The story of those young boys!
Venue: Maputo, Mozambique.
I was walking along the seaside in the afternoon after having my lunch at a nearby restaurant. As usual, the menu was seafood! I had been eating seafood for every single meal for the past 3 days. The seafood here is fresh with no preservatives. The sea was calm and there were only a few people. I took a deep breath to inhale some fresh air. Suddenly, two young boys caught my attention near the jetty. Skinny legs, torn half shirt. A little hair on the skull. Both the boys standing opposite of each other moving their hands in a way as if they are directing an opera. I walked a bit closer and tried to figure out who are they talking/yelling to? They were not talking to any other humans but yelling something towards the sea. The sound of their voice was uncouth. I tried to understand if they were singing any songs but the words had no rhythm. There were passion and the tone was coming from the heart. I left the place surprised and confused. Strange! I look around and found no ships, boats or anything around but the guys kept talking/yelling non-stop!
The hotel I was staying in Maputo does not show the true picture of the country. The area was well planned, occupied by a number of international hotels, restaurants, and a big resort plus casino under construction. I could see Chinese investments and workers everywhere. Next, to the beach, there are nice duplex villas, designed in European style; a few private businesses, boutique shops. A decent place to live for the rich. Within 3 kilometres one can find the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a few more restaurants and an open Art market- a must visit place for tourists interested in local art and crafts made from black woods. Souvenirs are extremely cheap compared to their qualities. Many of the seafood restaurants are owned by the Portuguese origin Mozambicans who had been in the country for decades. I have seen quite a number of Indian origin locals too, some of whom do not speak any Indian language. Many of these Indian origins are Muslims and I have been to one of the Islamic Colleges in Maputo. There are three major mosques in the city, and the country has 29 million Muslims.
One of the tourist spots in Maputo is the Central Market - the building has a European Architecture where the goods are sold in an open space. It looks more like a street market. Everything is fresh- from vegetables to Nuts. We have been eating nuts during all our meetings. Nuts are quite famous in Mozambique. I got some papaya, extremely sweet. We, a team of 10, decided to visit the Maputo Fortress, an early-18th-century fort, now a museum. Inside there is a garden and remnants from the era of early Portuguese forays to the area. It was a very well maintained fort, though we didn't see many tourists. During my official meetings, I met a local guy who speaks fluent Chinese. He learnt that in China- smart folk. The seafood restaurants near those big hotels are usually occupied by white businessmen. Mozambique discovered gas recently and I guess due to this, lots of foreigners started coming to Maputo. Africa is a major treasure land and we just need to start exploring.
Amina (not her real name) works for the Ministry, a 28-year-old woman with 3 kids. Her eldest son is 12! I couldn’t resist asking, you must have got married very early? She said, yes. I came from a poor family and my parents got me married when I was a teenager; it’s almost a norm but I continued studying and managed to get a university degree. I looked at Amina…she looks stressed all the time. Every day she travels by public bus for more than an hour to come to work and by the time she reaches home, she is almost fainéant to take care of her children- a perfect scenario of a low-middle income family. Public organizations in the developing world pay very little and with inadequate support from the Government, families have to struggle a lot to raise their children, send them to proper schools or healthcare facilities.
How can we change the fate of Amina- bringing prosperity in the country through prudent Government plan and policies, through innovation?
Let's go back to the story of the young boys talking/singing at the sea jetty in an awkward language. Few months after that event, I finally got to know what was happening there. A local mentioned that these kids go to the sea and pray to the sea to bring them good fate, take them to the other side — where a more developed nation (South Africa)is located. They have no jobs, they suffer to manage regular meals and their only hope is the sea, which will bring miracles to their lives. I was shocked! Literally! These young people lost all their hopes and now asking the sea to bring them good fate- is it due to lack of education or extreme level of frustration. These boys really need help- they could’ve played an active role to build the country; but they just want to leave their homeland, they want to run away. They are tired of fighting against the harsh reality.
