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A Little Land Update...

A huge thanks to all who donated and helped us to raise money for the Mother's in Mozambique campaign. While we are waiting to see if anything else shows up in the mail before we give a final number, I can tell you one thing for sure... WE RAISED 100% OF OUR GOAL OF $12,000 and then some!!

Last week we got enough money to pay for the lands in full and I was finally able to go see the property! It was so exciting =) While we only went for a few minutes, it was still really cool to see the mango trees that Nunu had to “fight” for and imagine where one day our kitchen window could be overlooking the Indian Ocean!

The blue in the back ground is the Indian Ocean =)

So what's next? Once the money is in our account, then we have to wire the rest of the money to Mozambique so Nunu can begin work. To say the least things can be a little confusing when you are building here. Our biggest need is something to live in but we are trying to finalize our plans.

Our original thought was to start getting power and water to the house which can take time, but two things have happened. A neighbor about 200 feet away has both (or is close to having), which means he made our jobs much easier. We have also been advised to have someone live on the property while we are building. As theft of building materials is common. To address this we would need to build a room and hire a guard to live on the property and possibily have another guard there (awake) overnight and get ourselves a dog.

Building here is so different from what I'm used to, and there is a lot to consider... and I don't pretend to understand everything that is going on. So I ask for a little grace as we finalize plans and then find ourselves have to rework things as we get started! BUT how exciting... we are getting started!!!

The Second Piece of Land...

A few days ago, Nunu went back out to the land to see if he could make a deal on the neighboring piece of property. To give you an idea, the first piece of property that we made a deal on is about 138' x 110' and the deal was made for 180,000 mzn (about $6,000). This second piece of property Nunu originally thought was smaller and therefore, he thought it would be much cheaper. But upon measuring and finding out the actual property boundaries they found it to be about 128'x 118'... so very close in size the first property. So then I didn't know what to expect, but kept thinking they would ask even more money.

Nunu checking out the second property.

Nunu on first property.

Nunu on the other side of the first property.

While Nunu was gone, I got a text from him saying they wanted 100,000 (about $3,400) and something weird about a mango tree... what? I was pretty excited about the price, but had to wait for him to get home to get all the details.

A few hours later, in walks my sweaty husband. What a guy to do all this walking, crazy bus taking and standing out in the blazing sunshine negotiating the price of land!

I give him about 30 seconds to drink water and sit down... if even and then I pounce! “Tell me everything! How much? What about a tree?! Tell me, tell me!!!” This is my attempt to contain myself and my excitement!

Apparently the land was owned by a few people. One lady didn't want to sell the land because she wanted to build something for her grandchildren. The guy who is building the fence, aka the Negotiator, was also there and Nunu said he was the one who was making the deals, saying to the lady... “You aren't going to build them a house here, when?!” Nunu was ready to walk away, he isn't about trying to pry land out of people’s hands, but the Negotiator convinced her that she was better off selling. But she really, really wanted to keep her mango tree, because her grandchildren like mangos so much. I guess the tree is like 10' or so in from the front property line and she wanted to notch out the land, just around the tree.

I'm not even sure what I would have done or how I would have reacted to this, but my husband being cool, calm and collected just kept going trying to settle on a price for the land she was willing to sell. With the help of the Negotiator, they got the price down to 85,000 (about $2,835)!! Then Nunu offered to give an extra 5,000 (about $165) for the mango tree and the woman didn't hesitate in saying yes!

In the end we made a deal to purchase the land WITH the mango tree for 90,000 (about $3,000)!

We were also debating if we should try to buy the other neighboring property. But Nunu didn't realize that it wasn't the same length from front to back as the other properties, rather 30 – 40% shorter. I guess someone else owns the front little chunk. Also for the smallest piece of all three properties, they said they wanted 200,000! I was confused but Nunu told me now that they sold another land, they have money and food, so they aren't eager to sell. Maybe next year if someone else doesn't buy it they would ask us if we were still interested and be willing to sell it for less. But only time will tell.

So now that we know the prices of the land, it's much easier to come up with a budget for the money we are trying to raise!

Our goal is to raise $12,000 to:

• fully pay for two pieces of land (about 138'x 228') & legalize them

• clear the properties & put up a simple fence (to show ownership) 

• build a simple guard shed (about 25 sq. ft.) and latrine

• dig/build septic tank, build a water tower, begin process to get water & electricity

• transportation for Nunu to oversee these things

Remember the money we raise up until Mother's Day is going to be matched dollar for dollar (up to $6,000), so while $12,000 might sound like a lot, $6,000 sounds a lot better!! Have you considered giving in honor of your mother?

