January 25th – Visit to Joline’s Habitat Houses, Massaca

About 25 ICM members visited the Habit Houses built in honour of its member, Joline, in the community of Massaca near Boane.  The 8 houses - named ‘Joline’s Houses’ - were built by 45 volunteers from the ICM and the expatriate community who joined Joline’s family for the build in May 2008, in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity.   For more information on Joline or Joline’s houses visit www.jolineshouses.org. 
After an hour’s bus ride from Maputo, we met Habitat’s staff on the borders of the village.  The January sun was beating down on us as we walked through the pathways that led us to the first of Joline’s houses.  Here we met an elderly lady who was solely responsible for four of her grandchildren after the death of her daughters from AIDS.  A very frail lady, she explained that her greatest challenge is to provide for her family, including getting a hold of the basics for survival. The ICM ensured that she had enough food for the short-term and are in discussions with staff from Habitat about how ICM’s previous donations will be best-spent.

We then visited all other seven houses, where we were met with friendly families and cheerful children.  The houses were well kept and in a good state of repair.We stayed and talked to each family, some of us recognising small children who had been babies at the time of building the houses. Rita had thoughtfully brought along some footballs for the children which were very gratefully received!

We stopped off at the charming Sophie’s restaurant in Matola on the way back where we enjoyed various starters and main courses.  The excursion was a wonderful opportunity for the members of the ICM to see the progress of the village since the building of the houses. (by Charlotte Crookall) 

November 25th - Visit to Malangatana's village Malatana

A big contingent of over 25 of us met the great Mozambican artist Malangatana at his home village of Matalana just off the EN1, about an hour north of Maputo.

Malangatana Ngwenya was born in 1936 in Matalana and is Mozambique’s greatest living artist and poet. He had his first solo exhibition at the age of 25 in 1959 and has worked as a full-time artist for almost 30 years. His work has been shown throughout Africa, Europe, and North America. In addition, he has executed numerous murals, including for UNESCO. He has also helped to start a number of cultural institutions in Mozambique, and was a founder of the Mozambican Peace Movement. Throughout the years, he has received many awards both at home and overseas, notably the UNESCO Artist for Peace in 1997.

Prepared with our cameras (nearly everyone wanted a picture with the artist!), we arrived at Matalana

mid-morning and had the privilege of inspecting the almost-finished museum-gallery that’s being built as part of the Matalana Cultural Centre. We then met Malangatana himself and some of the village elders, also accomplished artists most of them, including Dilon Djindji, one of the original Marrabenta stars (Marrabenta is the typical Mozambican music). After ensuring we were all sitting down comfortably on either wooden benches or stools in a round circle under a tree, Malangatana explained to us that his last name (Ngwenya) actually means ‘crocodile’ – hence the colourful statue of a croc on wheels outside the artist’s workshop! We sat and listened to interesting stories about his early life and about the village, their traditions, and their struggles for a better life and wider access to education. Malangatana works closely with the community at Matalana to improve the lives of his village neighbours, but always with a particular focus on art to ensure there is a next generation of artists to take over from ‘the old guard’. We also heard from the famous Dilon Djindji about the beginnings of Marrabenta and about how he was tended to as a young boy by a then student Eduardo Mondlane! Finally, we were delighted by the impromptu singing offered by another of the village elders… and lucky Joanna was picked to dance with him!

Before our drive back to Maputo, we had the chance to visit the village’s immaculate health post, to talk to a couple of the nurses there; as well as to visit the newly built dorm (a perfect circle with a courtyard in the middle) and the workshop for art students.

November 4th- Excursion to the Hindu Temple in Salamanga

One century ago, the Great Indian Saint KALIDAS arrived from Indian in a mysterious form. He chooses the holy place of Salamanga as his destiny and shares his wisdom on the ancient scriptures. Gradually the Shrine was built and followed by the SREE RAM TEMPLE. The Holy Temple is open till today to all visitors and devotees. The grounds of the Temple are very auspicious to the Hindus, it is considered as a pilgrim's location.

