Thread: Employment Opportunities

I took the following media story of the web from here:

Soap operas give Brazil the edge in Mozambique rush | Reuters

and reading it has evoked a lot of thought in me about what I find here, with the complexity of the place. It is true, what is often recognised as being the closest place to Mozambique in culture/manner/attitude etc. is...Brazil.


Soap operas give Brazil the edge in Mozambique rush

By Marina Lopes

ILHA DE MOCAMBIQUE, Mozambique | Tue Dec 18, 2012 9:18am EST

(Reuters) - Cackles, moans and gasps stream from the only police station on Ilha de Moçambique, a small island off the Mozambican coast, as five officers cluster around a small, battered television, their eyes glued to the figures arguing on the faded screen.

It is time for "Balacobaco" (slang for "awesome"), the Brazilian television soap opera that has taken the southern African nation by storm, and the officers are so engrossed they barely notice their chief of police behind them.

"Turn that off and get back to work," he barks.

In fish markets, hospital waiting rooms and government offices, Brazilian soap operas have become a Mozambican staple, underpinning a cultural bridge across the South Atlantic that Brazilian companies are rushing to exploit as memories of Mozambique's brutal 17-year post-independence civil war fade.

With the former Portuguese colony thought to be home to some of the world's biggest untapped coal reserves and enough natural gas to power Western Europe for more than a decade, the pickings are rich.

"Mozambique is a natural partner. We speak the same language, have the same origins," said Miguel Peres, the local chief executive of construction firm Odebrecht, which has been in Mozambique since 2006.

"The Portuguese colonized both countries, so we identify with their problems, the same problems we have in Brazil. So we feel comfortable doing business here and we see lots of opportunities."

Mirroring the primacy of "Balacobaco", which regularly attracts twice as many viewers as nightly news bulletins on state television, Brazilian mining giant Vale lays claim to being Mozambique's biggest foreign investor.

It has already spent $1.9 billion developing the Moatize coal mine in the northern province of Tete, and has plans to spend another $6.4 billion upgrading a 900-km (600-mile) rail line linking Moatize to the coast.

COMPETITION

Not that the Brazilians have the run of the place.

Even though the United States - along with apartheid South Africa - supported Renamo rebels against the communist-backed Frelimo party now in government, U.S. firms face few consequences nowadays and U.S. energy firm Anadarko rivals Vale in the sums it has poured into off-shore gas exploration.

In November, the firm sponsored a U.S. election day bash at the American Cultural Center in the capital, Maputo, complete with cheeseburgers, policy debates and a mock election.

Situated on the Indian Ocean, Mozambique is also well-placed to service Asia's energy-hungry, fast-growing economies, most notably China, and the attention foisted on Mozambique mirrors the new 'Scramble for Africa' playing out across the continent.

Chinese companies have recently renovated the domestic terminal at Maputo's airport and are building a ring-road for the bustling capital, construction work that has helped attract tens of thousands of Chinese nationals to Mozambique.

A Confucius Centre offering Chinese language classes subsidized by Beijing opened in Maputo in October, with a Mozambican choir singing the Chinese national anthem in fluent Mandarin.

So many Mozambicans have flocked to the institute's $30-a-month courses in its first month the center has had to double the number of classes.

"More people want to learn Chinese. They think it is the language of the future," institute director Xing Xianhong told Reuters.

South Korea, another Asian economy waking up to the potential of Africa, is planning to open an embassy in Mozambique next year.

As with Tanzania and Kenya to the north, Mozambique is also home to a large Muslim Indian community that has retained its strong ties - cultural, family and commercial - with the sub-continent.

SOAP SUCCESS

Yet Brazil remains the front-runner in the race to win Mozambique's heart, thanks to intangible cultural connections like the popularity of its soap operas.

"When Brazilian investors arrive here, no one can say they don't know who they are," said Selma Inocencia of Miramar Mozambique, the local arm of the Brazilian channel that makes "Balacobaco".

"They are present in the music we listen to, in the films we watch."

Miramar came to Mozambique in 1999, long before the resource boom that has attracted 4,000 Brazilians. With its grammatically simple Brazilian Portuguese and easy-to-relate-to plots, its soap operas have become an instant hit with Mozambique's 23 million people.

The story of "Balacobaco" revolves around Isabel, an architect, whose dreams of building a house dissolve when her husband gambles their savings away.

"I can identify with a character in every novela," said Daisy Mogne, a 24-year-old communications student. "They make me feel understood and help me see that there are people all over the world with the same problems and joys as me."