So far we have raised $750 which is $1,500 with the match! That's 12.5% of our goal and $5,250 left to raise! 

And don't forget that for donations made before May 1^st if you email me your mother's name and I'll type it into the document shown below!

Cifa Update

Things with Cifa are taking longer than I had hoped. All the rain (see blog Rain, Rain and Then a Little More Rain) made it impossible for her to get here. The rain also caused one of her dirt walls to crumble. So she has been a little distracted, rightfully so.

This wall thing has been a big challenge for me too. As she called our Administrator asking for money to help with the wall and then sent her daughter to ask about it as well. I want to help, every ounce of my body is like just figure out how to give her the money, BUT that creates a dependency. Or rather it encourages the one that already exists. We tell her we will have to come see the damage and see if we can raise the money. She seems a little frazzled, but we also have word from another child that a portion of his family's roof has fallen.

Nunu and I talk about it and come up with jobs for her. The biggest need, is our ever growing pile of laundry, as you can't dry clothes outside when it's pouring rain... not to mention all the towels and things we have used to soak up water. So we have 2 days of wash for her and we also pay her to help us clean up from the rain. Our house doesn't have a stoop or step or anything, you just walk from sand/dirt to tile floor. So with the rain and wet floors, sweeping has been next to impossible.

Our entrance. Some of the kids are
inside on this rainy day painting.

As for her little craft circles, she did bring me some back. She tried to show her son how to make them too. Half the circles are okay and the other half need a bit of work, but both are an improvement from what Cifa made on her first day. She doesn't seem very interested in making these things, but I try to push it out of my head, as culture plays largely into body movements and facial expression NOT to mention that things are getting translated from Cifa's tribal language... and things definitely get lost.

I ask Cifa if she has time to learn how to make bigger circles, and she says no (this is part of what made me feel she wasn't interested). Determined, I still showed her. =) I just did a quicker version that what I was planning and I sent her on her way with more materials.

I went to Cifa's house to see the damage to her wall. And was pleased to see they had fixed half the wall. She even had the insight to move the walls in a foot, so that the roof overhangs. Which is funny because I was just telling Nunu that I thought it was so strange that houses only have an overhang on one side (not the sides that are on an angle). The portion of wall that is still missing is inside of her fence, so I actually thought it was an improvement... as they have no windows in the house and this wall now provides a nice breeze =) I'm sure she thinks it's freezing in her house at night! While she has my attention, she shows me that her latrine wall is leaning and tells me she would like some new sheet... hey at least she communicates =)

Damaged wall from outside. You can see there is
virtually no overhang on the angled side.

Damaged wall from inside.

New wall on right has been moved
in over a foot, so rain doesn't come in.

One of our staff trying to understand
just what Cifa's plans are.

This is the other side of the house, where she already
moved the walls in. They used to come out closer to the
edge of the Bamboo.

I left her house feeling good. I didn't think her family was in danger and I was happy to see she had already made some improvements on her own.

A few days later Cifa returned to my door with some really great circles! The tops of her circles are great, she just smashes the backside somehow. And the most exciting part was the worst one in the pile she picked up, laughed and said her son made it. I say it's exciting because I didn't know if he was doing the good ones and she was struggling... so I'm really happy and proud that Cifa is learning how to make these weird little circles.

Column L to R are Cifa's progress by week.
Bottom rowis the back side of circles.
 The far Right my circle for comparison.

Cifa's work top is front, bottom is back.

I sent her home with more paper and some (well deserved) encouraging words. And I think next time I'll be able to show her how to sew them together! We've also talked what I will pay her, and I asked if that was fair. She said that she is just happy to make these and she would gladly take whatever I will pay her. 

Here are some pictures from the walk to Cifa's house, which I have done before but not just after a record rainfall. And never before with Cifa who at about 5 feet tall navigated this "path" as if she was off to meet the president!

Coming up on one of my favorite views, I love
seeing all the roof tops!

It would be an understatement to say
that the rain has messed up the path.

I did lots of jumping, as you never
know just what is in the water?!

This wasn't the only "bridge" we had to cross.
Good thing I'm always working on ninja skills. 

Prayer Request:
- That Cifa would continue to improve her craftsmanship. That she would grasp the idea that if she makes enough of these each month, she would be able to provide for her family.

Mothers in Mozambique Matching Money!

The ministry we are planning will focus on widows, single women who are desperately trying to raise their children on their own. 