The ICM visit to the Salamanga temple was very pleasant along with the visit to the foundation Minhembeti (Tears). The members had the opportunity to walk on the grounds of the foundation that is being built from scratch. A lot of hard work and dedication is involved. The objective is to serve the population of that community.

We hope that members will be able to visit the Temple and foundation in their spare time and see the progress. It is a legacy being built a heritage for the future generation. (by Sandhya A.)

September 1st - Visit to the sugar mill in Maragra

Over twenty of us visited the sugar mill at Maragra just off the EN1, about 100 km north of Maputo. We drove out of the city in a convoy of one minibus and three cars on the new brick road that starts at Costa do Sol and arrived at the plantation at 10 am. We were warmly welcomed at the Maragra clubhouse by the General Manager, Mr. Mike Buchanan, and several of his staff. There was coffee, tea, refreshments, and a wonderful view of the sugarcane fields spreading down towards the Incomati River! After our welcome treat, we listened to a most interesting presentation by Mr. Buchanan on the history of Maragra. Originally set up as a plantation and mill by the Petiz family in the 1960s, it suffered a long period of decay after its operations were stopped in 1984. Illovo Sugar Ltd. and the original owners came to an agreement to reinvest in the mill and the plantation infrastructure: as a result, production resumed in the late 1990s, only to be temporarily halted by the devastating floods of 2000 (we were later shown a marker in the fields that shows the water level reached over 6 metres!). But the future is looking bright for Maragra and we heard about the expansion plans currently being implemented. An important point to make here is that the Mozambican sugar industry is the largest formal employment sector in the country! After a brief session of Q&A, we were all driven in cars around the plantation fields. First we had a look at the dykes that keep any excess water from the Incomati River from spoiling the fields. Then we had a look at a cane field being cut, a day after it had been burned (to get rid of the leaves and make the cutting easier). Whilst around the plantation we learnt much about the sugar cane cycle and about the hard work involved in looking after it. Next, we visited the mill in small groups of five. Beforehand, we were ‘fitted’ with hard hats and foam earplugs for the noise – which made the explanations a bit harder to hear! We saw how the sugar cane sticks are brought in, cut into small pieces, mashed, boiled, and the special ‘distillation’ process that produces that which most of us cannot do without – sugar! We were even treated to a look at the golden particles through a microscope so that we could see the sweet crystals! To top it all off, we had a scrumptious lunch waiting for us back at the clubhouse. We’re grateful to Mr. Buchanan and his staff for taking the time off to show us around, explain all our sugar-related questions, and spend their lunch-break with us! Thanks also to Céline and Celesta for arranging and organising such a fascinating excursion!

July 7th - Guided tour of Pancho Guedes buildings in Maputo

Architect Amancio d’Alpoim Miranda Guedes, better known as Pancho Guedes, is an architect, painter and sculptor who spent most of his creative life in Mozambique, leaving close to 500 designs, including approximately 85 buildings in the city of Maputo only. Jane, from Event Plan, gave us an overview of his influences and the diversity of his work at Café Sol before setting off in a bus with 2 local architecture students to explore a selection of his houses in more detail. Our tour took us to several of his masterpieces including: the Red House between Avenida de Zimbabwe and Kenneth Kaunda (although it is now painted white!); several twinned homes on and off Kim Il Sung as well as on Armando Tivane; the Prometeus block on Mao Tse Tung; the Dragon block of flats just off Eduardo Mondlane; and the Smiling Lion block of flats by the Army barracks. A special highlight was being able to go into one of the houses he designed and the home of our own ICM member Marga – we all loved its Gaudi-esque white chimneys, original triangle-shaped roofs, cylinder-like fireplace, and staircase with metal lines resembling a suspension bridge. Thanks to Marga for allowing us to have a peak!

