The Festival consists of musical events in the capital Maputo, with the highlight being an acoustic musical train trip to Marracuene. The train picks up music fans for free along the way, taking them to the Festival's finale, a lively outdoor concert that lasts until dawn.

In Marracuene last year, photo courtesy of D J Clark (www.djclark.com)

The train trip this year was documented by YouTube user Charline Van Deth:

Website MozambiqueTV shared a clip from private television station STV on the platform of Maputo's historic train station before the train departed. The clip features an interview with a smiling producer of the Festival, Lito, with Logaritmo Productions:

Marrabenta is a genre of music closely linked to African urban life and modernity, making the train trip a delightful match. Marrabenta arose in the south in the 1930s and 1940s, the word coming from the verb rebentar (to break) which is a way people describe dancing. One urban theory is that the word originally described cheap guitar strings breaking with the energetic playing of musicians.

The genre was a mix of traditional Mozambican rhythms and new guitar arrangements inspired by that period's global explosion of popular music fuelled by radio. Pioneering artists such as Dilon Djindji, Fany Mpfumo, and Wazimbo (and the Orchestra Marrabenta Star) made an ever-lasting mark on Mozambican music.

Guitar is a key feature of Marrabenta, photo courtesy of D J Clark (www.djclark.com)

Ever since its beginnings in colonial Lourenço Marques (now Maputo), writes nostalgic website Xirico [pt]:

A música é um dos atributos culturais mais marcantes do povo moçambicano. O primeiro acorde provoca o primeiro movimento que ninguém ensinou. Depois não há força para resistir ao chicuembo da marrabenta. O requebro sincopado das ancas, uma mão na nuca outra atrás das costas, movimentos sensuais…

Performers on the mainstage last year, photo courtesy of D J Clark (www.djclark.com)

Photographer DJ Clark captured the essence of the festival last year in a stunning photo album. This video from the Marrabenta Festival in 2010 by YouTube user TheMarrabenta shows how the Festival is living proof of the power of marrabenta to enchant generation after generation:

The Festival is a breath of fresh air in Mozambique and crucial to maintaining roots music, as critics such as Fortunato of the Matapa blog pull no punches in relation to contemporary music

Local music does get its share of airplay here, but the thing, is, most of the current Mozambican (popular) music is nowhere near as interesting as the echos from its past. On Radio Maputo, you can hear a lot of local classics from the 70ies: they sound totally amazing, a diverse and experimental blend of tradition with pop influences. But nowadays about half of the musicians seem busy vocalizing the fact that Mozambican musicians need to find their own style. The other half seems more than happy selling whatever suits the mobile phone operators or the governing party.

In clear contrast to this kind of music were the headliners this year, the South African group the Mahotella Queens, celebrating their thirtieth anniversary. They just reinforced the links between popular South African music and Mozambican music, which have been intermingling since well before the railroads linked Johannesburg with Mozambique's then capital Lourenço Marques. Language groups transcends colonial borders, and the musical languages of neighboring South Africa and southern Mozambique have a great deal in common.

This year, @Verdade newspaper reported that more and more foreigners take time out and travel to Mozambique for this unique musical moment. But the Festival has an economic impact in Marracuene irrespective of foreign visitors, with informal bars and food stalls set up to sell palm wine, grilled chicken and fried fish, where visitors from Maputo infuse cash into the town's economy.

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Portuguese language and culture

In February we covered several blogs that gave voice to their love of the Portuguese language, paying tribute to the great variety of dialects spoken by more than 200 million people worldwide.

Hau nia lian, hau nia rain (My language, my country). Photo by Sapo Noticias Timor Leste (public domain)

In May the newspaper @Verdade, our partner in Mozambique, described Portuguese as a language that is bound up in what it means to be Mozambican.

In its coverage of Timor Leste, Global Voices examined the role of languages in asserting the identity of a country which has 16 national languages and dozens of dialects. Some blogs on Cape Verde also suggested that there are “distinct social functions” for both the language spoken by the people, Crioulo, and the official language, Portuguese.

