December 13, 1997

Subject: More on Mozambique
Date: 13 Dec 97 20:10:33 UTC
From: MPilert@yahoo.com


Hello out there in cyberspace! Again I've had quite a week out there in the bush country. I did spend a few days in Maputo last week. I've been here for six weeks at least now. I am really getting used to the lifestyle here. When I first got here I really felt out of place. All the beggers and street venders seemed to sense this and really hit on me. Last week I was walking home from our office and I just seemed to blend into to crowd. Nobody bothered me, and it was only when I looked down at my hands that I realized that I wasn't black.

Today (Sunday) I just got in from a weeks trip. On Thursday I had to do an emergency Medivac flight from Tete to Harare, Zimbabwe. I was staying up in Beira when I got the call. the Norwegian organization NPA has their base of operations in Tete. They are one of the biggest de-mining operators here. (The country is littered with land mines left over from the war) At first I thought that he was injured in an explosion, but when I got over to Tete I found out that he had a severe alergec reaction to a bee sting. These medical flights come up from time to time. The medical care is pretty bad here. We do a lot of work for the US embassy.

Cheers,
Mike