Visiting Cateme
I mentioned in a recent post (click here) that I was involved in a group looking at the Primary school in Mufa-Caconde. I was supposed to visit this school today, but the trip was canceled. I'm still looking forward to the visit and I' ll keep you updated. In the meantime, I was invited to visit the new primary school in the re-settlement of Cateme.
Now, I've always thought of re-settlements as a result of refugees in times of war or something like that. This re-settlement is the result of economic "development" in Tete province. It is hard to describe the impact of the recent invasion of foreign companies in our neck of the Zambezi Valley. We have huge Brazillian, Australian, Portuguese, and International companies coming to town to explore the hidden riches beneath the blazing African sun.
One company has a 30+ year contract to extract top-quality coal in Moatize 20 km from Tete. In order to do this, they have to remove the local population... to where? Cateme... another 50km or so up the road. What they are doing is quite amazing. It is also controversial, but that is the price of progress. Almost 1,000 families are being moved to the new town. They are given houses, farmland, infrastructure, and more... at the cost of pulling up their roots and shifting everything half-an-hour away. They haven't got a choice... their old homes will be gone, and in place of their villages will be a huge hole.
So, what is the place they will now call home? Cateme... 10 km from the main road from Tete to Malawi. A new "gated-community." The first buildings you notice are the secondary school... still under construction. Freshly painted classrooms... boarding facilities for 300 students, sports complex, labs, library... bathrooms with all the necessary fittings... including WATER. Across the
way, you see the primary school. Similarly equipped with newly planted mango trees that will eventually shade and feed kids on break from class. Teachers' houses are nearby both schools. There is a police station and health post.
The area is huge. The water and electric lines are in place: if you had electricity in your old house, you get it in Cateme. If you didn't, you are able to install it when you have the money. It is fair, but it is tough. They have maintained the organization of the original settlement. People have the same neighbors and local "secretary" in their new "bairo". There is lots of green space between the "bairos" and as 400 families have already moved in, their cows and goats are grazing nearby. Everyone's cows were herded from the old villages to Cateme and presented to their respective owners.
There is a lot to get used to; everything is new. Every house has a latrine and bath-house... most didn't have that before. All the houses are made of cement block and have zinc roofs... most of the old houses were mud huts. No house will be more than 350 meters from a fresh-water pump... many went further for water before. BUT, the market is far away... until local initiative kicks in to set up their sales shacks. They are far from town where they may have gone to church or visited friends. The churches in the original "bairos" were also given land in the resettlement, so it is just a matter of time until they will fill in the gaps.
Time will tell. People will create new routines and find ways to do what they want in spite of the changes. Hopefully they will take advantage of the new opportunities for education and training as they are implemented. For now, 9 families each day are being transferred to Cateme. All their belongings and family members will be settled into their home and welcomed to their school. 9 families a day will join the new community of Cateme. 9 families a day until June or July.
I'd ask you to pray for those 9 families today. That God would give them peace and hope. That He would help the Christian families to show His love to their new neighbors. That there wouldn't be strife among new neighbors. That children would settle easily into class with their friends and new teachers. That teens wouldn't hate being so far from town. That they would all be blessed today. God, bless Cateme.
Now, I've always thought of re-settlements as a result of refugees in times of war or something like that. This re-settlement is the result of economic "development" in Tete province. It is hard to describe the impact of the recent invasion of foreign companies in our neck of the Zambezi Valley. We have huge Brazillian, Australian, Portuguese, and International companies coming to town to explore the hidden riches beneath the blazing African sun.
One company has a 30+ year contract to extract top-quality coal in Moatize 20 km from Tete. In order to do this, they have to remove the local population... to where? Cateme... another 50km or so up the road. What they are doing is quite amazing. It is also controversial, but that is the price of progress. Almost 1,000 families are being moved to the new town. They are given houses, farmland, infrastructure, and more... at the cost of pulling up their roots and shifting everything half-an-hour away. They haven't got a choice... their old homes will be gone, and in place of their villages will be a huge hole.
So, what is the place they will now call home? Cateme... 10 km from the main road from Tete to Malawi. A new "gated-community." The first buildings you notice are the secondary school... still under construction. Freshly painted classrooms... boarding facilities for 300 students, sports complex, labs, library... bathrooms with all the necessary fittings... including WATER. Across the
way, you see the primary school. Similarly equipped with newly planted mango trees that will eventually shade and feed kids on break from class. Teachers' houses are nearby both schools. There is a police station and health post.
The area is huge. The water and electric lines are in place: if you had electricity in your old house, you get it in Cateme. If you didn't, you are able to install it when you have the money. It is fair, but it is tough. They have maintained the organization of the original settlement. People have the same neighbors and local "secretary" in their new "bairo". There is lots of green space between the "bairos" and as 400 families have already moved in, their cows and goats are grazing nearby. Everyone's cows were herded from the old villages to Cateme and presented to their respective owners.
There is a lot to get used to; everything is new. Every house has a latrine and bath-house... most didn't have that before. All the houses are made of cement block and have zinc roofs... most of the old houses were mud huts. No house will be more than 350 meters from a fresh-water pump... many went further for water before. BUT, the market is far away... until local initiative kicks in to set up their sales shacks. They are far from town where they may have gone to church or visited friends. The churches in the original "bairos" were also given land in the resettlement, so it is just a matter of time until they will fill in the gaps.
Time will tell. People will create new routines and find ways to do what they want in spite of the changes. Hopefully they will take advantage of the new opportunities for education and training as they are implemented. For now, 9 families each day are being transferred to Cateme. All their belongings and family members will be settled into their home and welcomed to their school. 9 families a day will join the new community of Cateme. 9 families a day until June or July.
I'd ask you to pray for those 9 families today. That God would give them peace and hope. That He would help the Christian families to show His love to their new neighbors. That there wouldn't be strife among new neighbors. That children would settle easily into class with their friends and new teachers. That teens wouldn't hate being so far from town. That they would all be blessed today. God, bless Cateme.
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