Online demonstrations brought a more political dimension to bear on this issue, with heated reactions to the proposal for Equatorial Guinea to become a member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, despite having a poor track record on human rights.

Brazil: Paths towards Development

In spite of the current global crisis, Brazil is experiencing a period of economic optimism fuelled by domestic consumption. In order to maintain this growth, ongoing development policy in the country has been putting pressure on the environment and human rights.

The social cost of the rising demand for biofuels: the indigenous Guarani Kaoiwa community of Laranjeira Nhanderu were expelled from their lands 14 months ago to make way for sugarcane plantations. Photo by Annabel Symington, copyright Demotix (10/21/10).

The Amazon rainforest is seen as potential land for agriculture and as a source of raw materials and energy. Brazil's new forestry code, which regulates the use of the country's forests, has led to concerns and public demonstrations against the encouragement of farming and deforestation. “Green” agribusiness focused on biofuels and the replacement of felled trees with eucalyptus plantations have been shown to be unsustainable practices in both social and environmental terms. The dispute for land provoked by agribusiness led to the killing of activists and indigenous leaders during 2011. Yet Brazil is persisting in exporting its agribusiness model to other countries, such as Mozambique, regardless.

Coverage of events surrounding the Belo Monte Dam certainly caused the greatest outcry this year, uniting environmentalists, indigenous people and Brazilians living alongside the affected rivers. Protests in the immediate area of the dam and in major cities attracted international attention and challenged the human rights policy of Dilma Rousseff's government. This action did not wane after construction of the plant began, but rather took on different forms, including an Occupy protest by the Tupiniquim people and court cases.

These and related issues have been organised into four special features: Forest Focus: Amazon, Dossiê Belo Monte [only in pt], Indigenous Rights and Global Development.

Portugal: Crisis, Austerity and Protests

From the “Scraping-by Generation” protest in March to participation in the global protests on 15 October, Portugal has seen its political and economic crisis reach unprecedented proportions in 2011, with the fall of a government and the EU committee coming into the country to effect the financial “rescue” of public debt.

Keep calm and protest: outraged protesters outside Porto Town Hall. Photo by the protest organisers, 15 October.

Netizens took to social networks to mobilise action against severe austerity measures and to speak out in opposition to the racket conducted by the rating agencies, but also to gain inspiration from other countries, such as Iceland, on other forms of public participation.

Having launched a page devoted to special coverage of the current situation, Europe in Crisis, in September, Global Voices has acted as a bridge between different languages and has facilitated greater dialogue between outraged citizens from European countries that are suffering similar problems.

Angola: 32 Years in Power sparks Protests

In Angola the sense of revolt against the 32-year government led by José Eduardo dos Santos is becoming increasingly palpable in the streets and on the internet. Protests would have begun in March had the government not been successful in pre-empting them.

In September the police used heavy force to break up a protest, resulting in at least 18 protesters receiving prison sentences. Against all expectations, the movement has regrouped, while the number of citizen reporters in the country is also on the increase.

Video uploaded to the post Angola: Videos of Repressed Youth Protest in Luanda

Internet and the digital culture in Brazil

The fruits of increasingly widespread access to the internet in Brazil were borne out in 2011 by many creative, collective and effective examples of action. One such case was the mobilisation of social networks to take down a paedophile blog, and the call put out on Facebook to join in the unique “Different People's Big Barbeque Protest” in an upscale São Paulo neighbourhood.

Protest poster which reads "We want to be Maria Bethania", organised by Leon Prado on Facebook.

The online arena has also been the scene for a number of less auspicious episodes related to digital culture. In January the Ministry of Culture announced that it was abandoning Creative Commons licensing on its site, a blatant step backwards in public policy on the internet and copyright. Shortly afterwards, in March, the same ministry allowed the famous signer Maria Bethânia to raise 1.3 million reais tax-free for the creation of a poetry blog, thereby rousing the ire of bloggers, the twitterati and activists involved in the cultural sphere.

Cases of online censorship continue to crop up and, on occasion, overflow into the non-virtual world, with attacks on bloggers who are critical of the authorities.

