April 7, 1997

Subject: Moz News April 7th
Date: Mon, 07 Apr 97 21:58:06 UTC
From: MPilert@yahoo.com


These past two weeks have been kind of tame compared with the flights I had last month. I just got in from Pebane this morning, and I have to leave in the morning for Beira to base out of there for a week.

Pebane was fun today. I flew in the International director, and the Mozambique program manager of Action-Aid, a British NGO that has quite an extensive aid program in Pebane, a small fishing town 80 miles north of Quelimane. The locals there must really appreciate the Action Aid program. When we landed on the short sand airstrip, there was quite a crowd there to greet the plane. There was singing, dancing, and drumming. It was a nice display of local culture. I still haven't had a chance to get off the airstrip and see the town, but today I got to meet many of the locals, and the dancing was great. All the dancers were women, and they did one dance where each girl in turn danced while skipping rope. Two of the other women handled the rope while the other girls lined up and took their turn.

Luckily there were not many insects to dampen this fiesta. This month has been the worst one for bugs so far. The mosquitoes have been bad. Quelimane is one of the worst areas for malaria. The town is surrounded by swamp. All over the districts there have been a lot of big flies that really bite, and take a chunk of meat right through your shirt. I have some insect repellent that is quite strong. a few weeks ago I had it packed in my bag and it leaked on my plastic alarm clock. It melted the face of the clock! Last week I was working on some things around the house, and I needed some paint remover. I tried the insect repellent: no problem, it took the paint right off. I can't believe I put that stuff on my skin!

Last Sunday (Easter) I had some time in the afternoon, so I took our Yamaha trail bike, and rode down to Madal, a beach about 20 km. from Quelimane. The road was washed out at one stream and I had to walk the bike on a log over the water. I had a great ride through some small villages, and when I got to the beach I had it mostly to myself.

It was a good day to be out on my own, and out of town. Quelimane is a country town, but it is densely populated. The day was warm and sunny, and the ocean was cool and refreshing. I felt like I just blended in with the scenery. I waited until I had just enough daylight to ride back into town. Went back home and had a good fish dinner, I was refreshed and ready to face Monday morning, and another weeks work.