Miramar now supplements its output with local content, modeled on a Brazilian template.

"Some people criticized us. They said that we wanted to "Brazilify" the Mozambican. But at the end of the day it is a question of identifying with the market," Inocencia said.

A country with deep African roots, celebrated for lifting itself out of poverty, Brazil's appeal is that of a successful older sibling.

Former Brazilian President Lula da Silva emphasized Brazil and Mozambique's shared struggles with Portuguese colonialism when he spoke of Brazil's "sacred" relationship with Africa at a conference in Maputo last month.

"We look to Africa as a partner, not with pity," he said, urging greater ties between the world's emerging economies. "The Chinese may be here, but they don't have a third of our charm."



I hope the above can help people appreciate the complexity that is Mozambique and, the increasing complexity that is coming.....I am enjoying the place, and the challenges it brings.




As an aside...I have yet to get to Brazil but, I need to.

The only other bloke from my home town of Kyogle (a town of 2000 - 3000 people up on the Far North Coast of NSW) who speaks Portuguese, is there now.

Brett and I went through Kyogle High School together and we went our seperate ways.

The next time we caught up together, was in Afghanistan, where he was the Australian Ambassador....now he is the Australian Ambassador in Brazil.

Brazil is an awesome place for those that like adventure.
I know the south and have a brother who lives in the north of Brazil. If you have the chance go there and explore the border with Peru and Parguay.
Keep of San Pablo

Well, it has been lovely to get my Xmas back. Having spent the Xmas's of 09-11, each in Mogadishu...Xmas here in Maputo, with my wife and her family has been something 'out of this world'.

It has been quite a roll of celebration, Sat 22 Dec 12, we (wife, her Mum, and myself) drove out of Maputo, up to family at a place called Chokwe. The purpose of the visit was for us to attend a Lobolo ceremony.

Now...Lobolo...Lobolo is a century-old tradition, still common throughout Africa. This system requires that a price be paid for the right to marry a women. This practice is still used extensively in contemporary African society, especially among the MaShangaan people that my wife is from

Lobolo is an age-old African custom that is very alive today. Both the families of the bride and groom would be scandalized if they did not adhere to this custom. On the surface, Lobolo is a complex and very formal process of negotiation between the two families to come to a mutual agreement of the price that the groom has to pay in order to marry the bride. This may seem like a purchase and a sale, but this custom is the very opposite of a commercial transaction.

What makes Lobolo so important for marriage is that it is based on a process that brings the two families together. Mutual respect and dignity are woven into the process, and the love between the man and woman is expanded to include the immediate and extended families.

The process is very formal and has certain protocols that have to be adhered to. For example, although the two families concerned might have lived next to each other for years, all negotiation between the parents must be conducted in writing and not by telephone or by a quick visit. The reason for this is that although the families might have known each other for years, they do not know each other on the level of the Lobola exchange. In other words, they do not know each other at the the level of the seriousness and sanctity of marriage

The arrangements for the meeting between the families involve endless formalities. Often negotiations are not conducted by the parents of the prospective groom at all, but can be conduced via relatives, usually uncles of the groom. The reason for this is that the extended family is an important element in African culture and especially in the institution of marriage. My mother-in-law was attending as a formal negotiator

The negotiations can take up to two days and the talk will usually revolve around the number of cattle to be paid as the Lobolo/Bride-price. Cattle are symbolic and represent certain amounts of money. Once the bride price or Lobolo is established, the negotiations are formally over.

The purpose of all this fuss and decorum is to create a feeling of trust and mutual understanding at a deep level between the two families; and more importantly, a feeling of community.

Here is the house of my wife's uncle. He has quite a respectable house for he and his 5 wives. Surrounding it are individual dwellings that have been put up to cater for the young of each wife as they have grown:






The opening ceremony involved the negotiation by the wider family and the representatives of the bride and groom. It was done here in this room:




Then, the outcome of the negotiations are taken outside to be presented and approved by the wider family...there was clothing...suits and dresses with shoes and hats for the wife's family...alcohol, money, and the cows:



The cows:


Then the wife's family accept the Lobola and go inside, dress in the gifts and re-emerge for the celebrations:





The feasting and the dancing..but first, have to kill one of the cows:



The means:


The act:


The outcome:





Then there was representation from the groom's family. They come in singing and chanting:



As is the Mozambican way, there is a lot of waiting and conversation:


The ceremony went overnight. My wife and I had to excuse ourselves...which took a lot of kissing and hugging, as we were committed to come back to Maputo for the birthday party of the grand-daughter of my wife's brother:




Once the cake is cut, there is then the ceremony of the birthday person feeding the adults and in kind, the adult feeding the birthday person....it goes on with much singing.




