Mozambique 101

As you can imagine, I have been reading up on Mozambique a lot the past few months. I was originally expecting to receive an invitation to French speaking Africa, but instead I opened my letter to see the name Mozambique. I was confused, and honestly did not know where exactly it was... So here is a little Mozambique history for everyone... including myself. Mozambique's population is around 24 million, and the country gained it's independence from Portugal on June 25, 1975. This was a huge day for the country, and they celebrate independence day just as we celebrate July 4th. Since then, the Country has been divided into 10 provinces (Cabo Delgado, Gaza, Inhambane, Manica, Maputo, Nampula, Niassa, Sofala, Tete, and Zambezia) and a capitol named Maputo. I will be living in one of these 10 provinces after my 10 week training. Each area of the country focuses their linguistics using many many languages. Most people of Moazambique speak more than one language. Portuguese is the national language, and the most widely spoken. It is followed by Emakhuwa, Cisena, Xichangana, Elomaie, and Cishona. These are languages native to the African area, and are molded my history. Besides language, the Portuguese had influence in religion as well. This is why 56% of Mozambicans are Christian. After that, 19% are atheist, 18% are Muslim, and 7% are some other form of religion (often time animism). Onto the most interesting piece of history in my opinion, the flag.
 
The Flag was adopted on May 1, 1983. The colors and symbols on the flag each represent an important part of the country.
Green represents the riches of the land
Black represents Africa and the people of the continent
Yellow represents the minerals that are commonly found in the soils
White represents the peace that Mozambique works towards
Red represents Mozambique's historical struggle for independence
The star represents Marxism and internationalism
The AK-47 and bayonet represent the country's defense and vigilance
The hoe represents the abundant agriculture of the country
Lastly, and most important to my mission in the peace corps is the open book. The book represents education, and it is laid open to show that the country is striving towards improving their education. It is a very important aspect of the growing economy. This is why I am going to Mozambique. I am going to teach, and it is the mission myself and all other teachers in the country to bring that book in front of the hoe and AK-47. It is our mission to make education the gold standard for the people of Mozambique.
I hope that history lesson helped describe my future home a little bit. I will be able to embellish more once I live there.

Feel free to leave comments with any questions or criticisms of my posts. I would love to compile any questions and hopefully answer them through my blog.