Let's get this started!!!

Wow! My very first blog post. I'm excited! Both Jasmine and I have been meaning to set-up this blog for the past 8 months, but we only just got around to doing it. To be fair, Jas created our blog and picked the name in February. Unfortunately, it has taken us another
three months before we've actually started using it. In case you are wondering, the name of our blog is a mini-tribute to Stuart McLean, a fantastically funny Canadian radio show host, storyteller, and writer (http://www.cbc.ca/vinylcafe/). Well, not that the blog is up and running, I guess it's time for to write about what I am upto.

I am currently volunteering in Chimoio, Mozambique with Africare, an NGO specializing in aid to Africa. This is my very first trip to Africa and I'm certain it will not be my last. I have been here for about a week, arriving on Monday after a 3 day journey from Boston. Getting to Mozambique is not easy. I had to fly from Boston to New York to Dakar to Johannesburg to Maputo to Chimoio. Luckily, I enjoy collecting frequent-flyer miles, so I did get some satisfaction from getting here.

Since arriving in Chimoio, I've settled into my temporary apartment for the next several weeks. Africare has not been able to provide me with accomodations, so I am crashing with a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) who has a fantastic two-bedroom house just 3 minutes from the Africare office. The only downside is that we have zero furniture, unless you include countertops, floors and water canisters. Life is Chimoio has required some adjustments. We have no running water in the house, even though there is built-in plumbing everywhere. So I've had to learn how to take bucket baths (in a bathtub), fetch water from a well, and avoid throwing toilet paper down the toilet. Luckily, the PCV actually pays for a domestic worker to come 3 days a week. She does most of the labour-intensive housework: filling up large jerry cans with well water, laundry and cooking. While she doesn't cook enough to last till her next visit, it's great to have some pre-made food when I come home!

My room consists of a mattress on the floor, a mosquito net and a bunch of boxes containing leftover materials from some random conference. I tried to arrange the boxes to create a make-shift night table and desk. I also went into the market today and bought a curtain to cover-up my window, which lets in way too much light at 6am.

Living in Chimoio has been very enjoyable so far. The weather is perfect for a Canadian. It's roughly 25C (~75-80F) during the day and 15C (~60-65F) in the evenings. I really couldn't ask for anything better. Apparently, being Chinese comes with an interesting association. Many people associate Chinese people are either being: unscrupulous businesspeople looking to take the county's natural resources or deadly kung fu fighters! Apparently, the kids that live next to me are afraid of me because I might roundhouse kick them in the head. Odd, it's the first time I've known of people being afraid of me.

As for work, I'll write more about work in subsequent posts. I've basically been visiting small-scale farmers. Small-scale basically means family-run. These visits give me a chance to understand the situation of small-scale farmers and the role of Africare's programs in improving their livelihood. The picture on the left is from a cattle farm that I visited on Wednesday. The farm is not properly maintained. The owner is a government employee who bought the land as a retirement property. He plans to renovate the property at some point, but until then, he has hired a couple of farmhands to help him keep the place running. Most farmers don't have enough farm land, yet this guys own tons of property and does nothing with it!