Fri 15th Feb 08. The Garbage Dump

What a day! I will do my best to put into words the experiences of today. Where do I begin! Well honestly the day has left me with a mix of emotions and I don’t know where to being.

This morning was my first real trip to the garbage dump by that I mean walking across it. Myself with two others and a pastor set off to the dump in the back of a flat bed truck. There is something about being in Africa and travelling in an open top or flat bed truck that just can’t be described. I LOVE IT. Today we actually got driven down to the dump, most weeks we have to walk down to where the church is.

The kids saw the truck coming and started running after it and talking to us, so they came into the church and the remaining women who weren’t able to go to the conference were already there. A very nice welcoming committee. The kids were just covered in ash and sweat, church is just such a blast at the dump. So normally there is a larger group who go on the dump outreach and there are two options, firstly you can walk to the houses and into the community to pray with those there or secondly walk across the dump and meet and try to pray for those working on it. Because there was only the 3 of us we opted to walk over the dump, so off we headed. This is what I really wanted to do while I was on this visit. Actually stepping out my heart was pounding I had never done anything like this before and what an immense privilege.

Very soon the smell of rotting rubbish is in your nose, you look down and mostly you are walking on a bed of glass in various states. At this point I did wish I was wearing more than just my thin soled Converse! (shoes)

There are used nappies plastic bottles, cans, rotting food, parts of fans, wine bottles, sanitary and contraception products, flies, stench, people working, dumper trucks continually bringing more rubbish. People climb onto these before they even have a chance to start tipping and try to pick out the best before someone else gets their hands on it. That was quite hard to stand back and watch.

As you walk across the dump the ground beneath your feet is definitely not solid and the rain this week has not helped. We were walking though corrosive material, tar, black liquid, flammable liquid and often walking over it a little fire would start on some of these liquids and the smoke on the dump is just thick.

We had the opportunity to pray with a number of people as we walked cross the dump but one who really stands out in my mind is a woman named Julia. She asked us to prayer for her and pray that God would answer her hearts cry. She knew God but wanted this request answered…. It was to get pregnant again.

My mind didn’t really know how to process that one – a woman working on the dump to feed her kid and is desperate to have another! Is it a status thing or is the other son disabled? I just didn’t understand but prayed that God would look after her.

I looked down at my hands and they were covered in dirt and ash, I had shaken hands with Bernard one of the guys working to find enough to feed him son and his finger print was clearly visible on the back of my hand. He had left him mark on the back of my hand but also on my heart.

So we kept walking over the dump and into the community to see a lady who was sick and to give to her tablets. So we enter this little place which is hedged off. There is a small fire burning with oil in a pan. Their house is made from irrigated iron and sheets. Inside a guy is sleeping but outside three men are sitting adding foam to a growing pile. I assume they will sell this or make cigarette tips!

The woman is sick, she has no strength in her arms and legs and her body is aching. We pray and leave the tablets. One of the men takes quite a shine to me and so follows us down the path. The smell of alcohol is very strong! He (with a translator) talks to me about God and the fact that we never know when he will return and we must always keep our eyes towards heaven.

Eventually we make it back to the church hut where I just got swamped by kids who want a hug or to be held, or just touched. At this stage I feel by arms burning!

So we sing songs and the kids and some other adults start to gather round. I am impressed I know some of the songs. Well I make up the lines as I don’t know any Shangan.

Then the most amazing thing happened, this I think has totally blown me away and I found it very hard to move after, We 3 were asked to come and introduce ourselves. Sergio then told us the kids wanted to pray for us. Now kids praying for me I LOVE! The ones from church last year here in Moz, the church weekends, Sim, Isaac and Nat. But nothing is amazing it has to be said as the kids from the Bocaria praying and laying hands on you.

The power and the heat was amazing the peace. I want to go to that church every week. Woah! Then it was our turn to pray for the kids who were sick! Everyone was sick or just wanted a while hand to touch them, anyway, turning down prayer is never kind.

These kids did seem desperate for something. Then my friend was back. The man from before. He wanted to pray for him as he was sick, so I did.