In December we became aware of renewed death threats made against Ricardo Gama, who blogs against cases of the abuse of power and other irregularities by the Brazilian police. Gama had already been shot in an attack in Rio de Janeiro in March. Towards the end of this year, many were not convinced by the reason of “suicide by hanging” given for the death of Hamilton Alexandre, a controversial blogger from Santa Catarina, and social networks are being used to call for a thorough investigation of the case.

In 2012 we will continue to listen to the stories that are being told by the citizens of the world through the internet, and to amplify them so that they reach a global audience. Our doors are always open to anyone who wants to get involved in what Super magazine earlier this year dubbed “one of the 10 coolest projects on the internet”.

Written by Sara Moreira · Translated by Maisie Fitzpatrick · View original post [pt] · comments (1)
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The announcement of the candidacy of Manuel de Araújo for the  by-elections of last December 7 [en] in Quelimane, Mozambique, provoked a range of opinions. After the resignation of the mayors of Cuamba, Pemba and Quelimane nobody expected that the ex-member of Renamo [en], historical opposition party, and well-respected academic would “fight” for a two year term.

A first reaction was offered up by historian and analyst Egídio Guilherme Vaz Raposo:

Manuel de Araújo é de facto um novo penteado na política Moçambicana. Activista nato, político e académico com créditos firmados, surpreendeu-me e acredito a outros também, ao ter anunciado a sua candidatura pelo MDM [Movimento Democrático de Moçambique, partido formado em 2009, a partir de um ramo da Renamo]. A novidade em mim não é necessariamente da sua candidatura e sim do partido com o qual alinha.

A minha opinião sobre o MDM é publicamente conhecida. Pela forma como conheço o Manuel, dificilmente pensei que pudesse um dia aliar-se ao MDM seja para que missão fosse. Isso, prova mais uma vez que (1) em política vale tudo; (2) nós conhecemos muito pouco os nossos amigos e (3) motivos conjunturais devem ter “empurrado” Manuel Araujo a candidatar-se ao município, avaliadas as condições e possibilidades para a vitória…

"Welcome to the market of MDM" - In Akima Market (Quelimane). Photo by Dercio Taveira on Facebook

Egídio claims in his text that an independent candidacy would bring together more support, but let it be known that de Araújo's allying himself with MDM was not completely disinterested:

Porém, a sua decisão não é tão inocente quanto parece, do meu ponto de vista. É que concorrer como independente implica muitos recursos financeiros, humanos, etc, coisas que, a avaliar pela “urgência”, seriam difíceis de mobilizar em tão pouco tempo. Pelos meus cálculos, ele precisaria mais ou menos de US$ 3000 000, 00 (três milhões de dólares) para organizar uma campanha de 15 dias; e um movimento cívico suficientemente vibrante que num espaço muito reduzido de tempo, nascer e consolidar-se muito antes da data. Assim, concorrer pelo MDM conferiu a ele o acesso à toda infraestrutura já montada para o efeito…

After the debate generated on Facebook , that had more than 111 comments, the issue ended up on blogs.

On the blog Moçambique para todos (Mozambique for all) the debate was lively. José Carlos Cruz wrote in the comments section:

Ninguém mais vai entrar nestas eleições intercalares além de Frelimo e MDM. Porquê?

Porque já ninguém acredita na Comissão Nacional de Eleições e respectivas Comissões Provinciais e Distritais de Eleições. Ninguém acredita no STAE, Serviço Técnico da Administração Eleitoral.

Estes são órgãos especializados para realizarem as eleições, mas completamente viciados para sempre dar a vitória à Frelimo ou a quem a Frelimo quiser que vença…

The electoral process in Quelimane had as a dominant theme the imbalance of strength between the two political structures that supported Manuel de Araújo and Abubacar Bico, the candidate of Frelimo.