                                                                                                                                                                Topˆ

June 30th - Visit to the Maputo Port

A group of about 15 of us spent the morning visiting the Port of Maputo courtesy of the Port Authority, Capt. Ron Herman. Willie Nel, Chief of Security at the Port, picked us up with a bus at Café Sol and accompanied the group for the entire visit. We were lucky to get an albatross’ view of the Bay of Maputo from one of the tugboats which took us out towards the entrance of the bay, past the Catembe ferry line, and back to the Port. Although the day started off grey, and was slightly windy and cold (even for Mozambican winter), we enjoyed hearing about the depth of the shipping lane, the number of boats that the Port loads and unloads on a given day, the types of produce that goes through the Port and some other fascinating facts about one of East Africa’s largest commercial harbours. Back on dry land, we were driven around port installations to see the fruit loading area, the state-of-the-art merchandise scanner (able to see through up to 10 cm of steel!), the coal and sulphur mounds in the open air (and how Port staff manage their potentially hazardous reactions to hot weather!). Of particular interest was our visit to the recently-built sugar storage warehouse, where tons and tons of white and brown refined sugar wait in bags of up to 50 kg to be shipped off to Europe, Asia and other parts of Africa. Capt. Herman met us at the old colonial-style director’s building for a thorough and extremely informative presentation on the Port’s history (it used to be bigger than Durban Port!), its management structure and its objectives for the future. A fascinating insight into regional commercial links! To top it all off, we were treated to a scrumptious lunch of ham, cheese, fruits, fish cakes, and samoosas (plus strawberry tiramisu for dessert!), all wonderfully presented, at the rooftop terrace of the building. We sat and ate, thankful the sun had decided to make an appearance and warm us all, with 360 degree views from the Railway Station to the MCEL building, to the Bay to Maputo, across to Catembe and on to the cargo terminal at Matola. And, on our way out, our host for the day Willie, presented us with pens and mugs with the colourful logo of the Port of Maputo – a great keepsake of a memorable visit!

                                                                                                                                                                Topˆ

June 23: "Sore Bums Day" : All-day excursion to Incomati River Lodge

Last month it was dubbed the “wet bums” excursion, this time I think “sore bums” may be a better description for our adventures in reaching and coming back from the Incomati River Lodge! An intrepid (they didn’t know quite how much when they started off!) group of 10 set off for Marracuene on the sandy road through Costa do Sol. The skipper Bennie and his fast boat was ready for us at the Macaneta ferry crossing and we happily breezed up the river, with a bit of splashing water, until it suddenly came to a

stop and we eventually moored up on the tall reefs, amused by Bennie’s announcement that we had ran out of petrol just 5 km from our intended destination! We had to be rescued by 2 canoes and a small fishing boat, sent by the Lodge. With a shortage of oars, most of us enjoyed being rowed upstream (and a fair bit of bird-watching along the way) despite the slight face wind, initial pangs of hunger, and the hippos nearby! In fact, most of us never saw the hippos and were only told afterwards – they say

ignorance is bliss! Thankfully, hostess Dee had lunch ready for us when we all finally got there and we thoroughly enjoyed a buffet of salad, grilled chicken, fish cakes, rice and a fantastic crab curry! To work the food off (and give some time for manager Henry to figure out how we were going to get back) most of us went on a walk beyond the camp. And we certainly worked the food off as we got lost and ended up on a much longer tour than we had intended! Back at the lodge, we sat and admired the pre-sunset views from the wooden deck – the sight of fast-floating water plants underneath us making us feel as if we were on a raft, moving fast on the surface of the water instead of in dry land. After much discussion of the technical problems involved in making the boat usable again (now it had petrol, but no battery to start the motor!), we were driven back to the Macaneta ferry on Henry’s car (for the lucky ones) and on an open truck for that real African experience (hence the “sore bums”)! But, goodness, our transportation problems were not over: Henry’s car had a flat tire less than 10 minutes’ drive from the ferry. Since it was getting dark, we all piled up on the truck as best as we could without hitting each other and continued on.  It was pitch black by the time we boarded the ferry and reached our cars, ready to drive back home after nearly 12 hours of a travelling odyssey!

                                                                                                                                                                 Topˆ