Differences Part Five: Daily Life

Every time I turn on a faucet and get clear running water, and it runs hot or cold, in the kitchen, the bathroom or outside in a hose, I say a thank you.

Every time I turn on an electric switch and a light comes or a machine works, I say a thank you.

When I can go to a refrigerator and get ice cubes, when it is hot, I say a thank you.

When it rains, and I have a roof over my head, that does not leak, I say a thank you.

When its hot, and i can turn on a fan, or if its cold, some kind of heat, I say thank you.

If i need warm water for a cup of tea, i turn a knob, and gas heats the stove immediately, or the microwave heats things in very little time, I say a thank you.

When I pull into a gas station, and they have gas available for purchase, I say thank you.

When I drive 100 miles, on a road, without a single pothole, I say thank you.

Not having these things as readily in Mozambique, as we have in other places, reminds me more and more to give ''thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.''

Differences Part Four: Prisons

I have yet to have any first hand experience with working in a prison of any kind in Mozambique, (trust but verify - do your own confirming research) but one of the ministries at Maforga, visits the local prison on a weekly basis, and I have had several discussions, and read several things about prison conditions in Mozambique. One of the most shocking things to Western thought, is how little care (food and health care) is given. Prisons tend to feed the prisoners very little, similar to the situation in hospitals where family members or friends are counted on to help. over the past few years one proposal was to have the prisoners grow their own food. Other organizations have documented the overcrowding and lack of facilities (no toilets, no beds) in some prison cells in Mozambique. Hebrews 13: 1-3 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

Differences Part Three: Hospitals

Mozambique is one of the poorest nations in the world, and this is reflected by the number of hospitals and doctors there. Most recent estimates say that there are about 600 doctors for the entire population, or one doctor for every 30,000 people. In the U.S. its about three doctors for every 1,000 people. Mozambique only has the capacity inside the country to train about 60 doctors per year, and many of those who go outside the country for training, do not return. Money for medicine is scarce, and many times, in order to get any care in a hospital, money must be paid up front, or a patient will not be given care at all. This all equates to very high infant and child mortality rates (about 76 out of every 1000 infants dies before the age of one, 180 out of 1000 children die before the age of five.) In the U.S. 6 infants out of every 1000 die before the age of one. Perhaps the largest difference is that hospitals in Mozambique (and many other places) do not have the responsibility or capacity to feed the patients that are staying in the hospital. That is a responsibility left to friends or relatives. If no one is available to provide food, or buy medicine, this makes medical situations that much more difficult to solve. This contributes to a life expectancy of 47 years currently. We knew of 11 people who died during the six months we were in Mozambique in 2011.

Differences Part Two: School

We experienced several differences related to schools in Mozambique. Children can walk up to several miles a day (without shoes) in order to get to school. sometimes very young, 5-6 year old children do this , without supervision. Class sizes in Mozambique now average right around 70 per class. The US Department of Education estimates that in the US, nationally, the average class size is twenty-five. Many times, driving along the Beira corridor, from Beira to Mutare, we will see classes meeting outside, for lack of classroom space. We have also seen classrooms that are simply bare rooms, no furniture, sometimes students carry small stools back and forth to school with them.

Another difference. Currently in order to be a become a teacher in Mozambique, (as it was explained to me) one can go to six-eight years of regular school, with one or two years of teaching education. Essentially nine years of schooling will get a teaching credential right now in Mozambique. With fewer teachers, schools also have fewer support staff, secretaries, counselors, nurses, etc are pretty much non-existent in the rural schools. finally, universities, It's difficult to count, but in trying to find information on Universities in Mozambique I think I found references to about ten entities that could call themselves Universities, for a population of 22 million people.

Differences Part One: Work

It's May Day! Every worker in the country gets a raise! (More on that later.)

We get asked questions all the time about the differences between Mozambique and the United States, and sometimes when we try and answer those questions, we are met with some of the most quizzical expressions.  I hope that doesn't reflect our powers of description as much as it reflects how vast the differences are between the two nations, and how difficult that is to grasp, if you haven't seen it and experienced it for yourself.

As a theme for May, I'll try and describe with words and pictures, some of the differences in the following areas (as I currently understand them, reserving the right to update that knowledge and I gather more facts as we continue to learn about the area where we are at.) 



Work
Church
School
Transport
Medicine
Banks /ATMs
Grocery stores / Markets
Prisons
Cooking
Water
Animals
Trash Cleanup
Toilets
Showers
Clothing

I'll start with this difference.  Work. Today is May Day. May 1st.  A big deal globally for the International Workers of the World set.

One could set down a very lengthy treatise on differences in Labor Law between Mozambique and the United States,  but here is one difference.  The Labor Consultative Commission (the National government, the trade unions and the employers' associations) has decided, to give raises to all of the workers in every industry across Mozambique for the last several years.

Minimum and maximum wages are set in twelve different categories of industry. (Ranging from about 80 to 220 dollars per month.)

Even given the mandatory minimum wage, unemployment in Mozambique is around 40%. Of those working, about 70 % earn the minimum wage in their sector of labor, and the average minimum wage only pays about 50% of the poverty line in Mozambique.

A very different scenario from that in the United States.