I am in Nampula...Nalia's first home. It has been really nice to be here. One of those very special homecomings that we don't get to appreciate or experience much in life-- I have come back after five years to find most of the people I worked with or knew socially in better positions than they were before-- life has improved. "A vida muda," as they say in Portuguese... or "Life goes forward," They have been promoted, they have gone to school and graduated. The program I started has grown from 120 nutrition and health volunteers to over 2000, not because of me but because a group of dedicated thoughtful sharp people were all able to work together for a common goal.
I have also had the opportunity to stay in my old house with my friend Greta... she took my position when I left and also my house! We don't often get to return to the homes where we once lived, but that has also been a treat-- bringing back all these little pieces of sweet memories I had forgotten-- the step where Nalia learned to jump, the water tank outside where I used to put my yogurt in the sun when I made it, the floorboard by the bathtroom that's still loose. There is something very comforting about noticing all those little things... something that makes me feel all the more human.
But the warm welcomes I am receiving from all the people in Nampula are even more comforting-- Nampula is the third largest city in Mozambique, but still small enough that people know each other. The waiter at the coffee shop, Senhor Faztudo (Mr. Doeseverything! in English) is still there, along with the lady who helps him. When people like this remember you after so many years... and you remember them, it's just one of the things that makes living here more human and intimate-- something that doesn't happen (much) in Washington, D.C.
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