Living in Maputo - Club Of Mozambique

LIVING IN MAPUTO SPOTLIGHT MAPUTO | 24 OCTOBER 2012
MAFALALA FESTIVAL: Be part of the most exciting street festival in Maputo!
By Salomão Maxaeia
Mafalala is a colorful neighborhood bang in the middle of Maputo. Mafalala has, through putting on a
good fight, pushed itself to the very centre of politics, sports, culture and society in this country.
Those of us who come out of the cozy womb of Mafalala know that this part of Maputo has come
to represent what many around the world are literally dying for: diversity, tolerance and peace. Mafalala is a
microcosm of what make us Mozambican. It has over the years welcomed and adopted people from all over
the country and abroad – for example Zanzibar and the Comoros Islands are an important part of Mafalala’s
heritage. A good chunk of people in Mafalala are Muslim who live happily with their neighbours of other faiths
or none. Christians and those with no faith do not get annoyed with the Muslim call for prayer early in the
morning. Muslims do look forward to Ramadan as well as Christmas. The local bands are as jolly and creative for
Islamic as well as Christian weddings and parties.
Hold your horses, I did not say that all was hunky dory in Mafalala, far from it: basic sanitation is inadequate,
unemployment among the youth rife. Mafalala comes from a very low starting point and has over recent years
been transforming itself. Former Maputo mayor Eneas Comiche will be forever remember and thanked for giving
Mafalala a sewage system that goes some way to address basic sanitation and take people out of misery
during rainy season.
IVERCA is a community association which through social marketing is succeeding to make Mafalala a tourist
destination with a difference. This bunch of determined young people have taken onto themselves the task of
using culture and tourism to change Mafalala for the better. IVERCA trains and employs local youth and uses local
services. The association’s social responsibility recognizes the potential that exists when investing in primary
school education in lifting people out of poverty and has been working with local schools.
Mafalala has a street festival to celebrate its achievements, culture and diversity. IVERCA and the local community
are the driving force behind the festival. Preparations are well underway for the 2012 edition of the
festival, which this year will be spread over all four weekends of November. Festivals like this are hard to attract
funds. IVERCA is mobilizing funds using the innovative internet based method of crowdfunding which gives all
supporters a stake in their work, and above all, being accountable and transparent to the community they serve.
You too can have a stake in the festival by donating however small or large an amount through this link to the
Mafalala Festival website or by contacting festival.mafalala@iverca.org
Whatever you decide to do, pencil in the Mafalala festival and celebrate diversity, tolerance and peace in Mozambique.
Watch this space for the forthcoming programmme of the festival.
Maputo Rugby Club launched to provide new sporting
opportunities for kids
By Marina Lopes
F
resh off her plane, Felipa Patricio de Mendonça sat in her Maputo hotel room, swallowed
by rugby gear. Pointed balls, orange jerseys and water brackets cluttered the small
space her newly arrived family temporarily inhabited. The gear, she was determined,
would serve as a catalyst for the family’s integration in Maputo.
Felipa had just moved her three children from Portugal to Maputo, where her husband works
as an engineer, and her 13-year-old son, Afonso, wasn´t taking it well. “The little ones follow
their parents, they don´t really feel it, but teenagers feel it more,” she said. An avid rugby
player since the age of seven, Afonso was shocked to find the sport had no presence in Maputo.
“My husband and I said, ´if there isn´t a team he can join, lets create one’” said Felipa.
The Mendonças teamed up with Rui Tadeu, a burly Mozambican who heads Equipe Limitada,
a concessionary tasked with developing Maputo’s athletics track Parque dos Continuadores.
“We already had plans for traditional activities, like running, but we wanted to bring in other
initiatives.”
Felipa soon found that other families were seeking a similar outlet for their children. Frederique
and Louis, a European couple who moved to Maputo two months ago from India,
quickly signed up. The team, they explained, was a great way for their son to break out of his
school bubble and meet children from all backgrounds.
Supported by other parents seeking a similar outlet for their children, the group got to work.
Two weeks later, when an army of kids of all ages and sizes arrived for the first practice of the
newly dubbed “Maputo Rugby Club” they were greeted with jerseys, a freshly mowed field
illuminated by a dozen powerful lights, and, most importantly, a coach. Carlos Quadros, a
30-year-old former rugby player, had been trying to create a rugby school since he moved to
Maputo from Portugal two years ago. When he heard about the initiative, he jumped at the
chance to teach the kids teamwork, perseverance and friendship. “These kids range from 10
to 18, but they have one thing in common, they’ve never played rugby.” Carlos hopes that in
six months, the team will be ready for a tournament.
Until then, the twice-a-week practices provide both children and their parents with a chance
to socialize. “If it wasn´t for the team, I would have never met these wonderful people,” said
Felipa, of the other parents. “This isn’t going to be a Portuguese club, or an expat club; it will
be for everyone.”
The Maputo Rugby Club meets Tuesdays and Thursdays from 18h30 to 20h00 at Parque
dos Continuadores; membership MZN1000 per month, the first month is free; players of all
ages and levels are welcome.
TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE CLICK HERE
Cultural Walking Tours of Bairro da Mafalala
Fridays
09h00 – 11h00 | Tour of historic landmarks in the Mafalala
neighbourhood
18h30 – 23h00 | ‘Mafalala by Night: traditional dinner
and concert’
Saturdays / Sundays
09h00 – 11h00 | Tour of historic landmarks in the Mafalala
neighbourhood
For details visit www.iverca.org or contact
+258 82 418 0314 / 84 884 6825
Bookings are essential
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