MY LIFE LESSONS

We are quickly running towards November, by which time I turn 68.  For a Mozambican, this is an achievement, judging by what is said of the average life expectancy in this my country.  So, one of the thoughts I want to dedicate to you as we approach, is a list of life lessons I learned and that can serve as inspiration to you my reader.  Try to apply yourself to life and its opportunities, for you to touch some of your dreams.  Many dreams are nothing more than that, but with dedication, effort, help, and good luck, you can always achieve something.

If you were to achieve just two of a list of ten dreams, you would already be a winner.  If, conversely, you don't nurse any dream, you will never have a victory to tell, obviously. Not to yourself, not to anyone else around you.

This inventory is not exhaustive.  I will avoid long boring narrations and will opt instead for just a collection of topics.  So, I aggregate my experiences in stages, as follows:

Mozambique 1956-1981 1982-1984 1986-1989 2021- (home)	Discipline is a personal choice. Music is the soul of the soul. There is a Ngoni proverb that says: “ukaipa, dziwa nyimbo ngati mbalame”,  broadly, it means: if you are not so handsome, at least get to singing like a nightingale (to attract the attention of…) A mother is much more than the person who gives birth (it would be much too easy): a mother is the person who gives love and protection. Or the father.  Working hard does pay off.  Languages: Nyanja, Portuguese, French, English and Latin (dead).  International solidarity: campaign for Mandela's release, support for the liberation of Zimbabwe and South Africa.  Teaching is the highest and the most sublime of professions (even if the teacher remains forever as poor as a church mouse). One should never waste an opportunity to travel abroad.
Tanzania 1980-1981 1994-2000 2019-2021	Diplomacy is important for balancing the different and divergent interests between nations. Swahili, one more language (have you ever heard of the expression “lost in translation”?). The more languages, the better. You get the cultural drifts and deep meanings in the original language. The African sense of family and community solidarity. The natural pride of the African. The gentle and stabilizing role of the woman in the family. The issue of land in Africa constitutes an important element of relations with the international capital[1].  African states must always be alert to these interests.
Ethiopia 1984-1986	The history of Africa is much more complex and much richer than colonial history books tend to inculcate in our minds (history is the interpretation of past facts from the point of view of power). Every African diplomat (professional from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) should undergo an internship at their Embassy in Ethiopia, to take lessons of multilateral diplomacy.
Cote d’Ivoire 1991-1992	Self-learning, book collector and creation of a personal library for reading. The true sense of acceptance and assistance to refugees in a welcoming community. By avoiding camps, other human beings are not isolated as a problem to be dealt with if there is time, but integrated as fellow humans. The rooting of French colonial interest in this country makes it the African capital for the continuation of the colonial project in Africa.
Angola 1992-1994	The love for music and rhythm. Dedication and sacrifice for the group. Personal specialization on a specific skill in life is the basis of success. The love of traveling. Never travel without a book for companionship.
Zambia 2000-2003	After work, also find ways to relax: Visiting the Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River is a milestone in life.  The sense of broader African belonging; the Ngoni nation is also present in Zambia. In fact, the Ngoni Chief for Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi resides in Zambia (Mkaika, District of Katete, Chipata Province). Taking individual innovative initiatives within the functional authority, and taking risks are part of an inspiring, brilliant and promising career.
Switzerland 2003-2006 2012-2014	Being on time is important and is a sign of respect for yourself and others.  The universality of the human being is irrepressible and stubbornly undeniable, despite the futile and harmful effects of persistent racism against persons of African descent. International organizations are instruments of an inequitable international order.  Human tolerance is a universal necessity.  The complex imbalanced relationship between states is reinforced by international institutions such as the World Trade Organization and others, which perpetuate an unjust world, condemning it to future violence and war. Africa's subordinate position reinforced by national powers, and fueled by international bribery directed to our Presidents, including access to financial havens on a very individual basis.  The power of multinationals and our lack of negotiation skills. Serving at the organization's headquarters helps with your career development.  Being positively perceived depends largely on personal diplomacy, quality of work and political astuteness.  Solidarity between colleagues is very easily noticed.  Colleagues tend to never forget a helping hand at critical periods of their lives.
DR Congo 2006-2008	A third United Nations peacekeeping mission is currently under way (1960-1964 and two from 1999 to date). To what extent is the United Nations part of the solution? Negative role of neighboring countries (Uganda, Rwanda), agents of neocolonial designs in DRC. Music is the essence of the peoples of this country.  A large country should adopt a decentralized federal form of governance, so that the state's action is felt at the District and ward levels. Small countries like Rwanda look to Congo as the solution to their demographic problem.  Undeclared designs that perpetuate war in the form of resource exploitation.  To understand the issues, consider demographics: DR Congo 48 people/Km2, Mozambique 44 people/Km2, Rwanda 578 people/Km2.  The land issue throughout Africa is a focus of foreign interests that design and sell programs of all kinds, from conservation to carbon credits to green energy. And what else?[2]
Kenya 2008-2011	​​Extremely enterprising youth. Tribalism and ethnic belonging as a tool of a ruling elite with a heavy colonial legacy that continues to govern through division, a lesson learned from the colonial masters.  Foreign interests look to Kenya as a bridgehead for irrepressible colonial projects in East Africa, in the same way as Cote d’Ivoire is in West Africa, with a third country in Southern Africa, and the noose is complete. The land issue in Africa is fundamental to the continuation of colonialism. Land is coveted by foreign powers camouflaged as NGOs concerned with our environment and our conservation.  African governments lulled into not budgeting for conservation.
Sierra Leone 2011-2012	War leaves desolation and deepens underdevelopment.  It is a tool of attrition that the West uses against us from time to time to wear us down and to frustrate our development.  Closing a multi-office refugee operation requires a kind human spirit and the time to understand the impact of decisions a leader has to take, and how to help out the affected staff.
Niger 2012	Never cut a rope if you can untie it.  You'll need it later. The closing of our office was not strategic, which led to conflicts when we needed to reopen, with the new wave of refugees from Mali. United Nations agencies are competing against each other, encouraged in this competition by some donors. This also negatively impacts the perception of the states with which we cooperate. Despite all the media propaganda, Niger has solid and competent institutions.  A capital city divided by a river, but no water in the neighborhoods.  A country with uranium mines, but with 90% of the territory in the dark.  Very visible to anyone flying from Paris to Niamey.
Tchad 2014-2016	A country's dependence on its neighbors is an aspect that deserves diplomatic, economic and administrative attention, in particular ethnic relations across borders and the necessary cooperation with Sudan. Darfur, a permanent theater of genocide against the black population. Some refugee camps have better health services than the local population.  Merging services would be the best way to avoid separating populations in order to benefit both.  This makes free services to refugees undermine the cost-sharing system for the local population. The importance of the Global Compact on Refugees must be reinforced.    Refugees can be a human economic resource, not just a social and political burden.  Durable solutions will continue to be elusive unless the idea of ​​camps is seriously challenged.
Nigeria 2016-2019	A state whose institutions are incapable of making use of the country's weight in the African or global context, except on military matters.  The academic wealth, the abundant literature[3], the diverse cultures. Intellectually a very rich country. The economic strangulation of Nigeria by capitalist interests, is a pressure point for the strangulation of Africa.  Fossil fuel sources were the real reason for the Biafra war.  It was not secession, because in Nigeria this tendency is not limited to Biafra.  Energy issues will determine the next wars against (and in) Africa.

 [1]  https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/maasai-land-rights-tanzania 

[2] https://www.oaklandinstitute.org/abuse-power-ending-fortress-conservation-democratic-republic-congo 

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nigerian_writers

Jose

Tet

e, October 2024