profit or a sewing machine to set up a tailoring shop or repair a vehicle that they use to transport goods and people. I've even heard of women buying cell phones with microloans, and then becoming the telephone service provider for their entire community.

Very few individuals default on these tiny loans. There is pride and social pressure, and people who default on loans cannot borrow again. But also, as monies are repaid, they get reinvested in new entrepeneurs. Many of the microloans go to women. In the short term, this allows women to support their families and send their children to school. In the long term, it raises their political, economic, and social status.

Today, as I was reading the BBC news online, I came across a site that connects loaners directly to low-income entrepreneurs in the developing world. You actually can pick where and to whom you want to loan money. The basic amount the loaner contributes is $25, which is about 12 large regular coffees at a fancy coffee shop.

Crap, I sound like some sort of Sally Struthers advert for starving children in Ethiopia. Cue the flies and suffering please.

I'm not writing this because I drank their koolaid or they slipped me a 1000 metacais under the table, but because I think that it is a pretty cool idea. Also, because they are operating in Matutuine District, Mozambique where I work. Right now there are 62 small businesses that have started, 63% owned by women, with an average loan size of $800. People have bought chickens, set up small grocery stores, repaired vehicles to run bus services, and repaired fishing boats and nets. In many cases, the entrepreneurs are now employing other people (and thus supporting their families). I've actually bought dry goods from one of the women entrepreneurs listed on Kiva. She operates a little loja (store) in Salamanga. Now I know how she started up her business.

The average wage in Mozambique is less than $1 per day. Things cost less, but people still work pretty damn hard for that less than $1. There are very few beggars here, most people would rather offer some sort of service or product in return for your spare change - carrying your purchases at the market, watching your car (people love to steal anything removable, including the car), selling batiks, hawking fruit and veg on the sidewalk, etc.

Occasionally, I'll have this moment where I get all weirded out thinking about the fact that I'm carrying around more money in my pocket than some Mozambicanos see in a week of working. Then I usually do something like buy roasted peanuts (that I don't necessarily want to eat right then) from barefoot and raggedly clothed 7 year olds hawking them on the street when they should be in school. But, of course, they can't go to school because they can't afford the $4 uniforms, school supplies, or tuition fees, and/or they are orphaned with no one to care them.

I'll continue to buy roasted peanuts, but loaning money directly to people with plans to put it to good use is something I can support as well.

Just another link if you are interested in Kiva:
You Too Can Be A Banker To The Poor - Nicholas Kristof

The Zen of Waiting

Espera. Espera. Breathe in. Espera. Espera. Breathe out.

I do a lot of waiting in Mozambique. Time runs differently here. The viscosity of time varies more widely depending on the scale. On a minute by minute, day to day basis, it flows very slowly. I find myself waiting on appointments, waiting for businesses to reopen after the two hour lunchtime, waiting for emails to appear in my inbox, waiting for meetings to be held so that I can consider beginning my interviews, waiting to get out to the reserve... As I look back to January, the time has flown rapidly. It seems like I only just arrived, and I get nervous about completing the research tasks I have set for myself.

Waiting is tough for me. Chris says that I am high strung (anxious) and I won't disagree. Waiting forces me to recognize that I have no control and I just need to go with whatever happens. Letting go like this is a very difficult practice for me. Yet, amazingly things always turn out. Maybe a little later than I would like, but you can't always get what you want.

Espera. Espera. Breathe in. Espera. Espera. Breathe out.

The students I work with, particularly the anthropologists, find it funny that I am always on time or a little early. "That's so American." They tell me. "A Mozambicano will be at least 30 minutes late, if not 3 hours. That's why we carry cell phones; so we can call to see if the other person even remembered we were supposed to meet." We laugh.

But it is very American of me. Vania and Linda, both anthropology undergraduates, are good about meeting with me on time. The latest they have ever been is 20 minutes. Understandable for 2 serious, intelligent, and beautiful young woman busy with coursework, jobs, and being young and single. They are also hip to American culture and we talk lots about differences between our respective cultures. Maybe it's that they are anthropologists, but I appreciate their understanding.

Espera. Espera. Breathe in. Espera. Espera. Breathe out.

Todos os Trabalhadores do Mundo

The Ideas of Marx, Engels Live the wall across the street from my apartment announces.
May Day was pretty quiet for a socialist, democratic country. I didn't even realize what day it was until I walked down to the US Public Affairs Office and found it closed. Many of the proletariat were still working - the empregadas, the trash collectors, the MCel card sellers, the tomato and banana vendors, the candy men, the cashew and peanut girls, the building guards...

Sr. Pedro, one of the 3 gentlemen who guards my apartment, laughed when I told him that I had forgotten what day it was. "Everyone around the world celebrates May Day, how could you forget?" When I told him that we didn't celebrate it in the US, he was shocked. "What about the workers? They deserve a day." Considering that he was working today, I wondered that he didn't choke on the irony of his words. I quickly recovered by telling him that we celebrate Labor Day on the first Monday of September.

But you know, it just isn't the same. I know that the Soviet communists usurped the Celtic celebrations of Beltane to turn May 1st into a day for workers and unions. And that fear of communism is why the US doesn't celebrate Labor Day on May 1. (May 1 is officially Loyalty Day in the US.) However, there's something to having solidarity with workers everywhere at least once a year. And I don't say that just because I come from a pro-Union family (teachers, steel workers, railway machinists, etc.)


Are you HIV positive?
My post generated an interesting response from my friend Josh. He wrote to say that,

"The HIV one was particularly striking. However, and I don't want to belittle the seriousness of HIV, Sen. Duane of NYS senate is an openly HIV positive man who is doing quite well. I know he has a whole world of difference in terms of health care availability etc. but the point I guess I want to make is that it is important to recognize the life in the individual, not the virus in them."

In a much more eloquent manner, Josh stated what I was trying to say with my post. HIV status passes through my brain briefly, and may return if I notice that someone is visibly ill, however, it is the life, the skills, the joy, the wisdom, and the love of the people that I interact with here in Mozambique that really matters. And that is what I focus on.

I found his comment to be an appropriate reminder today for focusing on what we can do to make the world a better place - regardless of our HIV status. So, I tip my hat to Josh, and to Todos os Trabalhadores do Mundo.