Operation Bear – From Cape Town to London fighting child
After our lovely, though extremely late lunch, we headed back to the bar at my hostel for a few beers before heading to AfroBar. While we were there, Tino recognized someone sitting at the bar. “Hey! I saw you on TV!” Well, I was intrigued as to why these two guys would have been on Mozambican television, so I started talking to them. They were Steve and Terrick, and they were driving from Cape Town to London (traveling nearly 60,000km…37500 miles) in a dune buggy conducting interviews, collecting information, and raising awareness in an effort to end child rape. I had some very interesting conversations with these two gentlemen, and salute their dedication to an issue that is very dear to them. You can read more information at http://www.operationbear.za.org and there is also a petition online. For every signature they get, Oprah Winfrey (who contacted them) will donate $1 to their cause. Check it out.
Expecting to find more to the story here?
Sorry about that. It looks like the server that hosts this blog crashed and lost some stuff. If you frequent this site often, you probably noticed that some blog entries went missing for a while, and now they’re back. I was able to recover all of them from cached versions on the internet, but the majority of this one was lost. I will not re-write it because I’m still almost 2 months behind on this blog, but, if you missed it, here’s some highlights:
- When hanging out with some local boys in Vilankulo, I was told by some local girls that I was “stealing their men away from them.”
- Later that night, some guy in our dance circle insisted that “we are dancing, not talking”; I ignored him and kept talking to my friend. A fight broke out, a local girl pulled me out of the way, and Tino told me my “color is a problem here”.
- Met up with Oscar (Spanish guy I met in Maputo), and we went on a dhow trip to Magaruque island, where we spent the day snorkling and exploring the island.
- Had a potluck party for Joel (American guy/chef) who was leaving back for Seattle; food included eel soup and napi – a dish from Zimbabwe made with butternut squash, peanut butter, and something else. I also found a local woman who would cook me cheap meals, such as crab curry, which was awesome.
- Spent a few days wandering around little pathways through Vilankulo with little kids greeting me (hello my sister) and following me; spent one day with Nono, a local 20-something girl who helped me pick out some Mozambican threads.
So, sorry if you missed the original story. Hopefully this won’t happen any more…And, if for some reason you have the original version, let me know – I’d really like to have it.
Tags: Mozambique, Mozambique, Vilankulo, Tag Index
Tania