MozamWeek

The the past few months, we have been experiencing unexpected blessings. First came the lasagna. A visitor decided to fill his luggage with boxes of lasagna noodles when I mentioned that the local cost of lasagna runs about 6x the price of other pasta. So we just don't buy it. When he came with 10 lbs of extra weight to fill, and we had no better ideas, He filled it with lasagna!  Then came the Cheerios. There have been Cheerios and other cereals in Tete for years, but at nearly $10/box, we just skip over them. Suddenly the corner store was filled to overflowing with HoneyNut Cheerios... and they were selling for $1/box! So, we stocked up. Felt blessed to have an alternative to the usual toast or corn flakes, and moved on. Next came "Pie Apples"... now apple pie is always a treat, but "pie apples" are never part of my usual shopping list. They are canned apple slices... they are unsweetened. So they are sort of like chunky applesauce ...

In the two previous posts, I mentioned how  RED ZEBRA BOOKS   can improve literacy skills in general and how  RED ZEBRA BOOKS  are helping teachers improve comprehension skills in particular. This is my last post about why I love  RED ZEBRA Project . What more can I say? Well, RED is my favorite color... and I think it is becoming very popular with young readers!  RED ZEBRA BOOKS   are incredibly well-received. I have a long list of stories about how I see children and adults turn on to reading when they actually understand the content. It makes a difference, you know. What is reading for if there is no message in the words?  Very early on, I found that I needed someone to get behind the distribution in a way I can't. That is where Veronica comes in. She's now  distributing  RED ZEBRA BOOKS   and she's a real powerhouse! Veronica is 24 years old with a high school diploma. She works for a Christian ministry as a cook...

Yesterday I shared about how I believe Nyungwe  RED ZEBRA BOOKS  will have a positive effect on all literacy skills of Nyungwe children studying in Tete schools where Portuguese is the medium of instruction. Today I'll talk about how these Simple Nyungwe booklets are giving teachers confidence and adding reading comprehension strategies to their lessons. Just having the books published increases the connection between home culture and literacy. Knowing that Nyungwe is a "real" language is a good start in helping people feel that what they know is valuable. Through  RED ZEBRA BOOKS , the younger generation grows curious about the knowledge their elders can share. City kids see that the language they hear at home is a valid means of communicating in writing, too.  Back to how  RED ZEBRA BOOKS  fit into the picture. Teachers are mandated to teach kids about local culture and use the local language,* but it is complicated to make up lessons th...

Some of my friends and acquaintances on Facebook or otherwise will know something about the  RED ZEBRA PROJECT . This is a non-profit organization currently based in Cape Town, South Africa, started by dear friends who love the Nyungwe people as much as we do. In the next few days, I'd like to share how  RED ZEBRA BOOKS  came to Tete and are making a difference around here. At the edge of the provincial capital of Tete, a good 90% of kids speak Nyungwe 90% of the day. For many, school is the only place that Portuguese, the official language of Mozambique, even seems important.  Nyungwe  RED ZEBRA BOOKS   are colorful and chock full of local culture. Children are presented with stories written in their own language for the first time.  We were shocked when our simplest idea became the overall favorite.  "The Bean Book" is simply numbers 1-10 with the respective number of beans and the Nyungwe word for each number. Even teenagers, pu...

This week I went into town to pick up some eggs as usual. My regular egg spot is at the "First of May Market" where the trucks unload trays of 30 eggs and people carry them off by the stacks all week long. In all our years in Tete, this is THE place to get eggs. Until this week. Drive by, and no stacks of egg trays? Other end of the market, same thing. The guys selling boiled eggs are few and far between. The grocery store still has eggs by the dozen, but not trays of 30. Under the bridge the market stalls were selling eggs. Each egg usually costs 5mt... except at Christmas when people crazily make lots of potato salad and seem to need lots of hard boiled eggs. At Christmas the price jumps to 180mt, then 200mt, then 240mt. Crazy! The guy at the bridge stalls informed me that his precious last tray of eggs was going for 10mt/egg. That's 300mt for a tray of 30. This is a staple protein for us here. We go through a tray a week for sandwiches, cakes, pancakes and qu...

This weekend we had the rare experience of being "offline" for over 72 hours. Being this is Africa, we expect that this COULD happen from time to time, but it usually doesn't. Lucky us! During that little blip in the disconnectedness of our lives with others all around the world, I felt funny. Here is a little comentary on my few days away from e-mail, Facebook, and Google. Thursday Evening: Hmmm, something is not right here. My Facebook wall won't update... and I can't get tot hat recipe I looked up this morning. Friday Morning: Off to M'Padue school without even a "here I go" message to my friends. Oh well, I don't have time anyway! Friday Afternoon: Mikael, "Seems there is something wrong with the internet. It isn't working at the office either." Me, "I wanted to post a few pictures from this morning, but I can wait." I waited... here they are... Opening of the meeting with about 50 teachers in a normal classr...

While we often complain about how things don't work in Africa or how long it takes to do some things here, I must admit, it isn't everything that is harder to take care of around here. I can get shoes fixed on the sidewalk near the supermarket. Another guy does watches on the same street. Here are a few things I've done in the past week that were easier in Tete than home in USA or Sweden: Getting copies of old newspapers Yesterday's news is always new! I waited until afternoon to get this paper on the day it came out. Unfortunately, it was only available after 2pm. Next day I picked it up for the usual cost of 15 mt. I could have gotten a copy of ANY of the papers from the previous week for the same price. Since they never sell out, you can always find old newspapers... but they don't give them away or discount them if they are old. Dress-makers and tailors are always nearby Second hand markets and local tailor shops are easy. Katie and I went ...