The next came another had thing I had to do, Eli and Evelyn were put on one door to give out bread and I was on the other with a bag full of cut up bread and an instruction from a Mozambiqian educator, 1 breads, 1 breads as he pointed at those big eyes looking at me from the faces of children who were so hungry. I don’t think I have ever felt so mean. So the line formed and I gave out 1 breads to every child, there was easily enough for two each, but then the rest was mostly given to the older woman sitting on the floor, they had brought small black plastic bags which we filled or they just unfolded part of the capalana and hit the bread in there, then the scram started as the children were now allowed back in on the distribution.

I just can’t put into words how painful it was to see people fighting for bread.

There is the cutest boy in the bocaria; he has got an African face but an English nose. Alberto! His face looks like an old mans but this nose makes him look slightly different – big big eyes. I guess he reminds me of those trolls you used to get, he is so cute.

Well it was time to go. The bread was all gone and church was over. It as burning sun all morning and by now I knew my arms were burnt! Anyway on the way out of the Bocaria we stopped to pick up a mother and her ill daughter. The daughter must have been 15-17 and looked mentally disabled so there were 5 of us on the way back.

This means I could get to stand up! I don’t think I have ever enjoined a car ride as much. The wind in my face. Thank goodness I had shades or I could not do it. Here me, the white person standing for all to see in the back of an Iris truck, without a care in the world and the best view of the road. I felt like I was road surfing as we sped through the streets and roundabouts with Mozambicans turning their heads to look at me. Granted they were probably thinking mad white women, but do I care.

So we eventually got home and my ride of fun was over.

A quick shower then off to Shoprite! The internet café was a welcome place. A bit of shopping then back,

On the journey home I got chatting to Jennie (Yannie) from Denmark, She is here working as a nurse. It was excellent talking to her. She told me that there is a new baby in the Casa de Bebes. He is 17 months old and quite sick. They got him in the hospital. He had been in getting treatment and one day his mother just never came back.

In a crazy world this new arrival is called Dino. Jennie said ‘not that we want to but it does seem funny loosing in a sense Tino and gaining Dino”. I did really struggle with that but also understood what she meant. We talked a lot about Tino which I think has helped me to realise he is not forgotten from the centre. Not getting on hospital ministry has really frustrated me.

Well I got to see Dino! What a small boy. He is so malnourished and his eyes are dead. Hopefully with love from the staff here it will not be long before he is making better progress. This has been such a strange day. I am very badly burnt face and arms.

Tonight I have so many images from today going through my mind and I don’t know where or how to begin with my feeling for today. I need to sleep tonight so will stop now. What a day!.

Thurs 14th Feb 08

Today has been one of those Africa days where nothing happening how it should your you think it should.
This morning I got up earlier than anticipated, grabbed breakfast and went for a walk around the centre. The final classroom is built and the kids are great fun to hang around with before they go into school. Step this morning chatting to some of the kids who go to school in the afternoon.

I arrived back to the visitors compound and pre school was just starting so I got to have an art/Portuguese lesson with them. They came out with chalk to draw on the ground and the shouts of Mama Chris started so I went to join them. We sat for a long time drawing and writing. I now know a lot of basic words I wouldn’t have otherwise learnt.

During this time I also met Laura. She is a long term missionary here and has a dorm of boys aged 5-11. I don’t really remember her being here the last time but I guess out paths didn’t cross. She is lovely she had Samoias with her who arrived at the dorm just before Christmas. His little brother is Daniel who is in the Baby House. They were reckoning that Samoias was about 5 years old but now they believe he is more like 3 and a half. She was heading into the city to find school shirts. A harder task than u might imagine. Samois came with us and sat on my knee. During the trip he started to burn up and feel asleep in my harms. I have always wanted a kid to do that in a car. See Samoias in the photo. So Laura and I chatted in the car, it was excellent to be able to get another opinion from a long termer.


This afternoon was meant to be hospital ministry but Domingos never showed up. Africa time can be so hard some times…. So we waited and waited and waited by the gate but in the end this turned out to be a very interesting experience.