Campanha eleitoral em Quelimane. Foto de Rui Lamarques (cortesia do Jornal @Verdade)

Sociologist Carlos Serra concluded that Quelimane, as Araújo had predicted, had become the political capital of the country:

A velha cidade de Quelimane parece ter-se tornado na placa giratória das eleições locais, mesmo ao nível da internet. Por ela têm passado figuras séniores da Frelimo, mas também do Estado, numa frente estratégica enorme para fazer face a Manuel de Araújo do MDM, com a sua corte de jovens a pé e em táxis-bicicletas. É uma autêntica luta entre duas concepções de mobilização: a do desfile motorizado/comício e a da porta-a-porta pedestre e bicicleteira…

Never was an electoral campaign so followed on the internet than that of Quelimane. The advisers of Lourenço Abubacar [candidate of Frelimo, the party in power] created a profile on Facebook to try and head off the popularity of Manuel de Araújo who had opinion formers on social networks like Edgar Barroso, Palmeirim Chongo as supporters.

The former, as Global Voices reported, wrote a letter to the people of Quelimane and the latter was a true reporter in the service of change and citizenship.

Palmeirim went around to voting tables as they were counting votes. He received threats, but never gave up. It was via his Facebook profile that many outside of Quelimane stayed informed:

Hoje por duas vezes fui “aconselhado” pela policia a estar longe dos postos de votacao, primeiro no benfica e depois namuinho, tenho 2 criancas para cuidar…vou acatar o conselho…estou a trabalhar com fontes alternativas

At the end of the process, Palmeirim announced the victory of Araújo and reported on the party. Edgar Barroso also revealed his contentment and wrote on Facebook:

Bom dia! Viram as imagens passando na TVM, mostrando o povo de Quelimane a proclamar e a festejar efusivamente a sua vitória nas eleiçoes intercalares de ontem?

É só o início. Deus que nos dê inteligência, saúde e determinação para PROSSEGUIR COM A LUTA DE LIBERTAÇÃO DE MOÇAMBIQUE! Sem armas nem pedras ou paus, apenas votando e protegendo o voto. Chega de dormir.

Written by Jornal @Verdade · Translated by Janet Gunter · View original post [pt] · comments (2)
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Mozambique is a country with a few superbloggers and little else to report in terms of consistent expression on the open internet. With dramatic growth of Facebook (via mobile), one brave personality has risen to the fore in this walled, blue and white world.

Edgar Barroso is a 28 year old civil servant in life who has over 1.800 friends on Facebook as the “Apóstolo da Desgraça” (literally meaning the Apostle of Disgrace, a tongue-in-cheek name for those who never tire of denouncing the state of things and a reference to contemporary Mozambican literature). He has become one of the most influential online personalities in Mozambique, using the platform as a kind of blog.

Profile of Apóstolo da Desgraça on Facebook

The Apóstolo has friends in every province of the country - where there are mobiles accessing Facebook, it is safe to assume his updates are read. His posts regularly get over 40 comments, sometimes over 150. He has left his profile open so that it remains a fairly public forum.

The “Apostle” has become a sparring partner and friend of journalists - mostly for his comical and critical running commentary on politics and the ruling elite.

The Apostle has raised the hackles of the ruling party Frelimo (in power since independence in 1975), especially during the recent by-elections in three northern cities. He helped amplify the voices of citizens who commented on the campaign, by sharing and reposting their photos and on-the-ground comments.

Three days prior to the December 7 polls, when the crucial city of Quelimane was under serious dispute by the opposition - see our coverage [en]) Apóstolo shared a letter/post on Facebook which he entitled “CARTA ABERTA AOS MEUS IRMÃOS DE QUELIMANE (por favor, imprimam e espalhem este texto ao maior número possível de eleitores)” or “Open letter to my brothers of Quelimane (please, print and spread this text to the maximum number of voters)”

In the letter he wrote:

É impossível olhar para a cidade e fingir que está tudo bem. Não é o secretário do partido, o ministro tal ou o deputado fulano, que nunca residiram nesta cidade, que saberão mais do que nós mesmos o que é melhor para a nossa terra. Estranhemos a razão de hoje eles estarem todos em Quelimane e de terem largado as suas extra-terrestres mordomias, protocolos e regalias, apenas para pisarem o mercado sujo e mal cheiroso onde vendemos e passamos grande parte da nossa vida, implorando-nos o voto e nos prometendo um futuro paradisíaco que nunca nos foram capazes de proporcionar nestes anos todos que estiveram à frente do município. Onde estavam eles até há um mês atrás?

