You Can Have the Last Bite: Nampula 2007- by Erin

This summer I took part in a paranormal vacation where I would be working with Street Children and Orphans. Most of them have deadly diseases. It was something I signed up for because I knew that something needed to be done to save people who are dying on the other side of the world. Africa was a place I was always interested in traveling to, but never thought I would have the opportunity to do so. The majority of my past summers have been spent at my cottage at Shuswap Lake where I play all day long and the weather is my biggest concern. Nigel had warned me that it would be a trip like no other, and that it was defiantly worth leaving the traditional cabin vacation to do. I really had no idea what I had gotten myself into when I signed up for the trip to Mozambique ; however, I knew it would be an experience unlike any other.

It started with a long and tiring plane ride from Vancouver to Johannesburg with a lay- over in Hong Kong . It gave me a lot of time to think about Africa and what I might see. I was excited and nervous at the same time, but it was a feeling that I had never felt before.

The further we traveled the more I realized that Africa really isn't like anywhere in the world. There was one night I woke up in the middle of the night and I couldn't sleep. All I could think about was the people I had seen earlier walking down the street with 30 pounds of food stacked on their head. I wondered what they would think of us if they knew where we came from and how much we had compared to them. I couldn't help but wonder how the people there can be so happy with so little, and we can be unhappy with so much. I remembered counting down from day 48 until our departure. It was a strange feeling to roll onto your back and wake up in a grass roof hut with a bug net over your head. That was when I realized how far I was from home.

Once we were in Mozambique it became a different world, much different than South Africa . It was bizarre to see how two countries right next to each other can be so diverse. Maputo was the first city we went to in Mozambique . It was a dirty city with people walking barefoot everywhere. Markets with fresh fruit and Salvation Army clothing, and garbage piled on the streets everywhere. Getting off the plane from Maputo to Nampula was shocking.

I saw 5 street kids running around barefoot begging for money with their swollen stomachs hanging out and sores all over their bodies. Nevertheless, I was happy to be in Mozambique , I knew I was one step closer to changing the lives of many Africans, as well as my own.

I have never really traveled anywhere outside of North America, and the Caribbean . I remember the first day in Nampula. Mark took us out for lunch and I thought I would never feel safe in this city but days later I felt protected by street kids and people who knew what our purpose there was. I was extremely excited to finally get the opportunity to meet Moises and Connie, the two most talked about people in Humanican. They were wonderful. Connie was like an African mom to all of us, which made it easier to be there. The street kids wouldn't be there until the next day, however the workers we hired were there and we were greeted by them in a language which we could not understand. The language barrier between us was difficult but it was interesting to see how humans can find alternative ways to communicate with each other. My favorite thing was that, no matter what language we spoke we both knew what laughing was and that it was happy feeling. When the street kids laughed with us, I knew that our purpose there was being fulfilled.

The street boys were like their own family, and we were our own family. They were from the poorest and most underdeveloped continent in the world, and we were from one of the most prosperous countries in the world. Yet somehow we created a bond between us that made it nearly impossible to say good-bye. I was so confused when these starving kids wanted me to eat their lunch with them. They even let me have the first bite. I thought of myself at home when someone would ask for something of mine and I would say "you can have the last bite." When it was probably something I didn't even need. I loved having lunch with them and listening to them laugh at me because they knew I wasn't used to eating with my hands. It was a kind of humiliation that I actually appreciated. Teaching these kids how to write their name or even spell it was an amazing feeling. They would clap and laugh and jump for joy when I told them it was good. It was interesting to spend time in the Mother Theresa Orphanage as well because some of the street kids could have been in there when they were younger. The first time being there was heart breaking and so was the last time being there. I loved seeing how much we affected the lives of these kids.

Even if I can't change the world, I can change and affect the lives of many people that I come across, and in return they can change my life. The world I live in today is a better place because of organizations like Humanican that put the effort in to change and save lives. This was the best experience I could have ever asked for. Humanican taught me that changing one life is better than none at all.

Reflections from the Heart of Darkness : Nampula 2006 - by Mark Gerelus

The first Humanican trip to Mozambique during the summer of 2006 was an overwhelming success. Linley and the eight Calgarian high school students, as well as I left for South Africa on the fourteenth of July and, after arriving in Johannesburg nearly two full days later, embarked on our three-day introduction to one another and to the local environment. The group bonded together nicely over two days worth of game driving, visiting local villages and schools, and getting some much needed rest after the journey. We proceeded by truck to Maputo, the capital of Mozambique and then caught our flight to Nampula city, the capital of Nampula province in the most Northern third of the country. By the time we arrived at the Hotel Karutaka, which was to be home for the month, we had already all become wonderful friends.

The landscape seems alien, as do the constant stares of starving eyes, and yet there remains a vibrancy to the land and even more so the people who inhabit it. Our partners in our work with the street kids, Moises and Connie met us at the airport and proved very capable guides, but more importantly very dedicated to the work we sought to undertake with them. Their dedication to these orphan children is humbling. We quickly built a good working relationship, and a friendship that will see this project through its most trying times I am sure.

The work is tiring, but rewarding on all accounts. Mondays we split into two groups, some students came with me out to the drop in center (future sight for the transitional housing and trade school) to work on our building projects. This year we built a classroom/meeting area, while some of the street kids worked on digging a well. Also, we helped Winston, a missionary from Papua New Guinea who lives and works with Moises and Connie at the drop in center, to line the excavation for a future latrine with cinder block. The rest of the group went with Linley to the Mother Teresa Orphanage to help the sisters with their daily work, and believe me they have plenty. These are the strongest women I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

Tuesdays and Wednesdays were spent as a group at the center working with the kids themselves. This included performing skits about HIV/Aids, hygiene, and the importance of education for themselves as individuals, and for their country as a whole. We also handed out toothbrushes, and dressed wounds for the street kids. This was an experience one truly needs to have to understand how the minds of these children work. It was a lesson for us all in how dire their situation can truly be, and it was quickly apparent that all they sought was survival, they haven’t had a chance to dream as of yet.

The rest of the week was generally spent wherever the kids felt most useful, for some that was building with me, or volunteering at the orphanage with Linley, others still felt best working in the local schools. There is no shortage of places to exert ones effort, and we certainly didn’t legislate where that was to be for any individual on the trip.

Our weekends away were amazing. We spent two days in Pemba and two days on the Isla de Mocambique, all of which were memorable days. We left Calgary near strangers but by the time we went to Pemba nearly two weeks later we were already the best of friends. It’s amazing to watch the students’ initial reaction to abject poverty quickly turn into a drive to improve the world about them. This is a truly unique bonding experience for all those involved.

To be honest, the future of the street children looks bleak in many cases. However, the work that Humanican will continue to undertake with Moises and Connie to help shed light on the paths that these children have been forced to walk will make a huge difference for all those involved. I embrace the challenge to build something out of nothing for these children. They deserve it by the very fact that they are alive, and so we will work with them, and hope that you or someone you know will join our cause and effect positive change in the day to day lives of these street kids.

Please contact us if you are interested in coming on an adventure through Mozambique, as well as your own heart and soul next summer.

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