This week has been really busy and I have been on the run from all manner of animal and insect! Yes, I am aware that I am in Africa BUT its all a little too much for me as many of you know animals are not my friends......and just to prove a point a mouse has just SHOT out from underneath the cupboard. Im having heart palpitations.....! Im now standing on the chair screaming.....WHY ME! Mice are called Ratos here....this is a mouse (its tiny but Im telling you I sleep in the room next to the living room, which is where this mouse seems to reside, IF that monster of a creature comes in my room Im going to kill it (when I stop screaming and clamber down from whatever I managed to jump up onto).
Then there are the DOGS! I don’t think Ive talked about these dogs very much but I actually hate them (Im sorry dog lovers but I don’t even think you would love these dogs). They are sooooo mangy I cant even look at them. Ive only recently actually properly looked at them out of shear fear but there is a black one that has one eye, half chewed bloody ear and patches of missing fur….its actually revolting. Sometimes when I sit outside its eating its nibbling at its tail or other parts of its body. I really makes me want to vomit…. These dogs are going to be the death of me!
On Sunday I was taken home by one of the other volunteers as it was late. We get to my gate and walk about 10 feet in and like some ravaged beast from hell these dogs appear from nowhere....barking snarling growling.....my heart.....I could have actually had a properheart attack. Dario, the other volunteer, was shitting himself as much as I was (sorry for the language but you need to understand). It was so dark as there isn’t any lights around my house and he was so scared he actually grabbed my hand (no it wasn’t the other way round….) we closed our eyes and started walking. I don’t know if he said a little prayer but I did see my life flash before my eyes.....they were just snarling and circle our feet. Ive been told there bark is worse than there bite but Im really not up for finding out and also I haven’t had arabies jab so if these sons of guns bite me then this show would actually be OVER (I don’t think they have rabies but worst case scenario). We eventually got to my front door and I ran inside and Melita, one of the helpers, saw my distress as I explained in broken Portuguese the trauma from the gate to the door! We left Dario outside and he then started knocking ‘Ola Ola..Kamilah’....I said are you ok....he said you cant just leave me here…. how am I going to get back out of your garden.....man up Dario! Anyway, Melita had to walk Dario back to the gate and that just one of many….the other time this happened I was on my own. That time I felt like I was having a nervous breakdown whilst dying at the same time. That time I couldn’t go any further than the 10 feet and had to s-l-o-w-l-y turn back to the road….I was shaking and I had to find a neighbour to take me to the door. Now I have the number of Melita and if its dark I call her and she walks me into the house. Ridiculous I know but I just cant deal with the DOGS!
Work this week has been really great although I have missed the boys at Ingrid Chawner. I am now only there two days a week (Terca-Feira e Quarta Feira) and then the other days I am at Mozarte (pronounced Moz-r-tee). Segunda – Feria(Monday) at Mozarte was a little boring as there wasn’t much to do.It’s a really nice place with LOADS of potential. The centre was created by the government to encourage more Mozambicans to get involved in traditional arts like Batik, Leather work, weaving, ceramics etc. The centre has a shop attached to it and all products made within the centre are sold there. Mozarte takes 20% of what the artist make to feed back into the centre. There is also a restaurant which sells traditional food which I have when Im there and it cost just under a £1 for a full plate of food! BARGAIN!
On Wednesday my role was laid out for me in a meeting with the director. He wants me to oversee all areas of design ensuring that all products that the artists make are of a certain standard. I am there to helpinduce ideas and bring my skills and knowledge to the table. My aim is that all products within the shop are remain authentic to Mozambique but are current or have a simplicity about them which enables them to have longevity. My first stop was with the man that makes the leather bags, Horaceio. I showed him a leather bag that I had brought with me from London and I thought he could try put a Mozambique twist on. The bag is a small,simple, tan leather cross body bag with a small buckle at the front to keep the flap closed. The face of the bag has a small design pressed into it and its simple yet very effective. Horacio was so excited and he suggested we go to the place where he buys the skins to make the bags. The factory was brilliant and had so much character but not that much good quality leather. Ive discussed a visit to South Africa to see what they might have available. I was taken on a mini tour by the owner as you can see from the pictures below. EVERY WORD was in Portuguese but somehow I managed to get the general idea of the process. Im looking forward to seeing what he can do.
The ladies who are in the weaving rooms are a treat. Manuela has taken me under her wing and is keen to become the next big designer of weaved clothing. Its a beautiful art and the wooden loom she uses is brilliant. Her feet do one thing and her hands do another as she sits on this wooden frame. You can see her below:
Im not sure that making clothes from this is really where she needs to be but I think its great for trims on bags and clothes. The same method is used to make mats for tables and floors and the colour combinations are really lovely. She uses pieces of fabric as well as plastic bags or reeds from corn to weave each line. Its really interesting and at some point she’s going to teach me!
The women in the clothes department are really nice. They cut patterns from eye straight onto the cloth. I don’t know how accurate things are but I haven’t seen one pattern anywhere. Ive done a few designs for them to try on Wednesday as the current sihoulettes are really horrible. They were really keen to get started so we are going to go to the Capalana warehouse to see what prints we can get our hands on. Im VERY excited. I have requested they receive an over locker and a dummyand a proper pattern cutting table so they can create paper patterns to use over and over again.
I haven’t spoken to the man that does metal work yet. Im not sure what needs to happen with his stuff and I don’t think I really understand it. He can make anything from metal (I think) and at present he is making lap stands which are ok but no one is buying but in fact no one is buying ANYTHING in that shop. The stuff is not where it needs to be. The shop itself is a great space but it needs a complete make over.