While we were there the women who were going on the women’s conference came down past us. The women were from the garbage dump. They were so happy to be going on conference as they walked past us they were singing at the top of their lungs. They have been waiting all day at the back of the church they knew they were leaving at some point today so arrived at 6am just in case they were left behind. It was now 3.45pm.

Pastor Nico draws up in a flat bed truck. There must have been 60 women and some had their children with them. There were already saucepans, bags, rice and other food but these women keep piling in. Some of the women looked 70+ I know that they were probably only 40.


The heat of the day was awful. I chatted to Nico and asked how long it would take for them to get there, he said if I don’t drive fast it will take 4 hours. This of course is on African roads, many of which were flooded and pot holed! At the same time the American who were over to take the conference were leaving and saw what was going on so stopped and passed water to all the women it was a little frantic trying to ensure each woman had enough water to survive the journey. At the time there was a part of me was gutted not to be going with them but I really wanted to go to the dump tomorrow, so a choice had to be made.

I made cheesy mash for dinner tonight, just a little taste of home. This evening during church I have been picking sand out of my hair. Yuran thought it would be funny to lift handfuls of sand and throw it in my hair during the afternoon so it was something to do when I didn’t understand church. The photo below is Yuran and me.

Wed 13th Feb 08. Machava.

So today did not do too much. Rented a Kid for a few hours – Sam. He is lovely and has grown so much since the last trip. Took him back to the Baby House and Vasco came over again. He just sits in my arms and sucks his thumb.! He has a John Wayne walk but he is so cute with his curly hair. He, Nemais and Luis are very serious boys. It takes a lot for them to smile. Lucy and Sina however are full of beans and chat. Sina is very bossy esp for someone so small but she cracks me up.

This afternoon I got to go to Machava which was the original land Heidi and Rolland were given. We headed off there in a small truck the roads were so bad and a lot were blocked because of the floods. One day of rain cause chaos to the road and the sand which has been used to fill any holes which appear just gets washed away the next day. Machava centre is responsible for the youth service in the city on a Monday night.

The centre is quite far from Maputo. To think that Heidi walked this with kids in the early days just blows my mind.
It’s a different world when you get there. Its so peaceful, fewer children and a smaller school. We saw around and then went to church. I walked in a there is a guys sitting in a Tearfund t-shirt. That felt very strange.
Am quite tired tonight and its home group so will take it easy.

Tuesday 12th Feb. Thunder Storm!

Not done a lot today. Went to Shop Rite had a walk around other shops. It was nice to have a bit of space. On the way to Shop Rite we passed the dump again.

Today you could not see the road ahead. It was thick with smoke coming off the dump. Either they burn it once a week or it has caught fire with the heat and its just burning. I do wonder how many people are caught and badly burnt if it just catches fire because of the heat.

It has been extremely warm today, part of my reason for coming at this time of year was to see how I would cope with the heat. However on the back of the heat was an awful thunder storm. The worst I have been in for a long time. I had been to the baby house and came back to make my own dinner when I heard it start and turned to my friend to ask her (jokingly – but not really!) to hold my hand. I was fininshing my dinner when Traceys words came into my mind when she was talking about a bad storm in January and a lot of the kids in the Baby House and her dorm thought it was the bombs again when the munitions dump exploded in March 07. Now there are a few things I know about. Firstly the fear which a thunder storm stirs in my heart and what that does to me and secondly the sound of bombs exploding and then rumbling for ages. So I knew exactly the fear some of these kids were feeling.

So something inside me got a whole lot braver and disappeared out into the storm! Go me! I ran over first to Tracey’s house to see how they were doing and all seemed to be no one there or they couldn’t hear me knocking so ran through the play ground and round the corner to the Baby House – Well you could hear the scream from there! I got in and it was chaos. Joao and Paulito came running over and into my arms for comfort. The lightening and thunder were so bright and loud. They clearly remember the bombs! They jumped each time it erupted and cried so loud! It was truly amazing to see the impact which the bombs have left on very young minds. Between the bombs and thunder storms if anyone could equate with how they were feeling at this precise moment I could but was so frustrated that I could not communicate it to them. In a weird way I found a real comfort being there with them. Many tears and one very cute girl who couldn’t get her teeth cleaned because that meant taking her hands away from her ears, (that was so me 25 years ago sitting on my mums knee). So I did her teeth and when it came to rinsing she needed to take the cup for I forced her hand away to replace it very quickly with mine while she drank. I was time for the new brave me to head off into the storm and so I headed off into the pelting rain and fork lightening like I have never seem, to find if there were any others in need of help but it seemed that all other sensible people were safely in doors. The rest of the evening was spent chatting to other visitors from America. I must learn how to say “Please trust me, I know how you feel” in Portuguese.

