Life : What & Who Keeps It Going

 Life in Maputo 

To set the stage for my description of life here in Mozambique I want to highlight that  Sierra has this adorable 5 year old and loves him to bits but works long hours as a teaching doctor and program administrator, including at least one 12 hour day, at the hospital.  The reason she moved here is to start a Global Health Program on behalf of two US universities which requires on-site training of residents from here (who were training using old out of date techniques) and coordinating with the two universities to bring residents, staff and fellows here to work with Mozambique doctors.  Plus she is applying for grants and setting up a process to send residents from here to the US on an exchange.  I don't understand half of what she is setting out to do but I know what it is like to start a new program and it is both complicated and stressful.

Coupled with this, my observation (naive as it may be) is that the cultural and economic system in all of Southern Africa, not just Mozambique, is just not set up for single women who work (especially if you have kids).  There are huge hassles that come with living here and big discrepancies between the haves and the have nots, both of which require a domestic infrastructure that we from North America don't begin appreciate until being here for a bit. Plus, Southern Africa is still very 1950's in many respects, including subtle and not so subtle misogyny at a level I haven't experienced in some time. Bottom line is that the only way to make it work is to  build a support team around you.

From my perspective, Sierra has figured this out fairly efficiently, although as she tells me it hasn't been particularly seamless and requires constant attention to keep all the staff moving in the same direction and doing what is required.  As a result I thought it would be interesting to give readers a sense of what it is like and who are the players.  

Here is Marcella.  She is Sierra's Domestic Amanuensis: Khi's Nanny and General Household Manager

Marcella comes at 7 a.m. Monday through Friday and sometimes on Saturday and stays til approximately 6 at night. She cooks, does the dishes (no dishwasher) does the laundry (washer but no dryer), irons, folds and puts away clothes for all of us. Neat drawers have never been my strong suit - so its really nice while it lasts!  

She is an energizer bunny, constantly cleaning because the house has white tile floors in most of the rooms and Khi is in and out all the time with dirty feet.  I'm not much better even though we have a shoes on outside and no shoes in the house policy. I stand in awe of her cleaning skills - corners and baseboards too...my OCD about house cleanliness is more than satisfied ;))

I adore Marcella.  She is unfailingly polite, so keen to please and learn our preferences, including the foods and style of cooking that we like.  I recently taught her to make cookies which was a big hit, especially for Khi and me. More importantly, she is kind, trustworthy and considers it an honour to work doing what she does.  I do have a considerably difficult time communicating with her; Marcella only speaks Portuguese and my vocabulary in Portuguese is very very basic and I can't seem to remember many of the new words I'm learning.  Thus I keep my phone by my side and use Google Translate constantly! 👌 However, she is understanding and always says "obrigada" (thank you) for every little thing.  I learn kindness from her daily.

My second favourite person is  Joaquin (pronounced JO-Walking). See the photo below.  He is the gardener and comes two times a week.  He is a really sweet guy and talks to Khi about plants and gardening.  

This is good because  we had "Drama in the Garden" last week.  I was upstairs just for a short time and Marcella was likely cleaning and Khi found the secateurs and cut down part of a young Avocado tree and the top off a new plumeria plant that Sierra had just purchased.  He also managed to cut back other new plants that Sierra had recently purchased.  It was tragic and subsequently Khi and I have had several conversations about taking care of plants.  Not surprisingly Mom was NOT happy when she came home.  Since then Joaquin has taken upon himself to work with Khi to teach him to care for plants.  This photo of the two of them is taken by the new garden beds that is for the kitchen garden.  We have just planted herbs, peppers, fennel, and will plant lettuce soon.  It's already too warm for spinach and broccoli. I'm not totally convinced about Joaquin's knowledge of gardening but he tells me that his father and grandfather are gardeners and he learned from them.  That said he knows the soil here (its super sandy)and the weather conditions far more than I do so I guess we are both learning from each other.  As an example, I insisted that we get manure for the kitchen garden beds and that it be dug in deeply.  He lightly turned the soil and was surprised when I got up on the bed with the shovel to show him what I meant! 

And the next hero in Sierra's constellation is Alvaro

 

Avaro is the recently hired driver that Sierra arranged for me and Khi because Marcella doesn't drive and I don't want to brave driving on the wrong side of the road in crazy traffic.  He comes at 7 am (school starts at 7:45)  and leaves around 4 or 5 at night depending what may be required. He seems like a really nice guy, is quite dapper, has his own car (super clean inside) and has been driving for ExPats for many years.  Like Joaquin, his path comes from familial heritage. He told me he comes from a family of drivers. His father has been the main driver for the Brazilian Embassy for years.  