He posted a number of videos by protest hip hop artist Azagaia in the lead-up to the election, urging his friends to go out and vote, including “Combatentes de Fortuna” (Soldiers of Fortune) and “Povo no Poder” (People in Power).

Self portrait of the "Apostle" courtesy of Edgar Barroso

The Apostle has been bold in his confrontation with ruling party spokespeople online, often citing them by name. In a country where such political expression is limited only the pages of small independent newspapers, this behavior is quite frontal and has exposed him personally.

The death threat

In the days following the loss of the ruling party in the Quelimane mayoral election, Barroso received an extended threat via SMS on his personal mobile. Posting the number that sent the message, he quoted it in its entirety for his readers to comment on.

“EDGAR BARROSO, ED MALUCO OU APOSTOLO DA DESGRACA…. Esperamos que no ano que se aproxima , CONTROLES tudo o que vais escrever… Cuida da tua vida, da tua familia, teu empreguinho, trata de construir uma familia e NAO TE ENGANES COM AS AMIZADES porque gracas a elas sabemos teus passos todos. […]

Within hours, there were almost 200 comments on this threat, the vast majority very supportive. One ruling party troll attacked him and his friends did not hesitate to defend him.

The Apostle responded defiantly to the threat, saying that he would be even more outspoken, that he was not scared to be killed or lose his job, and that he knew who was responsible for the threat. He wrote

Você (ou vocês) meteram-se com o gajo errado. Eu sou o Edgar, não sou nenhum parvo. Da mesma forma que coloquei a OJM ou o CNJ em coma é do mesmo modo que colocarei, eu e os demais servos do povo que comungam dos mesmos princípios e valores comigo, o vosso sistema de mentiras, trafulhices, podridão, hipocrisia, crime e derivados em MORTE NATURAL (OU INDUZIDA).

Burro(s).

After the threat, he reports he was interviewed for the first time Mozambican TV, proof of that the Apostle is not planning on going away quietly any time soon.

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De Araújo's party MDM, or Democratic Movement of Mozambique, a spin-off from historic opposition party RENAMO, was running in all three cities with by-elections: Cuamba, Pemba and Quelimane. (RENAMO refused to stand in these elections.) Frelimo, the party governing the country since independence and dominating its politics, maintained power in Cuamba and Pemba.

But all eyes were on Quelimane, the largest of the three cities, with the most charismatic opposition candidate. Quelimane is a city of 200,000 people, the seaport capital of central Zambezia province, known for its agricultural potential and increasingly strategic location, with coal companies looking to transport coal by river to sea.

Image courtesy of Twitter user @LamarquesRui

An innovative campaign

Araújo's party MDM has a small representation in parliament, but the party started with the mayoral victory of founder Daviz Simango in the city of Beira. MDM was born out of municipal politics - a fact that drew even more attention to the contest in Quelimane.

Araújo campaigned in ways unheard of in recent times in Mozambique. He has been blogging for over four years, and he also used Facebook effectively to gather support from professionals and young people online. His “Quelimane for all” page had over 2,700 fans, and was reporting events during the vote in realtime to supporters, including electoral violations.

During his campaign he created a bicycle rally with bicycle taxis and a mass march. While he was criticized by some for always appearing in a blue shirt, some argued he was simply “branding” himself given that his time on state (and even private) TV would be limited and that his party and its symbols are relatively new to voters.

Photo courtesy of @ Verdade newspaper

The day of the election and immediate reactions

Independent sources confirmed that the election day was marked by police intimidation and the arrest of one of MDM's youth leader in Quelimane, as well as an incident later in the day in which two MDM supporters were allegedly beaten up.

But a couple of hours after polls closed, as the polling stations made their public first count of the votes, crowds gathered outside to keep the pressure on electoral officials. The atmosphere was tense initially, with heavily armed riot police ringing the stations. But people would not be deterred, as photos tweeted by @ Verdade newspaper journalists confirmed in realtime.

One twitter user (@Helmucas) either showed real political ignorance or was simply joking with this tweet

QUELIMANE EM FESTA COMO SE FOSSE VIDADA DE ANO… Que se passa?