Monday 11th Feb

Tonight I am probably the dirtiest I have been in a long time! I looked at my feet tonight and thought I was getting a really good tan. Not so much! They are black because of the dirt from the last two days. I choose not to shower this morning because I was going to the Boccaria (Dump) for Children’s church and honestly I still haven’t made the shower. I am sitting with really greasy hair, black finger nails, black legs, T shirt covered in sand, ash, snot, tears, dribble and honestly only the Lord knows what else! Yet somehow it’s not bothering me in the slightest. My hair has had so many small hands thought it today I may have to get my head shaved when I get home to totally get rid of whatever is now living in it. Oh and adding to all this another combination of Factor 30 and Jungle Fever. Oh the joy.

So today – 9.00 was orientation. 2/3rds of the long term missionaries are sick at the moment and a large % of the kids have Malaria. 10.00am was Staff worship in the prayer hut. Pastor Jose was there – it was great to see him and I chatted to him briefly.

Quick bite of lunch then of to the Boccaria. Being back here was amazing, the girl who went missing the last time we were here is now back. Aiada went missing on our second Sunday, a few days after Maddie McCann I remember being shocked at the differences in how the search went on and the resources available to both girls. The day after she disappeared I with a few others went and prayed with the family on the dump, they had recently lost their 6 month old baby due to malnutrition and now this, it was very hard but we never gave up hope and kept praying. It was a great day to get the email to say she was found alive and well and today I got to hold her in my arms and laugh and play with her. See Below.

My Portuguese is improving as today I was able to follow a game of Simon Says!
I loved being there and sitting in the dirt with the smell and ash. The kids are so happy, they have nothing materially but they enjoy life and love to interact with you. It was so much fun.

Came back and went straight to the play area where the toddlers were, then over to the Baby House for dinner time. Vasco has clung to me since I arrived. He fell asleep on my knee the first night, and today when I arrived he just came walking over to be lifted up and held by me, he is so lovely, it felt like I was home with him.

This evening I helped Linda round the hospitality area and chatted to some of the others around. Feeling a little lonely tonight which is an emotion I didn’t really expect but am sure will pass. The riots have not happened but the police have been outside the major shops heavily armed. I do still plan on going to Shoprite tomorrow….

Sunday 10th Feb 08. Park, Tino and KFC!

Oh Lord! Where do I being processing today and where it has taken me. I feel exhausted and yet so much alive.

This morning started with a cold shower and breakfast. I actually got up to go and get bread. The guys told me that because cause of the riots the bread has had to be collected and apparently it tasted better than that which was delivered… not sure the logic of that but anyway.

Church was good. I saw John and spoke to him, that felt really good. I saw Thabo who is thee most malnourished kid I have ever seen. He arrived here sick but Iris has been looking after him and managed I think to help him increase his weight but got sick again and went into hospital and came out worse and so each time he is sick now he never quite recovers to the same level as before.

I had some of the kids from the rubbish dump sitting with me which was great, and again I got covered in ash.
Church wasn’t too long – We wanna see Jesus lifted high sung in Portuguese with me singing it in English I am sure really blessed the Lord!

Quick bite of lunch then off with Tracey. She has her own car. Being out with her today has been a real blessing. Just chatting about life in Mozambique and watching what was once a beautiful life before the civil war. Today I saw kids washing in the sewers and driving though the streets saw people fighting over food.