I am on the hunt for a wood carver, ceramics man, batik artist and someone who can weave baskets etc...I went to the art market this Saturday and was blown away buy some of the talent talent. Ive put a few things that I like below….dont know why I didn’t take some pictures of the batiks. They were stunning. Its all very exciting and cant believe that Ive been giving an opportunity like this. Next week we have an artist and a marking man arriving on behalf of VSO. Im looking forward to meeting then and then we will be the team that will hopefully get this show on the road!
Today I went to Ingrid Chawner. It was complete an utter mayhem, bedlam, carnage and or chaos you choose. Today was my art day and so I have been planning for weeks now to make Balao Animals (Balloon Animals) with the boys using the paper machte (I don’t know how you spell it). It was the most crazy morning ever!!! I made the paste out of flour and water and that was fine. It was all over the tables and floor which is also fine. I had it all over my clothes and Sara had it in her hair and that was fine. Then the boys were eating it and spearing it on their faces...that was the turning point. I can laugh now but at the time I just wanted to pick up each corner of the room like I was a giant and roll it up into a ball, boys included, and just kick it into outer space. They wouldn’t listen and the balloons were being used as footballs and the ones that did cover the balloons in paper then wanted to kick the wet newspaper coveredballoon outside in the sand. I tried to explain that this was for a project and the end result was going to be an animal that they would have made but they were not having a bar of it. I cant blame them as I didn’t bring a finished animal with me and they have probably never heard of, let alone seen, anything like this before. They had no concept of the end result and could only see what was in front of them which was theballoons, the flour and water mixture and newspapers. In the end, out of approx 13 children who made and had balloons, we had 4 balloons to show for it and out of those four balloons two were made by the same person! Im shaking my head just thinking about it and to add insult to injury the next day the teo other volunteers let them use those 4 balloons as footballs outside. What the ****! The other two boy volunteers were no help at all. They just kept saying to me let them do what they want. Its not possible for them to complete a project lasting more than an afternoon as they don’t have the metal capacity for it. I don’t think they realised who they were telling this too because I just let them know that the show wasn’t going to go down like that! IF WE CONTINUE TO PLAY INTO STEREOTYPE THEN THESE CHILDREN WILL CONTINUE TO STAY SMALL. WE NEED TO THINK BIG FOR THEM AND THEY WILL EVENTUALLY FOLLOW OUR LEAD! Bad habits need to be broken in slowly so the task ahead requires patients! We have to be united, forceful and their cheerleaders. We need to stand strong as we know what we are trying to get them to achieve even if they cant. I understand that these volunteers have been here for 5 months now and they ‘know’ what can be achieved but I think they need to give this a chance. We need to teach them about longevity as live is a long road in itself and not everything is instantaneous. Sometimes you have to give a little before you can get. Wooooohooooo its off my chest!
Anyway, on Tuesday when I return as Darf Vaidour we are going to try again. ROUND 2 with an example of a pig as created by my Portuguese teacher, thank you Elder! Sarah and I are determined to get this under our belts and Adrian and Benny need to get with us on it. I think they’ll be so proud of the animals once they are finished. I managed to take a few pictures just before things got completely out of control. I will let you know how Tuesday went on the next blog!
Lastly, I got my hair done today! One of the guys that works at Ingrid Chawner took me as he claims he used to have locks.....Im not sure if he’s telling me the truth of if he was just trying to ‘speech me’. Everyone here stares at me and my hair or maybe they just stare at me as a whole. Ive been told I do look Mozambican but then there is something about me that is not quite right....its when I open my mouth that everyone is a little shocked which is really off putting. I think its because people expect me to be able to speak Portuguese and I cant…. So back to my hair....Edson took me to this hairdresser in some market. Before we got there he was ‘Kamilah, its not a Salon Salon its in a Market but the guy is good’......I just wanted to know if the brother could wash and re-twist my hair. I didn’t care where it was I just needed him to be able to do the job. We roll up to the market, chapa style (of course), and its a proper maze style market with stalls back to back and side to side. Puddles of muddy water on the floor from the rain (its been raining a lot in the last few days....its really nice) and music blaring with Portuguese and Shangalar (local language)chitter chatter coming from every corner. Edson finds the guy....he has dreds....good start....there is a a bamboo style roof with a barber chair. All the sides of the ‘salon’ are open. He gets two buckets and Im washing my hair in the middle of the market. The end result was fab….I’ll be going back. It cost me just under £4…..compared to the £45 that I usually pay at home. I suppose if you imagine that the average wage a month is about £45 then you can see why thing might be a little cheaper. The price of bread is about 50p and people eat it every morning, bottle water is the same price for a 1.5ltr bottle. Transport is cheap at between 10 and 14p a journey but I think it all depends on how often you have to use transport as it can all mount up. School fees have to be paid and clothes have to be bought and toiletries are really expensive. My spending is about £35 a week at the moment so as Im typing Im thinking “Where the hell is my money going”. It seems a lot if the average wage is £45 a month and that £45 is feeding a whole family for a whole month!
Anyway, this blog is longer than usually as its been split over about a week and a bit so it also might be a bit confusing as everything seems to be happening on the same day. I would love to send a video entry but to upload is loooooong but I will see what I can do. Kemi and Makeba sent me a lovely video message. I wish it was longer ladies but it was really nice to receive so thank you soooooooooo much. Ive watched it 3 times already this evening….lol.
Just quickly…Im going to call it ‘weight gate’…. (joke) Im hoping Im a little slimmer than when I left. I walk everywhere, drink loads of water, sweat buck loads and eat three times a day with no snacking! Maybe I’ll have lost that double chin by the time I come back…..fingers crossed…..those cakes still draw me in from time to time!
Love you guys
Xxx
PS:Ive just uploaded loads of pictures in no particular order so I hope you enjoy.
PPS. Having spent 2hrs in the internet cafe I have given up on uploading more pictures....I just dont have the patients!
