10/03/12

Today Jonathon came to visit, he is a PCV from Moz 17, the newest training group that only arrived in October and lost two wonderful girls, Alden and Lena, in the accident in December. Jonathon has been in communication with Alden’s mother who wanted to set up a phone call with Alden’s host family from training, so Jonathon volunteered to help facilitate this. We stopped by Alden’s homestay house to confirm with her host mother, and then went to the internet place to email Alden’s mom to let her know we were ready whenever she called. When she was able to call (also conference calling Alden’s sister who is currently in Berlin), we went to Alden’s homestay house and turned on speakerphone. The electricity was out and since the house is right behind a hotel, there was a large and very loud generator going, so we went inside the house where it was quieter. Since it was already evening, we lit the one candle she had and sat in a small circle—Anna, Jonathon, Alden’s host mother, her host brother, and I—with the phone and speakers in the middle. Alden’s mother had practiced how to say a few phrases in Portuguese, and we translated the rest of the questions and conversation. I had been dreading this a little, I was afraid of how emotional it might get. But though there were a few moments I had to hold in my tears, it was overall an incredibly happy two hours. Alden’s mother and sister wanted to learn more about Alden’s life during her three months in Mozambique with her homestay family, so it was really a celebration of her life during that time. It was a truly special experience that I felt honored to have been a part of.