A couple of hours after the polls closed, and counts were finishing up, Araújo's campaign announced what seemed like victory on its Facebook wall:

Esta resolvido: Da nossa contagem paralela, dos mais de 140 mesas de votacao, estao apurados 110. manuel de araujo venceu em 106 delas. lourenco apenas nao conseguiu vencer em 4 mesas! Quelimane ja estya em festa! a cidadre grita ARAAUJOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Frelimo spokesman Edson Macuacua announced shortly after on his wall that he recognized preliminary results announced by the media indicated a win by Manuel de Araújo.

Commenter Gil de Amaral Mahara wrote

Nao ha fraude nem estrategia politica que contrarie a vontade colectiva de mudancas…afinal eh possivel, com um papel e caneta mudar-se o curso do rio dos bons sinais. A democracia agradece!!!!! Viva a Vitoria!!!

Many commenters used the word “liberation” to describe what had happened in their city. Many expressed their feeling that the victory was hard-won. Getúlio Domingos wrote

nos fizemos a nossa parte, nem a presenxa dos tubaroes k se fizeram presentes na nossa cidade, conseguiu influenciar a nossa mente e desta a freli nunca ira se eskecer, MANUEL DE ARAUJO, eu mais do k tu, to feliz….

MDM follower Rafael dos Santos Monteiro posted directly on the Quelimane for All wall

Antes de ir dormir kero congratular ao Manuel de Araujo pela victoria e dizer levem em frente Quelimane que a joventude esta contigo e dizer que essa victoria nao é só sua mas tambem de todo povo morador de Quelimane em especial os jovens.

Twitter users also recognized the importance of the moment. Hiphop label Cotonete Records (Q-tip Records) tweeted

QUELIMANE | MANUEL DE ARAUJO | MDM - Cesar toma o que é teu!!

Ivan Jose Cossa tweeted

#MDM arranca #Quelimane da #FRELIMO. Damn.

Mwaa Manguni tweeted on the morning after the vote

Is a new era of Democracy upon us? #Mozambique #fb

Frelimo candidate Lourenço Abubacar formally conceded defeat on state radio and his campaign's Facebook page was taken down today, the day after the vote. Later in the afternoon the state electoral commission announced the result in record time, confirming Araújo's win.

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@VictorBulande: #policia leva mais de 24 horas para socorrer um indivíduo que perdeu sentidos na via publica. Isso deu-se a menos de 200m de duas esquadras.

Flip flop carnage in a market in Maputo. Photo by KimMaxPhoto on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

@VictorBulande: Cidadãos participaram o caso a policia varias vezes e esta dizia que estava a caminho, desde ontem. @verdademz

@VictorBulande: ”Passaram por aqui vários carros da policia mas não paravam, e nos não podíamos mexer nele. Tivemos medo”, dizem testemunhas. @verdademz

@VictorBulande: O indivíduo acaba de perder a vida. Nem deu tempo de ser observado pela equipa médica. Foi levado a Morgue do HCM. @verdademz

@Verdade reporter Bulande published a story on the incident, in which he explains that the deceased did not carry identification and that he was not known to people in the market or in the neighborhood.

It was assumed that “João Ninguém” (literally “John Nobody”), a man roughly 40 years old, had been drinking potent alcoholic drinks known as “bebidas secas” which are essentially unregulated doses sold in small bottles or plastic pouches.

Two empty sachets of "Power's No1" pure cane spirit. Photo by John Duffel on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

The police, when interviewed, said they did not respond because they “do not work on weekends” and they had an obligatory training exercise in the early hours of that Monday.

As Bulande originally tweeted:

@VictorBulande: A policia so começou a movimentar-se quando viu a nossa equipa de reportagem. Foram pedir ajuda a um “chapa 100″.

One outraged reader called Neuson commented on the newspaper's website [pt]:

Lamento bastante mas o nosso pais esta podre,tanto de corruptos bem como de pessoas sem coracao.Qual foi a sansacao aplicada aos policias que tiveram conhecimento do caso e nada fizeram?Um final de semana de descanso enquanto ca fora as pessoas vao morrendo.E lamentavel.

