George

 

Like Africans in general, Mozambicans have the lazy label too. That is nothing but a generalization and, as it happens with any other generalization, sooner or later it proves to be wrong. George, our guard, is a living example that the label is wrong.

 

We had a holiday this week and as soon as I understood that George was on duty I sighed with relieve. I knew the holiday would be less hard, even with TD at home and Andy and girlfriend supposed to arrive.

 

As TD is involved in a short movie production, I suggested: “If you need a competent assistant, take George with you.”

 

Maybe he thought I was just joking, but if he weren’t so busy he would witness how useful George is. I spare you from a list of things he is capable of taking care, always with a generous smile. From mechanics to electricity, from cooking to gardening, George is not only ready but also very competent.

 

We pay him the same most people pay, what means he should receive a lot more. In this case we cannot pay more than we pay to the other personnel or it would mean trouble for him. We have to find other ways to show him our appreciation.

 

I don’t think he works for us just because we treat people with dignity. I don’t believe he works for us just because of a particular fondness, though sometimes I almost believe in it. I avoid thinking that way because I decided long ago not to be ingenuous in terms of people in general.

 

The majority of Mozambicans live in such fragile conditions that they glue to you like a shell to the rock. Their lives become part of your life. Their fates become a matter you have to deal with, sometimes on a daily basis. Because of the dependency created, they usually show a deep form of loyalty that reminds me of the feudal relation between master and servant. You can fight it, but sooner or later, now and then, here and there, the comparison pops into your mind.

Needle Project

 

Last time we traveled to South Africa I bought clothing to the soon to be born Albert’s first child. Maybe I should have bought a decent crib too, but I wanted: 1) Guard Albert to see that we can do things that do not imply money and shops. 2) Albert and wife to feel that part of the things represent their own effort too.

 

Yes, they had to complete the small tasks I kept giving to them. The idea and part of the work are mine, but there’s also their work in there, and that is the main aspect.

 

Firstly I got the base, secondly we worked on the mattress, the side protection, a duvet and finally other small details, until it was completed. People are positively surprised with the result and I am happy too. Nonetheless, the next time I’ll consider the shop option. Tenderly.

What About Staff?

 

I’ve been trying to organize this space, whose size and contents are becoming of a nature almost making it only relevant to myself and a very few others. I wasn’t happy with the categories and tags I had previously set, so I changed everything. As someone connected with the media, I organized them around the usual: Who? Where? What?

 

I am not happy yet, but then that’s my usual posture towards what I do. Who and where correspond now to my categories. Before I was systematically signaling people and places as categories. Now I have to be more specific. When I want to refer to people I have to specify (i. e. Seabell if I talk about me or Sea People if I talk about Mozambicans or any nice people living in Mozambique). I have to be more precise in terms of places too. And my tags show the subjects (What?) interesting me or peripherally surfacing in what I write.

 

As I talk from time to time about people working to make our private lives more comfortable, I’ve been facing a dilemma. First I created two categories: Chefs and Guards. I wasn’t happy for two reasons: 1) I don’t know that number of chefs and even if I know a few I don’t intend to write about them. 2) Guards might exclude driver-mechanic Armindo.

 

Because of that I face now the doubt of including them in a new category (Staff) or, as I would never regard any work as diminishing, especially towards people closely working for me and my family, in a existing one (Friends).

 

My chef Tieta cooks, irons and cleans the kitchen area. She works for us since April 2002. She raises all by herself three children and a grandson (respectively aged 17, 12, 10 and 2). She was a grandmother when most women are still considering the option of having children. She has a straightforward character and, despite having a boyfriend (He is not the one, definitively!), she dreams of finding a man who would marry her.

 

George is with us for almost ten years. He started working with Andy before becoming our guard. He is a hard-working man with an exceptional good-temperament. He is married and has two daughters (12 and almost 2 years old). I was afraid the youngest could have health problems, but when  I finally met her, in December 2008, I discovered she is just a little shy and wonderful child. Besides security, George is good at gardening, painting, electricity and plumbing. A truly handyman.

 

Albert is our black sheep. He was born in Zambezia and has a few personal problems of his own. He works as a guard and helps in the housekeeping. He must be here since 97. He is married, with no children and very religious. I suspect that his weakness is drinking. It’s a current problem here. His behavior gets worse or better depending on his family life and his family life depends on how much he drinks. That’s why we keep asking him how things are doing. Just in case…

 

Americo is new blood. He works closely with Andy but, step-by-step, he is being integrated in our daily routines, so I think I won’t be wrong if I include him as a guard, besides driver and mechanic. At the moment he has been daytime substituting George who went to Xai-Xai on holidays. He has two daughters (15 and 5) and we suspect that he has three wives. At least.