We went to the poshest western Mall in Maptuto. I don’t think it is open long.
Tracey, Yolanda (Tracey’s house aunt) and I took 8 kids from her house into the Mall. Today (for the most of them) was a totally new experience. The Mall has a very grand entrance will mirrored glass on the roof. I wish you could have seen the kids looking at their refection above their heads. Next was the escalator. Ruthe and others had never been on one before. Watching their faces riding this for the first time, not knowing what to do except jump on and trust. It was magical. There I was walking though this mall with 8 orphans gazing at all the glitzy shops full of clothes and shoes. We went into the kids’r’us shop to get a t shirt for Tino and good Sunday shoes for the boys. The kids just kept staring at the mirrors, they had never seen so many in one place.

Next was a trip into the supermarket. This makes Shoprite look rubbish. The supermarket felt like one in the west and had all the things I would find there. So I pushed a trolley round with 3 kids in it. Tracey had a trolley made from a car with 2 girls in it and Yolana had the other three in another trolley. – it was a riot!
When Tracey drives through the capital and has beggars come to her car she gives them small packets of biscuits which she buys here. Packets of biscuits for 3 meticals roughly 6p!
Yolanda walked around the shop quite mesmerised. Today was obviously her 1st time in a shop like this. I was walking through this shop as a white western with orphans struggling to work out how they see this or bring to put this into place in their lives. Maybe they don’t maybe this doesn’t effect them at all the way it does me. Maybe I think too much but it's how I process what I am seeing around me.

Anyway. So..some shopping later, a Mozambican sim card and credit, a tip to the guy who watched the car, another tip to the guy who helped us load the car and another one to the guy who watched the car while we were inside- we finally were on our way to Ice Cream in the park. My feeling was that this was a big day out for them, I do hope that this was the cause….

The park was beautiful and no doubt if they were not living with Tracey they would not get these treats whether at Iris or with a family member.
At the park ice cream was ordered and they saw one of the other girls, Martha, who used to be at the centre with them. She has been adopted to a French/Beligum couple. I just don’t comprehend how it must feel for either party to see each other. Maybe I have to thank God that they are maybe too young to understand how different each others lives are.

A play on the swings and run in the park and then off to the hospital. We paid 20mts (41p) for parking in the grounds, but with 8 kids some how it seemed worth it.


Tracey and I headed off to see Tino. He is on the HIV kids unit. I went on hospital ministry here on my last trip and didn’t see anything too grim but today felt harder. Today I really knew and had taken to heart the ill child lying before me. The Tino I remember is the one I watch on my video at home – the 3 sec clip of him and me. The one who would eat a bowl of rice when he has his photo taken. The one who ran into my arms to be picked up and held, the one who out of all the kids I desperately struggled to leave and he never really left my mind when I got back to England the last time. This is NOT the Tino I saw today.

Today I saw a very sick helpless 5yr old orphan boy with a Tia (paid carer) looking after him, feeding him yogurt through a tube which had not been changed for over 10 days; a boy who has lost his sight and any use of his arms and legs and only cries when he is moved; one little boy who’s body is on fire with whatever has caused his deterioration in the last 4 weeks. 5 weeks ago he was most probably walking, talking, seeing and laughing now he is just waiting to die. There is nothing gentle about his care, the Tia seems rough when she is cleaning and feeding him, I am sure in her own way she does care but its not the care a loving mother would give her dying son. If ever I was going to adopt a kid and take a kid under my wing the way Tracey has done with Filishmina the Tino is it for me, even now I still hold and love him for as long as he has left.

The ward he is on is an HIV AIDS ward. Before we arrived the kid next to him had some sort of emergency and the Dr’s were rushing him off to OR. Well whatever the equilivant is here, but the blood and bodily fluids were still on the bed and blood was all over the floor, kids from the other beds were walking though this. It’s an HIV unit! Hello! does anyone not see risk, does anyone really care. The relatives arrived for visiting hours and the other people on the ward had to tell them what had happened to the kid. The children’s unit is over crowded at the moment with 2 kids to a bed. The kids are under 18mths old must have someone to stay with them the whole time, so this adds another 2 adults to the bed so 4 in total. These kids have no cots, no care and no food unless a family member brings it in. We stayed as long as we could.