The story really moved readers, as it was shared more on Facebook 27 times, more than most local news of this kind. Some commented on the story on the newspaper's Facebook wall [pt].

Reader Abudo Domingos wrote accusingly:

epa k notic ma sera k a polic nao pdia ajudar da 7 xquard afinal elex servc pra k? Sou pra roubar sou

Another reader asked why the police do not do more to control the sale of “bebidas secas”.

One reader asked why an ambulance was not called and why the police was responsible. Others asked what consequences a Good Samaritan could face if for some reason the police or others decided to blame them for the man's death.

“We are all complicit”

On Facebook [pt], reader Antonio Jamisse wrote:

SOMOS TODOS CÚMPLICES! Só terá algo connosco quando formos nós!

Jamisse was reacting to the newspaper's strong editorial on the story Somos todos cúmplices (We are all complicit) [pt], which provoked many responses. @Bedylicious quoted the editorial [pt] in her tweet:

Vivemos demasiadamente concentrados nas nossas “vidinhas”, nas nossas “guerrinhas” e no nosso desejo de ascensão social que ignoramos que nada somos nada sem os outros

Ridwan Nabi responded on Facebook [pt], referring to the infamous case of a hit and run in China:

Li uma historia parecida a algum tempo atras sobre uma situacao parecida na China, uma crianca foi atropelada e deixada na rua, com gente a passar sem fazer nada.

Gledson Simão Jacinto Guambe also commented on Facebook [pt]:

Infelizmente essa atitude reflecte o nosso respeito pela vida humana, é fácil culpar a policia, mas ela não é mais que o nosso próprio espelho… a nossa sociedade está doente…

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Mr. Júlio dos Santos Pêssego, from the province of Niassa, is a survivor. He grew up in a family of small farmers on the banks of a river far from the nearest town, and he describes his childhood as “difficult”. Today, he is one of the principal leaders of the “peasant movement” in Niassa province, working to defend land rights, increase food production and bring prosperity to farming families.

Pêssego, on the far left

A long journey

Pêssego remembers seeing independence in 1975 as a boy in 2nd grade, after having worked for an agricultural company spraying pesticides. In the first years of Mozambican independence, he was forced to abandon his studies and never completed middle school. Later, he says [pt]:

Devido a guerra de resistência, abandonei o meu emprego no ex-complexo agro pecuário e refugie me no distrito de Cuamba onde aparentemente era seguro. Dediquei me na produção de hortícolas para a minha sustentabilidade. Com o fim da guerra, circundei as montanhas para uma zona denominada Mutaco.

In Mutaco, he joined an agricultural association in 1999 with the goal of raising goats. Pêssego landed on his feet and prospered, but had the vision to help other farmers rise with him, encouraging people to face great challenges and yearn for more than just to scrape by.

Pêssego with his friend and colleague Alifa Aide (to his right)

With his dedicated team, he has partnered with major international NGOs, administered grants from European donors, and liaised with government officials on behalf of farmers. He learned to drive for his work, criss-crossing the province which is four times the size of England. He says [pt]:

Mas sublinhar que todo este tempo nunca abandonei a produção de alimentos. Principalmente hortícolas.

Building a national movement

The peasant movement formally emerged from state-sponsored cooperatives after the Mozambican government distanced itself from socialism in the late 1980s. It has been challenging to convince farmers that working together can be something empowering when not imposed from above.

The national umbrella organization is called UNAC, the National Union of Peasant Farmers, and is comprised of small self-help groups from the village level up.

Discussing food prices and community issues with active farmers

Pêssego, a physically imposing father of seven and a man of strong conviction, speaks in soft tones and uses aphorisms, folk tales and jokes when he speaks to communities. His name means “peach” in Portuguese.

One of his favorite adages comes from a regional folk tale about a rabbit and a leopard: “If you would like something, you must ask for it.” He takes this to mean that the powerful use cleverness over brute strength to maintain privilege, and that the weak must outwit them to get what they need.

Written by Janet Gunter · comments (1)
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