Movie Night =)

Before I jump back into all the things I’m working on, I wanted to tell you about my first movie experience in Maputo. When I arrived in Maputo I was asking Nunu about the theartre, so we walked past it one day and I remember that Nunu was surprised that the cost had gone up from 100 MZN (abt $3.70) to 150 MZN (abt $5.50).

Anyways, since I didn’t feel good much of last week, I just wanted to get out of the house. We had no clue what movie was playing but on Saturday night we headed out. The theater only play 2 movies, one at 6:00 & 8:30 and the other at 3:00. I was happy when we arrived to find that the 6:00 was The Help. The 3:00 was Cowboys & Aliens. We purchased our tickets and went in. A guard looked at our printed tickets and we headed down stairs. I wanted popcorn (I’m going for the full effect), so we went and purchased a bag (see picture). I think it cost 60 MZN ($2.20).

Love me some popcorn!

We go in and the place is pretty big. I’m not sure how many it would hold (maybe 150/200 people) but probably similar to the Tivoli in Downers Grove. The movie starts on time, with no previews. It is played in English with Portuguese subtitles.

The place is air conditioned but to the point where about 30 minutes in you start to feel a little warm. The seats are comfortable, not the moveable highbacks like we have now a days but soft and nicer than I would have imagined. I would guess there are about 30 people watching with us.

About half way though the screen does something strange and goes blank. But then a message comes up saying there will be a 7 minute intermission. Go figure the one time I go to a movie with an intermission I don’t need to go to the bathroom. A few minutes later a preview is played for Cowboys & Aliens (the other movie they show at 3:00) and then our movie starts right back up.

Enough fun, back to work! Speaking of work, I actually feel more helpful than I had imagine a week ago. It’s worked out well that Nunu does the running around, we meet each day talking about what he has done and discussing what we should do next. I communicate with Julia what’s going on. Would I rather be in Pemba… uh yeah! But I feel like I’m helping here and getting some really important things accomplished for Projecto Sonho.

The Dire. Monday morning Nunu took our letter with documents (we think we are missing one) to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), just as he was told last week. When he got there they told him to go to Immigration. On Tuesday he went to Immigration and they told him he needed to go to the Department of Labor. On Wednesday he went to the Department of Labor and they told him he needs to go to Immigration?!

He calls the man at the other orphanage in Pemba and reads him our letter. Apparently we had the word “worker” in rather than “volunteer” and that needed to be fixed. Then we need to reprint and turn it in again.

The documents we have been printing to turn in to these official offices, we have to print in color. If you don’t, you have to use your organization official stamp (logo stamp)… Projecto Sonhos is up in Pemba. Each time we print a color sheet, it cost 47 MZN about $1.80!

So today Nunu takes our new document void of the word “workers” back to Immigration and they accepted it! They said to check back in 5 days (I highly doubt it will be done the, but who knows). Michael is needing to renew his visa, so if Nunu and I leave, he offered to go check on it.

Two down, one to go!!

The Land Permit. Tuesday Nunu takes the letter to the Department of Agriculture to turn it in. A woman reviews the letter and tells him that it needs to be addressed to the Governor, not the Department of Agriculture. She also tells Nunu that the letter could be turned in as is, but that she would strongly suggest that we make our letter much more convincing. I email Julia with all of this information and she rewrites the letter and  suggests we call Pastor Felipe again to get his take on the situation. She also suggests that we ask him to come up from Ponta to turn the letter in and gives us a budget to work with as far as building on the land goes. 

Felipe has been working with Projecto Sonho to acquire the land since the beginning. He also lives in Ponta and knows how things work.

Today Nunu calls Pastor Felipe and fills him in on everything. He says he will not come to Maputo to turn the letter in, he says the letter will do no good. He explains to Nunu that if we turn the letter in they will send an official out to look at the land. Since we have yet to build the only way the official will approve things is if we bribe him. He says it is better to build a fence around the property and a well on the property. Then write a letter explaining our plans for the future. He thinks this will get us the extension.

We try asking him what the fence and well will cost, but he says he is unsure. We had offered to cover Felipe’s travel to Maputo to turn the document in and money for his time. Well now he wants to come and go see how much these things will cost. It’s things like this that are really hard for me.  I don’t know if these things are in our budget or if they will cost 10x our budget and I don’t want to waste Felipe’s time or our money if it is way out of our budget. It’s hard for me to make decisions when I feel so out of the loop and when it’s not my money at stake. I hate the thought of wasting ministry money.

By the time I talk to Julia tonight, it’s too late too get Felipe here tomorrow (Friday) to go looking at things. He says he will come up Saturday to look at materials and if they are in our budget, I will pay for them an keep the receipts.

Dang. I was hoping to take the bus up to Pemba on Saturday! The next bus leaves on Monday, so hopefully we can get things ironed out by then.