We have some very exciting news that a matching gift is being offered and we are calling it Mothers in Mozambique, as the matching money is being given in honor of the donors' mothers. So it's only appropriate that our Mothers in Mozambique matching campaign will end on the day that honors these very women: Mother's Day (May 11, 2014). 

Consider joining us to honor not only your mother, but mothers in Mozambique. Give your mother the gift that will impact another mother's life! 

Right Click and Download this image to present to you Mother
If you have any problems, email Amanda

If you donate:

$25 becomes $50!
$50 becomes $100!
$100 becomes $200!!!
$1,000 becomes $2,000!!!!

What will this money be used for? It will be used to purchase land that will be the start of our widows ministry. We have made a down payment on one piece of property, but we still owe about $2,000. Properties are also available on each side of this land and we are hoping to purchase at least one of them.

We are estimating that each piece of land would cost somewhere between $4,000 and $6,000. That is the hard thing about buying land here, the prices aren't firmed up until you have at least some cash in hand. And there is no signing of a contract of any sorts until you have a good chunk of cash in hand.

Nunu has been traveling out to the land each week as we are building a fence around the property. He is also gaining the respect of the land owners and hoping he can put a down payment on a second piece of property even before paying off the first.

Our goal is to raise $6,000 to match the money that has been offered. This will ensure us a piece of land that measures 138'x 234' plus enough money to either buy still more land  or begin building on the land we already have.

We want to buy as much land as we can as soon as we can because oil was recently discovered offshore here and speculators are beginning to drive up the price of land. We want to have enough land to raise chickens and goats and to grow fruits and vegetables. We also will need a place for us to live and for volunteers to stay.

We are so excited at the possibilities that this land and ministry will bring. If you have any questions, we would love to answer them.

For information on how to give, check the "Donation"tab above.

Where It All Began - A Hand Up

This blog was originally posted on March 23, 2014 via www.amanda-nichols.blogspot.com

For those of you who don’t know the whole story of how I came to Moz… it all began siting behind a desk working in an Architecture firm... probably in 2008. A coworker and I began to talk about traveling. It’s during this time that a seed was planted. I wanted to spend Christmas in an orphanage overseas. A few Christmas’s pass and the thought never left my mind.

I believe it was February 19, 2011, that I finally got to spend a Christmas in an orphanage… yes February. 

I remember so much of my first time here in Moz, like it was yesterday. Everything was new. Everything. Language, food, culture, climate, smells, tastes… everything! I kept envisioning a map thinking to myself… I am on the continent of Africa!!

In one word the reason I came to here was because of children. All I had done for years was think about children. I can’t begin to explain to you just how caught off guard I was by the widows in our community, especially our children’s moms. I’d always heard about orphans and street children, but widows… not so much.

It all began with Cifa. One of my last projects during my trip was to purchase her a bed, mattress and stove (think small handmade Webber grill). When we made the delivery she kissed the sheets and even this little metal stove.  (past blog on Cifa)

Time and time as I return, Cifa is stuck. She is very poor. While the details don’t matter as much now, it’s the solution. I know the solution is getting her a stable income (which she doesn’t have and I doubt she ever has had, since her husband has passed away) but I just don’t know what that looks like yet.

It’s my dream to one day be able to teach Cifa and others like her how to make purses and aprons (visit my Etsy shop), but I think it’s a little to advanced for someone who isn’t used to that kind of detail. So I’ve been trying to come up with things.

A week or so after we arrived, Cifa showed up asking if we had work for her. The only thing we could come up with and afford was our laundry. While I’d love to employ her to do things, our house is small and doesn’t need much cleaning and we don’t have an excess of money.

She has been washing our clothes for a few weeks and keeps asking if we have other things for her. So I’ve been thinking…

Just before leaving the States, Nunu and I stayed with a friend of mine. Who had this cool circular thing laying on her counter. Upon further inspection, I thought it might be a hot pad or something decorative, but it was made out of newspaper, glue and string. Hum.

For the last week or so I’ve been spending time trying to figure out just how to make these hot pads and I came up with something =) Including a chart to try to show how to make the strips of paper which make the circles.

On Friday when she came to do our laundry, I asked if she had time to come into the house for a little. Traduzir joined us as she is more comfortable speaking in Macua (a tribal language). I sort of struggle with exactly how to approach her on the matter. I want to say, “We don’t have the work for odd jobs and we don’t have much money right now, so if you can make something we can try to sell it.” How can you tell someone like Cifa, “We don’t have the money.” I think of Cifa’s possessions, or to our standards… a lack of.

