May 30: Departure from Mozambique

Leaving is always the hardest part. The uncertainty of the return; the continuity of what we are trying to develop; the weight of distance and of life on the other side.

A few days ago I told UPG Portugal volunteers, who left Chokwé worrying about the unfinished work that the important thing is to focus on what was accomplished. The immensity of our mission - supporting over 2000 on a daily basis - invariably make us feel powerlessness or dissatisfied. But over the years I learn to focus on the small victories. I try to give Salvador enough hope to overcome the pain he felt over the past 2 years. I try to find out that the number of children at school is higher than the anxiety felt by the S. Vicente moms going through every product in the monthly basic basket. I try to feel that Sister Antónia’s vision for S. Luisa is stronger than the AIDS statistics that surpass every official number.

Our mission is built on a case by case and child by child basis, trying to find in each one of them a source of hope, a strength that makes them want more. Our mission is to provide opportunities and help children to use them.

It is not an easy mission and for this reason we always leave with a heavy heart, always wanting to do more. But is a mission with a purpose and every time we go to Mozambique we focus our path.

Comments

It is official, I now like Malbec

Yesterday the internet in Argentina did not cooperate so no update. The day in Mendoza was great, with the nice and small family Vineyard of Altos de Hormigas being one of my favourites. They were very nice and the Malbec reserva the one that finally convinced me to like Malbec! We still had one more vineyard to go, Familia Zucatti, where we had a great lunch but the tours was already too much, we prefered to walk around on our own. But again, very different and very worth it! Today, we added Tevia to the group (after she came in my room at 5am) and repeated the Cemeterio since Tev and Shilps had not seen it, and then Malba. Surprise, surprise. Buenos Aires is not a small city but we still managed to run into Nitin and Ted in the Museum! We had a nice lunch with them and went for some more sightseeing in the afternoon. We went to Plaza de Mayo where the Casa Rosa is, walked down Calle Florida, the shopping street and up to Plaza San Martn for an excellent night view of the city. No

Cover Letters

When it takes you six hours to write a cover letter, what the hell happened? I can find a handful of explanations and let you decide i) I have a hard case to sell; ii) I am too full of myself and spending too much time praising my beloved skills and experience; iii) I don’t know the company well and need to spend hours educating myself first; iv) I am watching NCIS and House in parallel, v) I am a perfectionist. For the ones that know me best, I can bet you started with number v). Bernardo is clearly betting on number iv) though wondering why not my favourite Law & Order SVU. It is nice of you to think that but, even though it is true that those are pieces of me to blame, number i), ii) and iii) also apply. First, I do have a hard case to sell. As impressive at it may seem to have worked in Morgan Stanley, how do I guarantee that it is not because the market is down that I am not going back there. As impressive as it may seem to have worked on the ground in Mozambique, what does i

What would you do?

It is the new buzz word - or should I say sentence. What would you do if you were not afraid. I like to think I am not - I guess man or woman, we all do. But my answer to that question would not come blank for me - at all. And it is not being afraid because I am a woman, it is really because life can pose a threat big enough to some less expected things. The one that comes to mind today is ' I would write my book '. Note that I did not say I would write 'a' book but 'my' book. In fact I should probably even say 'one of them'. I think i have started 3 real ones by now, and 2 have a decent shot as well. But the reality I face is - what if no one wants to read it? Who will want to read what I have to say? When I was a kid, I would write a ton of poetry. I wrote the first poem on record about the moon and the stars and as I received some first prize on my fourth grade, my parents found out about it. For many years, no matter what I bought as a gift for my d

Home Away From Home

Search This Blog