Return visit to Mecanhelas, Niassa

I arrived in Lichinga from Maputo having spent overnight at the Missionary Guest House run by Evangeline and Juanita in Maputo. The two women were away on a much needed holiday so I did not meet them but I did hear enough about them and their hospitality to feel somewhat sad that I missed out on meeting them. However, I was able to enjoy the hospitality of their guest house and interesting conversations with other travellers.

Rebecca met me at the airport and took me back to her home where I was to stay overnight before travelling to Mecanhelas the next day.

It was lovely to be back in Mozambique again. All the sights and sounds which I remembered from last year were so welcoming as of course the welcome from the people I met. I was delighted to renew acquaintances made last year – the staff and people based at Kuchichinga and all the people in Mecanhelas. It was so good to give them all the photos that I took last year. It was really lovely to renew my acquaintance with Mario and Isabel and their children with whom I had travelled last year. Of course Bishop Mark and Helen were not there as they had already left for their trip away.

Last year I was very anxious about managing and coping with all the changes that go with being in a different country especially one so different as Mozambique, but this year I felt like a seasoned traveller! I was however, absolutely delighted that one of the Diocesan cars was available for my travel to Mecanhelas and that I was not going to have to travel on the public ‘buses’! I thanked God for every kilometre and every hole in the road that I was not on the ‘bus’.

My travelling companions were Rosa, Gloria and Michael with Carlos as our driver. Rosa was to be my interpreter but she actually proved to be so much more than that. She is a lively engaging woman with a real love for the women and total commitment to the aims of the Mothers Union. Gloria also belongs to the Mothers Union and is learning from Rosa about her role in the wider work of the Mothers Union across the Diocese of Niassa. Michael is one of the ‘Adeptos’, ‘supporters’, a fairly new role that has been set up to help stimulate and motivate the communities of people and support the work of the Equipa de Vida teams of people. Michael was taking the opportunity to accompany us to Mecanhelas and work with the communities in the area.

The purpose of my visit this year was to meet up with Rosa and together we were to work with the women from the Mothers Union in the Mecanhelas area. The women were coming to the conference being held at the church in Mecanhelas. Padre Justo who was there last year has left (to take up a Government post) and Padre Camwendo is now the Priest for the Mecanhelas area.

The church building has fallen down so we met in the temporary church, one without brick walls, but the new church is currently under construction and will benefit from a proper roof which will ensure the safety and permanence of the church, hopefully.

The pattern of each day of the conference was to start with a Bible study (8am) which I would lead, then Mothers Union business led by Rosa and Gloria. This was to be followed by lunch, then in the afternoon teaching, which I would lead until tea or until the light faded, around 5pm.

What actually happened each day was that we started every day with the Office of Morning Prayer led jointly by Padre Camwendo and myself. This was a time of singing and prayer and was a lovely way to start the day. The Bible study followed but Mothers Union business didn’t happen until the evening. The reason for this was that Rosa informed the women that they had come to learn and I to teach them so it was most important that they made the most of my being with them and I was very happy to go along with that. The Bible study did take most of the morning for several reasons but mostly because the women do not read. We had a great time of reading, story telling and drama – the women are such great actresses and brought stories like ‘the women caught in adultery’, ‘the calling of Levi’, and the ‘good Samaritan’ to life in a way I have never seen before! Because of the large numbers of women who arrived for the conference, lunch was a massive operation. We had anticipated around thirty women to arrive but eventually by Monday lunchtime, over 67 women had come.

Rosa was inspirational in organising small teams of women each day to manage the cooking but not allowing great teams of women to disappear to prepare food. ‘You have come to learn’ ‘not to cook and chat’ she would tell them! The women each brought a contribution to the food and the firing but even so we soon found that we needed more so a shopping trip was organised to supplement the food stocks. The mealtime was a good time for the women to socialise and catch up with one another.

The women came from seventeen different congregations in the Parish of Mecanhelas some of whom came just a few kilometres but a large proportion of them coming from as far away as 40-50 kilometres, travelling by foot and bicycle.

I linked my teaching to the Bible study so that the whole day had a focus. Subjects that I covered included: visiting and caring for people in their home, including how to bathe a sick person in their home (much hilarity over this when ‘my patient’ told me she had severe diarrhoea for three days and not been able to get to the latrine!!), nutrition, dealing with and managing discrimination and stigma associated with HIV/AIDS in families and communities, grief and loss, sewing Memory Bags (a wonderful session with all the women in groups busy chatting and sewing), and other topics drawing upon my background in district nursing.

During the day there were many moments of singing and dancing particularly in the notoriously difficult spot for teaching, namely straight after lunch! Rosa was relentless in keeping us going. I don’t know where she gets her energy from - she seems tireless. We ended each day with the Office of Evening Prayer with Padre Camwendo joining us.

 

In the same way as last year, I was privileged to celebrate the Eucharist with Padre Camwendo on a number of occasions and on the Sunday I attended a wedding conducted by Padre Camwendo and he invited me to give the Wedding blessing. There were also blessings of numerous children and also women becoming full members of the Mothers Union.

I have reflected to some extent upon what worked well and why in relation to my teaching but like last year it is not so much about what I gave them but the extent of what I received - their open response to all that was said, their spontaneous friendship but most of all their wonderful joyful, dancing and singing witness to the love of God.

The gifts of towels, soap, flannels and toothbrushes collected by the congregation of St Augustine’s Whitton, were received graciously. The congregation in Mecanhelas has yet to learn of the donation for the church roof but I am sure that that too will be graciously received.

I hope to return next year but this will probably be my last visit as my family protested this year! There is so much to do and I have already started making a list of all the things that I want to take next year and what to do.

In the meantime, however, Padre Camwendo and the people of the Parish of Mecanhelas need our prayers as we need theirs.

Thank you to Rebecca for the initial invitation to Mozambique and for planning and arranging my time this year. Thank you also to Rosa my interpreter and so much more. Also, Gloria for her contribution and of course Carlos for safe driving.

I was fortunate on my return, to attend a meeting in London where Bishop Mark was speaking. He is a very inspiring speaker and spoke of all that has and is happening in the Diocese of Niassa how God’s Holy Spirit is moving over Mozambique but the conversion to discipleship is a long path. He also spoke of an ‘all member ministry’ where everyone has something to give and I would like to feel that I have in a very, very small way been and hope to continue to be a part of that ‘all member ministry’