july 24th, 2006

Total picture overload. My last full day in Mozambique. So powerful.

July 24th, 2006
"Today has been one of the most powerful days. We did so much today, it is incredible. I have also experienced the most emotions today... Julie made a comment about packing and, before long, the five of us girls were in the room packing and repacking all of our stuff. It was chaos! So many capalanas and wooden artifacts! Clothes were strewn everywhere! Finally the confusion became organized as each of us worked on our bags. It felt so nice to have everything put away and in order! We walked down the street after our bags were packed to buy more machetes. Unfortunately the metal house didn't have any curved machetes, so I bought a straight one instead. On our walk back home, we stopped at a stand to buy 4 bags of Zana Zana's (one bag was for me).
Photo courtesy: Jenna P.
"Dondo was a quick stop. The boys at the orphanage helped Aaron and Eric unload all that we brought. When the supplies had been passed over, our team passed out blue fizz suckers to all of the kids... Everyone said their goodbyes and got into the Landrover solemnly. Nikki was crying. Others were teary-eyed, too.
Photo courtesy: Jenna P.
"Abelio brought us to a cemetery in the jungle. It was so awesome/crazy/cool! The tombs of the cemetery are all above ground. Most graves are nothing more than mounds of dirt with crosses on them. Some graves were cement rectangles and others yet were more intricate, with tile patterns. Every grave had a cup of some sort upon it - most graves had plates or buckets or other objects. The artifacts were all objects that the deceased used last while alive. The cemetery was located in the heart of the African jungle. Although I didn't see any monkeys, I did see spiders and butterflies. The trees growing overhead were so large and lush. Vines and branches intertwined and crossed over each other at odd and amazing angles. There was nothing eerie about the cemetery - it left me in awe... The oldest person I came across died when they were 62. Most people were in their 30's and 40's... It was just an incredible sight.
Photo courtesy (tea cup): Jessica P.
"The baby orphanage was great!... The kids were wearing their best clothes; all kids had shoes and all little babies had actual diaper-diapers! I was so excited to see the kids looking so good. Poor Elaina didn't have on a fancy dress like the other little girls nor cute shoes - she was in little boys sneakers. The kids were dressed up for members of Mozambican parliament that were coming to the orphanage to visit... When they did come, the children were [gathered together and began to sing. It was cute... [Parliament members] were there for no longer than ten minutes. The moment they left, we brought the kids upstairs to get changed into their regular clothes. Once all of the kids were finished we brought them back down in the yard and played. After an hour, Eric told us that it was time to say goodbye - for the last time. It hurt physically; I didn't want to put Elaina down... The moment I put her down, I started crying. It was such a horrible feeling. I said goodbye to a few other girls before walking through the door. I looked back to see Elaina, but she was hidden by the other children. As soon as I walked out into the street, I just bawled. All of us did. There was not a dry eye in our group. Abelio looked at us funny as we all unwillingly climbed into the Landrover... The ride was nearly silent."Once I got out of the car at ASEM, Dote rushed to the back door of the Landrover and began hugging me before I even got out! It was so great to see her after so long! She stayed by my side nearly the whole night. Cuca set up his projector and computer and, before long, all of the kids at ASEM and all of our team were watching a slide show of every picture our team had taken there. The kids loved the side show! They were very excited to see each other and see themselves projected on the wall. Once the pictures were finished, Cuca turned on the videos I had taken of the ASEM dancers... When the videos were over, the kids lead us into the circle ramada and we all sat at the tables. Kids bursted into song; once one person started, everyone else chimed in. Once a song changed, EVERYONE changed to the song. The head leader at the orphanage began passing out balloons for the kids to blow up. The kids were drumming, singing, dancing, chanting - having so much fun and getting so excited! Naturally, I started dancing too. It didn't take long for the entire thing to turn into one big African style party! I can't even describe what it was like! Pure joy and happiness. Being lost completely in another culture. Not thinking of anything but celebrating the moment. It was amazing... I found Dote and attached myself to her. We clung to each other until the last possible moment. I could feel the tears, but something inside me was acting as a barrier and didn't allow me to cry... We hugged tightly for a few last minutes before I got into the Landrover. I kept waving and waving until she was out of sight. It was at that moment that the tears finally came. I just sat there and sobbed."I feel like I am leaving the people I love the most. I hurts even worse to think that chances are good that I will never see them again. There is nothing I can do. I feel so hopeless. I want to stay in Moz, I want the kids I love to be with me and have all that I have been blessed with... I know Care For Life is a great program; I have seen it in action. I just don't like having to stop, having to leave... It doesn't feel right that life has to be like this for these people. I know Heavenly Father doesn't give people more than they can handle, but I never knew there were people this strong... What now? How do I continue this? I want to be involved in programs like this, but I definitely don't have the money. Heavenly Father will show me a way if it is the road I should travel. I am afraid to go back to the states. I don't know what the transition will be like. I don't fully know what kind of person I will be."
This last photo and video are of our guard, Amude. He was such a fun guy. Always entertained us girls. Left us with some good wisdom. Ps. HE IS ROCKING A MESA HIGH SHIRT. Heck yes!
And I finally posted a picture of Elaina. Well, TWO pictures and a video. First pictures under the baby orphanage section of the entry. Miss her so much.