This day started at 0430h, then finished at about the same time the next morning.

Then, the day before Xmas, a sleep-in and up for lunch to celebrate a mate's 56'th birthday. Of interest there, was the Enfield muzzle loader he had. He had been connected in some way to another mate of mine (in the demining world) and this had been found as part of a cache of weapons in an old dwelling in the far north of the country...and...it is still in working order. Interesting things happen on this continent.



Then, the night before Xmas party started....and it went until sunrise on Xmas day. If there is one thing that Mozambicans work hard at...it is enjoying themselves...then, Xmas day, was simply, a continuation, and it went until early AM...the apartment where my wife's family are in Maputo, get together with their neighbours and they have celebrated the night before and Xmas (Natal) together...it helps to have all the neighbours come in..because the music goes until the next sunrise.





Don't let that Aussie dance again....



Help! I am in need of sleep!! Wish I could sleep as well as my young nephew can!



An aside to the festive season, has been the traffic coming into Mozambique from South Africa....e pa!

Last Fri and Sat...a 14km traffic jam coming into the Lebombo border crossing. The result of Mozambicans returning home for Christmas, and South Africans travelling to holiday on the coast...happens every year and is getting worse:

http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/9128130...break-20122212

and you should see how it can then make people drive....it is dangerous. South Africa, populated by 51.8million people, suffers these sorts of road deaths:

More than 765 people have been killed on SA roads so far this month, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) said on Saturday.

"The preliminary festive season statistics as reported by the SAPS from 1 December 2012 to 21 December 2012 is 765 fatalities from 638 fatal crashes," said RTMC spokesperson Ashref Ismail.

In 2011, 1771 people died as a result of 1 316 road accidents that took place between 1 December to 10 January 2012. The RTMC had hoped to reduce the number of road casualties this year by 25%.

However, Ismail said given the preliminary figures, "All indications are that this target will not be met".

Motorization in the developing world....keep safe and enjoy your festive season, wherever you may be.

Thanks so much BBC, for once again giving us a thorough insight into another Mozambican way of doing things - there is so much to learn from other cultures and the extended family atmosphere must be so different from what most people in our culture ever experience. From your description I can see that Lobolo must help build and strengthen relationships.

The expressions on the faces of the family members in your candid shots at the Lobolo ceremony, the birthday party and Xmas indeed show that Mozambicans do know how to enjoy themselves.

Those road crash fatality/injury stats South Africa for are ......horrific

While it is obviously safer with better roads and less congestion here, there have already been crashes and fatalities that shouldn't have happened.

Thanks again for filling us in and take care yourself this Christmas - I feel I can speak on behalf of all on this forum when I write that we wish you and all your family, however extended it is, all the best for the season and the New Year

Thanks, as always, BBC. They're obviously well ahead of us in some ways - my inlaws have barely noticed me in almost a decade and I think they'd rather I just faded away!

Me and the Missus took ourselves across the border, into the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. The purpose was for me to renew a visa but we travelled to Nelspruit, and spent a couple of nights there with a lovely day drive in between.

South Africa has some beautifully made roads and winding through some scenically wonderful country. We too a drive from Nelspruit, down to Barberton, then to Piggs Peak (on the Swaziland border), and then returned to Nelspruit.

Here are some photos taken enroute:











This is overlooking the valley on the Barberton side of the range. The structures in the distance belong to the Fairview gold mine:




Barberton:




sorry, I also have a bit of a 'bent' toward geology. Have a look at some of the twists and turns that this end of the Drakensbergs have undergone over time:







we went to a food outlet called 'SPUR' in Nelspruit for dinner on Sat night. The SPUR staff started dancing...it was delightful...only in Africa.

"we went to a food outlet called 'Speers' in Nelspruit for dinner on Sat night. The Speers staff started dancing..."

It's a SPUR steak house.

One of the bigger home-grown franchises, soon to be seen in a Moz town near you.......

Bloody Seffrickens everywhere, next stop we'll control the world

Originally Posted by jakeslouw

It's a SPUR steak house.

One of the bigger home-grown franchises, soon to be seen in a Moz town near you.......

OOOps!! Corrected.

You are right...they are everywhere across SA.

Home grown? Given the 'Wild West' sort of theme they use, I was thinking they'd be out of the US...