There is one thing that immediately stands out to me every time I drive through Pemba or its surrounding districts:
For all the hard working people who inhabit these areas, there are easily 5 times that number who sit around, completely unoccupied by anything except lounging and socializing. At first I didn’t really notice it, or when I did I just assumed that these people must be having lunch or something of that nature.
It wasn’t until about a month ago that I realized two things. First, these people are sitting around because they either have no job or because their jobs do not keep them occupied for very long.
Second, the vast majority of these individuals are men.
So I ask myself, why are so many thousands of men sitting around, doing almost nothing in the poorest region of Mozambique where the majority of all people rely only on farming for their survival? Why are women doing what appears to be ALL of the work?
At first this observation angered me. Women here have a lot to deal with and I rarely see them relaxing until well into the evening. I have lost track of the number of times I have witnessed women cooking, cleaning, and looking after their children while a group of men sit twenty feet away doing absolutely nothing. But women’s responsibilities extend well beyond the home as well.
Last week I drove out to Murrebue, a town roughly 40 minutes from Pemba by car. As I left Pemba I remember passing five women, all with babies slung across their backs and massive piles of firewood stacked on top of their heads. (I’m still amazed by how much women are capable of carrying in this manner)
Several hours later I returned from Murrebue and passed the same group of women, still walking, still carrying the same load. During the same drive I passed dozens of men who could have been their husbands, waiting for their firewood to return. This is a scene I have become all too familiar with…
The other thing I notice is that it is always men who ask you for money. Its not that women here are too reserved to ask, I honestly believe they are simply too busy with being productive to do so.
I really began to resent the behavior of men the more I thought I about these realizations. In a country that is so poor yet has so much to potentially do to alleviate this problem, how could so many capable men be content with sitting around for 90% of their lives?
I can’t remember when I began to consider other reasons for why this is the case, but I do remember why.
Gerald Erchak was a professor of Anthropology at Skidmore ( I hope he still is) and I took several courses with him during my time there. If he was reading this post, I know he would be preparing to tell me that I am making too many assumptions and applying too many of my own cultural standards to accurately understand the situation. He would tell me that perhaps there are many reasons for why men are doing nothing.
So for the sake of anthropology and my own desire to believe that its not simply an issue of work ethic, lets consider some other reasons for why so many men seem to be so idle.
First, the population of Cabo Delgado has been steadily migrating to the coastal regions of the province since the decline of colonialism—and especially during and after the civil war in Mozambique—and this has noticeably changed the way in which people work (or do not).
In the case of colonialism, many families shifted away from a reliance on agriculture during the middle of the century when Portuguese industries and plantations were employing large numbers of people all throughout the country. When the Portuguese left Mozambique in—and civil war broke out between Frelimo and Renamo (the two forces vying for control of the country)—the majority of these people were left without a job.
One tragic outcome of war is the number of people who are displaced from their homes and livelihoods; the civil war in Mozambique gives us no reason to believe that it was an exception. As Frelimo and Renamo fought for control of an independent Mozambique, tens of thousands of civilians were forced off of their productive land. Most of them were never able to move back. The majority of people now live clustered along the roadside, living several miles for arable land or clean water.
This displacement has caused a decline in overall agricultural productivity, forcing many families but most often then men to leave their villages in search of work elsewhere. As these individuals arrive in places like Pemba—with few professional skills other than their experience with farming—many are unfortunately lost in the shuffle with the other thousands of people who are looking for jobs.
In urban areas such as Pemba, the lack of employment opportunities is clearly evident in the number of citizens who are visibly unemployed.
Yet in rural areas where the vast majority of locals derive their tiny income from localized agriculture, I have more difficulty understanding why women seem to be doing almost everything. I see them working in the fields, collecting water, cooking, cleaning and caring for their children. More often than not, the village men can be found huddled in the shade playing checkers, smoking, and talking with friends.
To be fair there are certainly a good number of men who work their socks off. Take this guy for example:
Now other than reminding me of my typical experience on the golf course, this photo always serves to remind me of how hard most people do work. If you haven’t figured it out, the man in the photo is cutting the grass on the side of a road. I have often seen groups of men cutting entire 20 km sections of roadside using only a modified machete.
The import of a dozen sizable lawnmowers would probably result in several hundred men being left without a job.
So women do not do everything. I have seen numerous men working in the fields alongside their families or walking dozens of kilometers with a heavy load. For example, I passed this group of people on a road which climbed 1000 meters before arriving in a small village, which I imagine was their destination. Looks like anything but an easy days walk.
I do not want to convey the impression that my observations somehow portray an entirely accurate picture of the reality here in northern Mozambique. These are simply observations, but I believe they hold some truth. I have discussed this topic with many NGO workers who have worked here for a lot longer than I, and the general consensus seems to be that the women work twice as much and are twice as easy to work with.
I’ve never been a person to focus on gender issues, but these observations have captivated my interest and emotions more than almost anything else. I am not going to suppose that anything I am doing here will necessarily improve this situation; perhaps I occasionally overestimate the ability of our work to affect conditions which are more likely the result of cultural tendencies.
But I frequently think of what it would be like to return to this country twenty years from now. After all, the project in which we are currently involved seeks to implement sustainable changes which are unlikely to yield immediate results. The conditions in northern Mozambique 20 years from now will provide an accurate measurement of this project’s success.
There are many things I hope will have changed in this twenty year period, but I hope, perhaps more than anything else, that the men of this country will be as actively involved in the day to day work as their female counterparts.
