The 25th of September celebration in the "Praça de Heroís."

This day celebrates the fight for the liberation of Mozambique.

And calls of these types of things. Cows are hard to come by.

I was surprised one day when unlocking the gate to my yard.

I think it is a locust. It looks like a big, grey grasshopper.

Justino pointing out our mural space.

Students hard at work.

Cleaning the old wall.

My four true, die-hard art club students.

Myself touching up the layer of primer. (Photo by Justino Cossa)

Our group in front of the freshly painting wall.

Clean-up after priming. (Photo by Justino Cossa)

Drawing out the design.

Introducing the project to the Administrator. (Photo by Hamilton Rodriguez)

The Administrator honoring us by applying the first layer of paint.

The Permanent Secretary honoring us with his help. (Photo by Hamilton Rodriguez)

The Director of Massinga Secondary School hard at work.

My students proving that my supervision is not necessary.

A professor who cannot spell his own name. (Photo by Valdo Isaias)

Laurentino Brandão. (Photo by Valdo Isaias)


Haxabias Guispo. (Photo by Valdo Isaias)

Ében Macaúzê. (Photo by Valdo Isaias)

Simião Massingue. (Photo by Valdo Isaias)

Makyto aka Pedro Manual Cabral. (Photo by Valdo Isaias)

Hamilton Rodriguez. (Photo by Valdo Isaias)

Valdo Isaias. (Photo by Hamilton Rodriguez)


Arcenio F. Zunguze.


Dionilton Carlos Bie

Os Coordenadores. The Coordinators. (Photo by Leonel Chissano)

The group in front of our finished mural.


The finished product. Text and all.

The past month has been, by far, the busiest of my life and I am happy to have finally ended my first year at Massinga Secondary School. This month, I spent a lot of time in the school office typing out hand written tests and digitalizing the outdated schedule of disciplines and professors. After morning secretarial duties were finished, I spent my afternoons at the 8th grade temporary school where I administered and corrected exams, turned in final grades, and awarded cookies for the winners of English Jeopardy and Pictionary. Following my afternoons at school was the mural project which involved having the project approved by all of the different directors in town along with the Administrador (our equivalent of the Mayor) and the Secretario Permanente (the position following the Administrador), finding a make-shift way to arrange electricity in the Praça de Heroís (Plaza of Heroes), arranging a digital projector, drawing out the mural, and, finally, painting! This week concluded the school year with the consultation of grades where all the professors meet, fill out huge sheets of paper with the grades of each class, and decide who should pass and fail. The mural was officially completed and signed just yesterday and I will post a good, all-encompassing photograph next time I have internet access. It feels good to have one year completed, one mural completed, and a year full of possibilities ahead of me.