I once heard a woman say that the lady she knew who owned 2 pairs of underwear. Each day when she showers, she washes one pair, leaving it to dry for tomorrow and puts on the other pair that she washed yesterday. This repeats every day and so she just rotates between her 2 pair of underwear.

This is the type of poor I am talking about. This is a different type of poor than most American’s could ever understand. I’m not talking about how big is her house or what type of furniture does she have, does she buy new clothes or go to thrift stores? This might sound strange; I noticed early on that it’s the strangest things that can tell you someone’s financial status. The poorest of the poor have nothing in excess, nothing. Earrings and nail polish are 2 examples… if you don’t have enough to eat, are you going to buy nail polish? No.

So when I think to tell Cifa, we don’t have enough money to pay you for something. I think to all of the clothes of mine that she just washed this week. I think from her perspective, and can’t imagine someone owning so many pairs of underwear, tank tops, and skirts in such good condition saying, “I don’t have the money to…”

Back to my story… Traduzir and I sit and teach Cifa the first part of making these circles. Her first one is a bit rough, but Traduzir’s is good. So we make a few more and she improves some. She also asks if she can work on these at home as she would like to show her older children how to make them too. Initiative, I like it.

Traduzir working away.

Cifa learning how to make crafts. 

So the biggest prayer I have for Cifa right now is that her and her family are able to make these hot pads to a good enough quality that they are sellable. While my heart breaks for this woman, I want to give her a hand up, not a handout. And I have no other ideas as to how to help her make some money.

For those of you who have been following and know that we want to work with widows, this is the type of stuff we want to do. Teach skills that empower widows to become self-sufficient.

We will need some help to get things going, not just here in Moz but also in the States. If you would like more information about our plans or if you are interested in becoming an advocate for us, or helping us sell some of our crafts, send me an email. (email amanda)

There is also an opportunity to help us with Cifa. As we haven’t raised any specific money for this and will be using our own money to pay her and buy the materials for her to make the crafts, because of this we will watch what she makes to ensure we can afford to pay her for it.

Hot Pad - about 6" across

Hot Pad  - about 8" across

I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am at what the future holds. I know it won’t all be a breeze, but if we can make a difference in a few peoples lives, it’s gonna be totally worth it!

Land... It's Almost Ours!

This blog was originally posted on March 17, 2014 via www.amanda-nichols.blogspot.com

First of all I want to say thanks for all of you who read the blog yesterday and have been praying with us as we try to purchase this piece of land. I've sat by all day waiting for text messages from Nunu with updates as to how things are going only to have him feed me little nuggets of what's going on. So I've been waiting to get the full story and now as I prepare to go to bed, I'm ready to share it with you all.

Nunu went out to meet the owner of the land with cash in hand to play let's make a deal. The good news is the owner came down a little on the price, the bad news is he didn't come down to the amount  of cash that Nunu had in hand. BUT the other good news is that the owner is giving us to June to come up with the rest of the money. Until then, we have a simple document signed saying they have accepted our down payment and Nunu made a video on his phone of the cash exchange

So the point of this blog is two fold. Not only to update you, but to also let you know of our need. In the next two or so months, we need to raise about $2,000 to cover the cost of this land. More on that later =)

The other really exciting thing is that today they used an actual tape measurer to check the size of the property and it's... 138' x 110'!!

The owner is going to clear the land for us in the next few days. Then Nunu is going to return this weekend to start building a simple fence around the property, as if to say, "Sorry buddy, it's off the market!" Our dreams are coming true!

For those of you who don't know what exactly the dream is, it's that Nunu and I feel God calling us to something different. We want to start a ministry that reaches out to widows and their vulnerable children. It's our goal to develop a ministry that can teach them simple skills like farming and sewing so that they are able to provide for themselves (we are currently working on a 5 year plan, if you would like more information on that, please let me know). The land we are trying to purchase is for our home and it will be the start of this ministry.

If you are interested in helping us to purchase this land you can either make a tax deductible donation to The Dream Project in our name or you can personally send us money via paypal (amanda.macarrao@gmail.com - no tax deduction for this option). Other ways to help would be to host fundraiser, my step-mom is looking into a fundraiser with Tupperware, where a portion of the purchases would be donated. Anything would be much appreciated =)

Donate Online: click here
By mail: The Dream Project - 3200 Livernois Rd. - Troy, MI 48083
*write Macarrao in the memo line.

Personally (no tax deduction) via PayPal: