Freckles of Faith: Dia das Bruxas

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays in the United States. Candy. Costumes. What's not to like? I decided to introduce the criancas in Chicumbane to a little Halloween fun. When I mentioned what I wanted to do for the holiday to the joven activistas at CACHES, they all called it Dia das Bruxas, Day of the Witches. It is not celebrated in Mozambique, but they seemed to be a little familiar with the holiday. I took this opportunity to introduce them to some Halloween traditions and history.

I started celebrating Halloween with the Saturday crew of kids who come to color at my house. We colored jack-o-lanterns together. And then on Halloween, I organized a few activities to do with the criancas at CACHES. My friend Queshia, who lives just 10 minutes away in Xai-Xai, came to Chicumbane to help out as well. She, too, is a HUGE fan of Halloween. We had everyone make masks, learn some Halloween vocabulary in English and Portuguese, sing "Five Little Pumpkins" in English, guess the number of candies in a jar and bob for apples (after, I realized that may not have been the most sanitary activity for a HEALTH volunteer to do...oops) . As they left to go home that night, I stood at the door with some candy and had each one say "trick-or-treat", followed by a "Kanimambo" ("Thank you" in Changana, the local language).

The next day, when Calvino walked me home, I saw something on my veranda. Not knowing what it was, I asked Calvino to walk up to my house with me. When we got there, we realized it was a JACK-O-LANTERN. Nelio, my neighbor and activista, had taken a papaya and carved it out and placed a candle inside. I couldn't have been more surprised! Halloween Success. I know I am a few days late in getting this out there, but Happy Halloween.