And so we left neither Tracey or I really knowing what to say. We prayed for him before we went. That’s when the tears started to sting. I desperately want him to recover and yet can’t watch him slowly dying and slipping more into a comma. Oh God why Tino? He’s only 5 and never really had a chance to live. This part of life I won’t even begin to understand. Lord take him home to you.

And so we collected the 8 kids and as we knew we would miss dinner we took them to KFC! My shout – 8 kids, 3 adults and enough left for tomorrow for 1150mts (£22). KFC never tasted this good. And so I am back at base, there are rumours of more riots tomorrow over food prices, I do feel a little uneasy about this.

9th Feb 08

First thing after breakfast off to the gift market and out for lunch.
On the road into Maputo we had heavy police and army presence. Not just police but POLICE – machine guns pointing, gas masks and riding in the back of an open truck – it reminded me a lot of driving in Belfast years ago.

I asked one of the Long Term missionaries about Tino and my worst fears were confirmed. He is in hospital pretty much battling end stage HIV. The rest of the journey to the market was spent trying to get my head around it and also being here without getting to see him and hold him. In one way this is the rough side of Africa I wanted to see, the harsh way of life but why Tino? Why this small child who never hurt anyone? If I do come back long term, how do you work with kids and not let them into your heart or in fact is there anything wrong with letting them in and showing them love and getting attached to them. Tino is the one very special child to me from the last trip. He is the one I thought about everyday when I was at home – who would be feeding him and now he is probably mostly alone in a hospital.

It poured last night so some of the streets of Maputo were very badly flooded and some were inaccessible. If one night of rain could do this damage what does heavy rain do?

The other thing I saw today which I have never seen before in the flesh are people with Machetes. Given the recent images of Kenya and how violence against kinsman spirals Mozambicans with Machetes make me feel a little uneasy. I think I have watched too many films like Blood Diamond or Hotel Rwanda.

The market was good. I got a few things. Can’t work out if I have been fleeced or not. Lunch was nice, a half chicken and chips then back to the centre.

3pm – Baby House time! It would be so easy for me to spend all my time there.
Olga is back from the hospital and I do think she remembers me. I got a massive hug from her, it was lovely.

There is no sign of Zillio or John yet. I saw Pia and other John (Andy’s friend). That was excellent.

The baby house- I got mauled.
I don’t know if the Tia’s (house aunts) mind me being there but Paulito was making a racket screaming the house down and no one seemed to be caring. I do find it very hard, I walked over and comforted him and within minutes he had stopped crying. It’s hard to know if that is the right think to do or not but I figure while I am here I will do what I would normally for a kid who is crying. Finally got to connect with Tracey who came into the Baby House when I was there.
One of the new intake is Daniel, he is so lovely but very clingy as is Sam. I got to ask Tracey about the new kids which was nice so I could understand a little more about them and how long they had been there. Before I knew is I was being tackled to the ground by 2 year olds and so we had a pile on! Boy they don’t have kill you – hair pulled, stood upon and generally used as a trampoline – but I loved it. I felt so alive hearing them laughing at my expense. There are more photos!

Tracey asked me to hers for a cuppa. This was my first cuppa since arriving and it tasted so good. I finally asked her about Tino. It’s not good and the prospects are not good either.
The plan is that tomorrow I go and see him with her and the kids from her house and then take the kids to KFC for a treat.
I know there is talk of a brain infection and his “sickness” does not help him fight infection. He is on a feed tube and I think struggling with bedsores. With all my heart I want to see him and do remember saying to a friend before I left how hard I would find it if Tino would not be here. Out of all the kids he is the one I expected not to be here – so none of this has come as a massive shock yet I think the shock will come tomorrow when hopefully I see him. I don’t think any mental image will prepare me for that, but this is the real Africa and life here I wanted to see and I think that is ok. Should be die while I am here – well!
It would be a privilege to be at his funeral but I will see what tomorrow brings.

After chattin’ to Tracey I headed back to the baby house to help with feeding and putting to bed. It was so nice. Yuran and Sina just make me laugh.
The two older babies are twin brothers, one is pleasant and the other cries pretty constantly, I do think he is teething. I also think I will end up with head lice this time, but I don’t really care.

