swatting flies

Yesterday I took a field trip to Mopeia; a district west of Quelimane about three hours. This area has been severely impacted by floods in the past and is in danger of future flooding. It sits along the Zambezia River. I was invited to join the director of agriculture to meet with district administrators and WV staff to introduce a new project we are going to implement this coming year. We left Quelimane just before 6am and arrived in Mopeia just as the sun was beginning to get hot. My Portuguese was highly tested as all greetings and meetings were done in Portuguese. My head was spinning. The meetings went well.

In the afternoon, we headed farther into the bush, past small clusters of cyclical mud and grass thatched homes. Our convoy of two white trucks parked along a freshly hoed field. There were a group of ladies awaiting us, gathered beneath the sole tree for some shade from the mid-day sun. I was told they’d been waiting all morning. These were the farmers. A group of families that had been relocated after the floods of Jan 2008 to new homes constructed by the government on higher land. The land they sat on was their new farmland. They waited with anticipation to find out what assistance WV was to provide in turning the freshly hoed soil into productive crops. A translator emerged to translate from Portuguese to their local language. The women sat patiently on the ground, all cradling small babies to their breasts. A handful of men came to join the meeting. And there we sat, underneath a large cashew tree with a local farmers group, in the rich black soil. I began swatting flies. The black soil underneath us was very dry. It was also very black, but with a hint of clay mixed in. I’m told once the rains come, it will be very difficult to work with. I looked down and my pantleg was covered in bright red bugs! I quietly brushed them off and tried not to freak out. :-) The women laughed at one point and I asked what was said – the director was giving a mini lesson on what to do with the money from the crops that will come from this new land. A response was called out and he said “No! No drinks and no new wives!” I noticed a woman was holding a small bottle of gin – she held it up as she laughed.

On our way back towards the town both truck beds transported the women and babies with their colorful wraps and sun umbrellas. We stopped. The land had turned from fertile black soil to dense bush with high and dry brown grass and funky looking trees sporadically popping up over the horizon. Something was wrong. We had a flat tire. Within seconds the trucks emptied out and a handful of men were jacking up the vehicle to change it with a spare. Only the spare had no air! Thankfully the second vehicle had a working spare tire. We were on our way within 15 minutes.

A few observations of the day:
*A green mamba snake was spotted not far from our field meeting - no one was biten
*I asked for a toilet to use upon arriving in Mopeia. The staff members scurried around to find me something acceptable. They pointed to an open-air grass hut. I hesitated and walked in - not knowing what I was walking into. It was the duck pen! And it was full of angry ducks!!! I braced my face from their flight of scurry before using the nicest facility in town. :-)
*Upon pickup of our spare tire being fixed at the local mechanic (aka under a tree) we arrived just as they finished pumping it up – with a bicycle tire! The air gauge was even better – a kick of the boot!

I enjoyed visiting the communities and seeing the projects. I hope to do more of that soon. It was a good field day.