FAQ's Part 2

Here are some more of your questions that were asked frequently of me.

HIV/AIDS? Is that the biggest health problem?

The rate of infection for the city we are is guesstimated (yes, guesstimated) around 16 percent. Or about 1-in-6 people. It is a big burden on the state especially as they try to maintain large numbers of employed public servants. Imagine the shortage of teachers every year with the huge number of them are not going to be able to consistently go to work or that will just die during the year. In rural locations, the rate is less. In the bigger cities to the south of us, the rate is much, much higher, and may approach 30%. None of our kids our HIV+.

Much more common health problems are malaria, because of mosquitos, and diarrhea, because of a lack of sanitation and clean drinking water. Malaria is something that the average Mozambican gets twice a year. Our kids, due to rigorous use of mosquito nets, can often go up to two years without getting it. It is a disease that each time you get, you build resistance to. However, it is very dangerous among infants and the elderly. Diarrhea and, to a lesser extent, cholera, are also more that a nuisance. Diarrhea is a legitimate cause of death among children under five.

There are also other diseases among the general population, like pneumonia, tuberculosis, that are a complication of HIV. Since there is a stigma against testing or revealing your status, many people face prolonged illness when the underlying cause is AIDS. There is also a high rate of STD, and it is estimated that over 80% of adults have at least one sexually transmitted disease.

Are there lots of orphans?

Not as many as there could be. Mozambique skews very young, as more than half the country is under the age of 16. However, life expectancy is pushing 45, so the population isn't booming as much as you might expect. Also, child mortality is 25%. That means that one in every four children don't live past the age of five. This is due to just poor health and no development. That said, people have very large families (six and seven kids is not abnormal). This is not because of a lack of birth control or knowledge, but because kids act as a form of social security. When you are old, your kids take care of you, so the more kids, the more people there are to take care of you.

Going back to the orphan question, I have yet to see an official stat on that question, but needless to say that if we were to put out an add saying “Orphanage. Space available. Inquire within.” there would be thousands of people here before lunchtime. More so than orphaned children is just the absolute and utter poverty that exists.

What are incomes like?

There is a growing number of a wealthy class, people that have cars and satellite TV's and computers. It is putting a huge burden on the roads and traffic is generally horrible. However, on average, people here still live on just over a dollar a day. ON AVERAGE! Meaning that for all the people in their cars and computers, the harsher reality is that most people are taking about two dollars a day to support their whole family. Most people really do live hand to mouth.

There is no service sector (hotels, restaurants) and the northern half of the country is at large an agrarian society. There is no technology or manufacturing and traditionally the north has relied on the export of cashews. This year (and cashews are just starting to be gathered), the price of cashews has been set at less than half of what is historically has been because of supposed over-production the last two years, meaning the scores of thousands are going to lose an essential source of income.

The government has put an incredible emphasis on building the economy by way of luring foreign investment (read: China) in obtaining natural resources. However, new studies show that the Chinese prefer to bring their own workers and Mozambicans are almost never hired at more than minimum wage. Also, the people are angered because they know that these projects (for coal, natural gas, timber) are bringing in taxes and revenue to the state, but they are not seeing the returns. This is in part because a huge portion of the Mozambican budget is made of up foreign aid. As domestic revenues rise, this aid is pared back so that the overall cash flow remains the same. It's complicated.

But as for real jobs, unemployment is impossible to count and is estimated around 50%.

More to come later. And if you have a question you have frequently asked yourself, just put it in the comments section and we'll answer it.