I'm still trying to figure out how this Driving Miss Daisy works because it's not like I need him all the time, but he is on salary to take Khi to and from school, me shopping and the both of us to after school adventures.  Eventually he will take over the school commute and once he learns what Sierra wants and the brands she likes he will take over shopping for the house, so for now we both are learning.  FYI Sierra generally disapproves of my impulse to buy large  quantities of food when purchasing.

Last week was our trial run.  I went food shopping with Avaro at Spar and Woolworths (yes the company is alive and doing well in Mozambique).  Obviously all signage is in Portuguese and store protocols are different so it was helpful to have somebody who speaks the language to help me decode acceptable practices.  Oh, did I say there is also a Chinese grocery store named Glory that sells fresh tofu daily.  We went to it as well and we found a Deli that sells parmesan. I was exhausted after a morning of shopping in such a different cultural environment I had to crash. Of course Marcella put everything away.

Later this week I will brave a home improvement centre (a la Home Depot style) with Alvaro to find a hose adapter and other bits for the house. I also am told that he will take me to the outdoor fruit market but he will need to walk in front of me and be the one to negotiate with vendors because the price for an old white woman will be double than it is for locals.  As I said, nothing is strait forward and it sure ain't like shopping at Thrifty's or the Root Cellar. 

And there are others:  Amilcar is a carpenter and handyman who comes when Sierra needs help.  He, like Sierra's other helpers is a lovely man.  Seems like he can fix just about anything and recently refinished some chairs which look fabulous.  He speaks English and keeps a book handy to record new words he hears in English - I should start doing the same for Portuguese.  

A discussion of Sierra's support team is incomplete without a mention of the guards who work for both families in this compound.  Alfeo is in charge nd his helper is  Mario and one more we are told by the other homeowner in this compound is soon to be hired.  

The photo to the left is Alfeo. He is cute as a bug and usually wears his mask on his chin but took it off for the photo.  He  always has a smile for us and seems pleasant but again I can't communicate with him and I have no idea what he is really thinking. Note: If you enlarge the photo you can see he is sporting a NYC subway tshirt.  

Mario who is the older of the two, did not want his photo taken, picks his nose when talking, is toothless in front and I can't tell if he is lazy or deaf.  He moves at his own speed except when Sierra has to yell for him.   I think he is uncomfortable with a strong woman. Generally I think he is old school - as in men count and women serve them and working women still don't count.  Over the weekend he was MIA and we couldn't open the gate. Sierra complained and today Mario turned up today wearing a billy club and boots along with his unfathomable attitude. 

More generally anybody with a large home in Africa has guards because of the HaveNots.  According to Alvaro there is considerable theft here in Maptuo which is why all compounds have walls,  guards and electric fencing  at the top of the walls surrounding the property.  Sierra's property is no different except the compound is adjacent to a portion of the Presidential home which has 24/7 armed guards so she doesn't seem too worried about theft although everything is locked at night. Guess it isn't too different from our city burglar alarms, except it is electric fences and people instead of technology.

As for the other help and because of  Covid, all lessons for Khi have moved to the house.  These helpers include Gideon who teaches swimming to Khi twice a week, Antonio who also comes two times a week to teach capoeira (I think I already posted a photo of him). And  there is a trial guitar teacher also named Antonio who comes on Saturday. Oh I should mention that Khi plays soccer on Fridays out doors at the University with a group of kids from South Africa.  Here is a a good shot of the 5 to 7 year old soccer champs!

Now, in the event you think after reading this that Sierra is entitled. Don't: TIA -This is Africa. 

Our dear friend Marina Rifkin who lives in Cape Town laughed at me when I mentioned all the help and said" I don't even have a kid and a full staff of housekeepers, dogwalkers, and gardeners, and a handyman".  She is the one who reminded me that life here in Africa is not set up for powerful worker women  unless you build a significant system to support you because there are always exogenous variables.  

PS. I just learned there are no utility services that can be accessed online and there is no functioning mail service so all bills must be paid monthly at the various offices such as water, electricity etc.  Avaro went to pay bills yesterday as I was writing this. I have no idea how Sierra knew she needed to pay her utility bills (the could be delivered door to door for all I know). Well, you get the idea> it's an orchestra