Went tonight to the girls’ dorm – no milk as Nancy is not here to do it. They keep trying to braid my hair! I arrived in as they were watching the end of Home Alone and then went on to watch what can only be described as a Bollywood version of High School Musical – truly awful but they seem to love it.
And now I am sitting here catching up my journal, hoping to see Tino tomorrow and yet apprehensive as to how that will leave me feeling. I don’t want to shy away because it may be hard, I want to see the hard things here and especially I want to see Tino.

7/8th Feb The Journey Begins

Well it’s been a long time coming but the journey to return to Mozambique has begun! What these few weeks will hold is anybody’s guess and truly only God knows. So LHR to Lisbon, and then onto Maputo via J’burg! Never really wanted to be in SA again but hey. TAP so far have proved a good airline. Great food and free drinks or cerveja! Another 7 hours till Jo’burg so plan to sleep.

J'burg! Am back. Its only seems like yesterday. Have an hour to kill will look round shops! Oh! Almost missed flight to Maputo due to it showing wrong place – Lisbon, so that was interesting. Well got picked up at the airport, we flew in over Maputo but we also flew in over the Boccaria, What a sight from the sky.

Stepping off the plane the heat hit me, but so did the smell of the dump. Anyway I just couldn’t stop smiling. Now I was finally back. This feels amazing.
Passport and visa were fine. I had my bag searched thoroughly – Lord don’t let them take the Green Curry sauce!
Everything got through ok.

Driving back to the centre was so amazing with all the familiar sights and smells. The centre has changed – at least the outside, the wall has been fixed.

Well I am back in my own bed – History Makers room, bottom bunk of the middle bunks- at the moment sharing with 2 girls. It feels so weird being back.

The compound has been on lockdown because of the fuel riots this week. They were rioting right outside the centre and some of the kids have been looting things and no ministries have been happening. The word today is that there is no Shoprite trip (western supermarket) which I really need. So have gone straight to the baby house to see old friends.
Its amazing to be back. Oh on my way there I saw Ailsa, She has or is growing into a beautiful young woman.

The Baby House – where do I start……….
Vasco, Lucy, Sina, Luis and Nemias are all walking!
The girls are much more lively that their male peers, the boys are beautiful anyhow. Sam and Agustino are real characters. Thelma and Martina are beautiful. Sina has a real wild side – very mischievous, stirs it up then stands back to watch it unfold. I love her. There are a few new kids/babies. A 4 wk old girl.Eliana. She is lovely. The hospital rang Iris to see if they could take her in. She arrived malnourished and jaundiced, I don’t understand how you tell if a black baby is jaundice, but I have to trust them. They now have Irene an albino baby girl and Alfredo a baby boy with enchelipitus. I remember reading about him arriving and getting excited about it being Alfredo from the hospital, but its another. To take photos of them somehow seems wrong, but will see how I feel in a few days.
Went to lunch with the girls after helping to feed in the baby house – it’s just a riot in there at meal times. Tino seems not to be here.

Lunch in the hall was excellent. I met Jentrude again – this time with very short hair. Found out Olga is in hospital with some sort of cough. Everything inside me want to go and be there like the last time when she was sick.
Lunch time over and I head for a lay down – much needed with heat and travelling I am wipped out. I was kindly woken by someone to say a truck was going to Shop rite so there was no delay from me! I was in there.
I have bought enough food and water that if the riots should break out again I will have enough.
Only in Africa does pineapple Fanta taste good. On the drive into the city the evidence of the riots is everywhere. Chapa’s (local transport) burnt out, tyres on fire, smoke and burn marks on the road. This morning driving past the Boccaria (rubbish dump) a guy had dumped bags of paper – now someone was sifting through them trying to find something to sell.
There is a greater police presence that I remember before. The smell of the trash in the city does not leave your nostrils. People aimlessly standing around – where is the hope, why do they keep living. What is there to live for?
The kids standing on the top of the dump watching the world go by, these images will never leave me. I came home to rest for a bit but found that it lasted till nearly morning. So I have made it to Mozambique again. Who knows what lies ahead in these two weeks.