Mozambique Part Three: ‘It’s complicated’

Well, I am coming towards the end of my time in Mozambique.  Victoria and I have had lots of ‘funny moments’, some ’fed- up moments’ (feeling tired/sick/grubby/sweaty/confused/bored waiting in hospital queues etc) only a couple of ‘frightening moments’ (lights going out at the base and a wild storm at 1am when I apparently came off the bed like I’d been shot into space) but thankfully we have had no ‘falling out moments’. (Alleluia, Gloria a Deus!)

Of course, there’s still time 🙂  I don’t leave till Tuesday…

At least I’m planning to leave on Tuesday.  The flight out of Beira to Joburg should hopefully go as planned but the flight from Jo’burg to Heathrow is looking dodgy. All airlines into Heathrow have been told to only bring half their passengers, which is a bit pants. Which half shall I send?  I know people often say you leave your heart in Africa but personally either I’m either going in one piece or not at all.

Probably the worst that might happen is a tedious delay in Joburg but Victoria has furnished me with the contact details for a guest house just 2 mins from the airport.

I am hugely grateful for the opportunity to be here, I feel like I’ve learnt so much. It’s been brilliant to stay with the Mocuna family. I’ve visited all of Victoria’s ‘favourite’ places: the hospital, the immigration office (not such favourite places!), the base, the beach, the church in the basket ball stadium but best of all the boys in Casa Re’om itself.

One of the key things I’ve learnt is that ‘life is complicated’. I’m sorry if this doesn’t sound like a very profound insight but what I mean is that we tend to think that life is complicated in Africa, harder somehow. I’m not sure that it is, maybe the complications are just different complications than our complications but people are complicated beings wherever they live. And when you have any enterprise involving complex communication across cultures involving human beings …., well,’ it’s complicated’!