 

In reality, I should include the four of them as friends, but as I was writing this I understood that for categorizing reasons I’ll maintain Chefs and Guards and cut the somehow impersonal, cold “staff”. Actually, they all cook. Even Americo, the driver, has been insisting in cooking a Mozambican curry for us. Meantime, I might consider writing about a few others chefs.

 

Additional Information: If you live or intend to live in Mozambique, I advise you to talk with someone you trust about the local employment procedures. Most people have just one person doing the housework, and if they live in a detached or semi-detached house they have to consider the guards too. The wages for domestic workers are now around or above USD100 and for a driver above US200. It doesn’t seem much, but if you remember that they eat precisely the same food we eat (although this is not very common here), have medical assistance and other benefits, you should consider US600 to US1000 to keep three people working in your house.

Death Sentences

 

One of these days I found myself hanging in our car with diver Andy and guard George. We were supposed to meet someone but time went by and nobody showed up. The orange shadows of a very hot day were already turning into night when Andy remarked:

 

“It’s getting late. Your wife is going to kill you, George.” In fact, it was George’s day off and we felt we could be imposing and preventing him from being with his family.

 

“Nope,” he said showing the white plenitude of his open smile. “Death sentences it’s not me, menino.” (Menino means young boy and it’s used here whatever your age is as long as you still live with your parents. The moment you own your place you are promoted (?) to patrão. It’s a hierarchy thing.)

 

“Death sentences it’s about KT!” he concluded and Andy nodded.

 

“Death sentences?” I asked completely out of context.

 

Both Andy and George embarked on an enthusiastic explanation. Examples and laughs were copious. It turned out that KT, who was previously into a relationship and fathered a son, got himself a temperamental new girlfriend. She picks into everything he does and it’s frequent to hear her saying: “KT, you arrived ten minutes later! You know what that means: d-e-a-t-h sentence!”

 

“That’s awful,” I felt compelled to say.

 

“But he loves it. He smiles when she says such things. He is proud of her behavior because that shows how much she loves him.”

 

Well, he likes it so much he married her on the 31st of January. The last day of January marked the end of the road for KT, our former driver and Andy’s former right hand. As a curiosity, on that same day I wrote down: some men love death sentences.

A Glimpse Into a Party

 

It took us three days to organize JP’s party and one to put things back in order. We counted with the support of Tieta (chef), Albert (guard and housekeeping), George (guard and handyman) and Americo (driver, mechanic and messenger). Tieta spent two days cooking pans and pans of Brazilian and Mozambican feijoada, not due to lack of creativity but to expressed interest. As usual, she didn’t show up Monday and Tuesday. Notwithstanding the monetary reward received, she still needs this form of expression to show her distaste for extra work. My chef is a passive protester.

 

Though help was appreciated, I believe nothing bad happened because Andy and JP’s friends are getting older and wiser. The only still living the parties phase is JP and a couple more. When is JP going to realize that things are changing? Most of his friends are now married and some already with children. In terms of communication, I could feel that he is more drawn to me than to some of them.

 

Party dog Thoth played to exhaustion. Monday he was off like Tieta. My beautiful dog is getting wiser too. He plays wisely and needs more time to recuperate.

 

We cooked for 30 to 40 people and less than 30 showed up. We had leftovers even after feeding all the guards on duty in the neighbourhood. Sadly alcohol is never enough.

 

Andy was a reasonable DJ but nobody danced. Most of them had been partying for ten days and it showed. The result of maturity had positive material consequences: no broken glasses, no missing forks, no stolen statues… It felt strange.

 

I was glad to have my three divers together: TD, Andy and JP. JP was glad to have a few friends with him, though I can think of a handful of them who couldn’t make it for professional reasons. (The maturity aspect.) All in one, the balance is positive.

Triunfo

 

My Saturday adventure was near Bairro do Triunfo, where I met a nice guy from South Africa with the sweet name of Andy. He will help us in the next four weeks to get the import license for our puppy.

 

We walked on the beach. It was the usual windy afternoon, but very pleasant. The erosion is patent everywhere we go, but the sunset is always breathtaking.