When I first came to Mozambique, I was curious about everything. But most about the other person. Ready to learn from people here. On their soil, in their home and surroundings. View from their point of view. I came empty, that is, I put aside the world that I knew. As far as it is […]
Mozambique
At the end of 2021
We started this year in Pemba in fear, and we are ending it in Nacala, fearless. Better circumstances and solved problems did not bring this change. What changed it, it was our trust in God and believing His Word more than anything we can reach for with our five senses. This is what this year […]
All your houses
For the first family we’ve met, I chose something from my clothes and one capulana. We also had a mosquito net which we didn’t use anymore. And something else, ah! A baby bottle. We packed everything in a big bag and shared with them what was ours. Who knew then that an year later we […]
They
Nobody noticed her except me. As if she came only to let me know: I am. This happened while we were painting their nails. Eight Makua women and us two. And children, it is not known whether theirs or their neighbors. A lot of kids. Bowls of water, towels, soaps. It smelled there like dust, […]
Fear not
“Remove fear. I collected it through events and accidents. I cannot take it to Africa. I will not stay there in this state for one day. Remove fear and fill the empty space with joy.” As I wrote down these words of prayer in early July this year, I did not realize what path was […]
Paper house
House made from cardboard boxes. We build them for our children to play they are adults. We found one in the area we live. But it’s not a toy, it’s someone’s home. And everything they have. A married couple with seven children live there, another family of internally displaced people. A roof made from a […]
Potato
In Mozambique, a potato is precious. That’s why how you share a potato, it is how you love. When you go to the kitchen for your plate of rice and beans, you hope it will be there. Usually half, when whole – this is heaven. You’re looking it in your plate. More! You’ve been following […]
It means also to love, when somebody is scratching you
For the first time in my life I was sick with my husband. And not that he was sick. No. I was sick and he was next to me. And me, I was loved. It happened to me a few times in my single life to get sick so that from thinking about the need […]
For a lifetime
When he was a boy, if he was polite? Quiet? Or he has been everywhere? What did he like, what was he playing with, and with whom? What did he want to hear about? What to learn? And what from that has he remembered for a lifetime? It’s mine and not mine. Mine, because I […]
Dependence
First days in the village showed me weakness of independence that I was learning so diligently in the western world. After a while I think that everything there is set up like that a life can be lived without others. As a single woman for many years I was learning to manage things by myself. […]