Back in South Africa

Lots to report here.

The end of my trip to Mozambique was really eventful. First of all, we went snorkeling and swam within three feet of a twenty-two foot whale shark...pretty exciting. The rest of the time in Tofo was pretty relaxing, lots of beach time. After leaving Tofo we had an eight hour bus ride and then we stayed in Maputo (the capital city) for about a day and a half, there wasn't much to do there.

When we finally left was when everything got crazy. We had another eight hour bus ride from Maputo to Johannesburg. However, we didn't quite make it all the way. About two hours into the bus ride is the border from Mozambique to South Africa. There was a problem with our passports, and apparently we didn't have the proper visas to visit Mozambique...we must have missed something when we entered the country. So in reality we were illegal immigrants, and the customs officials were not happy about it. After a few people yelling at us for a good hour, we realized that we were going to be stuck there for quite a while. The bus that took us had to leave, so we had to get our bags off and just sit at the border until they decided to let us leave. We talked to many officials and they kept telling us that we needed to pay a fine, but every time they told us that we needed to pay they would increase the amount we owed. The first few times we argued with them a little bit because we knew that they were corrupt and just wanted to pocket the money. We asked to see any sort of document or form or anything that shows a breakdown of the fines, but they told us that asking for this was "disrespectful." We kept telling them that we didn't have enough to pay the amount they wanted, so they said that we would have to wait for the "big boss" to come back from a meeting in South Africa and deal with him. After waiting for a good portion of the day he finally showed up and demanded 48,000 Meticais (about $1,500) which we didn't have. After talking to him for a short period of time we finally worked out a smaller amount (basically we pulled out our wallets and emptied them...every cent.) He agreed to that amount, so after about a half hour of paper-work time we finally were able to leave Mozambique.

Our next problem was that we had a flight leaving from Johannesburg that night and no way of getting to the airport, which was six hours away. We were a little worried, but luckily as soon as we left customs a man approached us and asked if we needed transportation, so we piled into a mini-bus filled with people and we were off to Johannesburg. After the long bus ride into the city and then an hour cab ride to the airport, we finally made our flight. I was so relieved to get home. But, the next day I checked my bank account and realized that I will need to start spending as little money as possible. I've been spending a decent amount of money on food for myself here because they aren't able to accommodate my food allergies (and yet refuse to refund the money I prepaid for food, even though I can't eat half of the meals they make.) So it looks like I will be hungry for the next three weeks I'm here, but I spent all of my money on things like skydiving, so really it's my fault.

Money problems have not stopped though. Somebody used my credit card information to buy $300 worth of prepaid airtime for a cell phone, so I am in the middle of disputing that charge with my bank. (Words of wisdom: don't enter credit card information on a public computer, as I am not the only volunteer here who has had this issue.) And to top it all off, I had brought some american money with
me for emergencies, and I left most of it in one of my bags in South Africa while I was in Mozambique. When I arrived home I found that somebody had gone into my bag and stolen the money, but left the empty bank envelope in my bag as an insult to me. So basically I am broke. So...anyone who wants to mail me food or money will be my eternal hero.

On a final note, I am really starting to have issues with the staff here, as is pretty much every other volunteer. In the month and a half that I have been here, two volunteer managers have been hired and then quit, the original cook quit, and we were actually kicked out of our original house and had to move...our new house has ONE SHOWER for over twenty people. I think that the staff here could really benefit from a few classes on how to run an organization. Several of the other volunteers here have emailed IVHQ (the international umbrella organization overseeing the local organization here) complaining about the staff, the conditions, and a few other things, but they never seem to care. I really feel like all they care about is getting our money and not about our actual experience.

Even with every issue that I have from border issues to problems at home, I am still loving it here. I can't let small things like money and the house ruin the fact that I am in South Africa having the time of my life. I have less than three weeks here, but I wish I could stay a lot longer.