Jette - Petauke

MIG SELV OG MIN FAMILIE -
MINE FOLK & MIT HJEM I PETAUKE

ME AND MY FAMILY -
MY STAFF & MY HOME IN PETAUKE

Jette Marianne Møller
Niels Brocks Gade 11 - 8900 Randers - Denmark
Tel. +45 60 63 33 99 -
E-mail: jette.moller@yahoo.dk / jmo@hsminerva.dk

jettemoller.urbanblog.dk

http://www.altinget.dk/kandidater/kandidat.asp?id=373

Min datter Lea (1978)
med mit barnebarn Noah (2002)

My daughter Lea (1978)
with my grandson Noah (2002)

I mit 'civile' liv er jeg lektor på en handelsskole, sad i Randers Byråd, indtil jeg tog til Afrika, og har bl.a. været formand for Beskæftigelsesudvalget. Jeg har taget International Udvikling ved Ålborg Universitet som en slags efteruddannelse og er også uddannet studievejleder. Jeg er single og har en dejlig datter og et vidunderligt barnebarn. Desuden er jeg folketingskandidat for Socialistisk Folkeparti i Randers Nordkreds.
In my 'civilian' life I am a senior lecturer at a business college, was a town councillor until leaving for Africa and have been, among other things, chairwoman of the Council's Employment Committee. I have a post-graduate course in International Development as supplementary education and have also been trained as student counsellor. I am single and have a lovely daughter and a wonderful grandson. Furthermore I am running for the Folketing, the Danish parliament, for SF, a small democratic Socialist party.

_________MINE FOLK OG MIT HJEM I PETAUKE__MY STAFF AND MY HOME IN PETAUKE

Margret Njobvu, min dygtige og loyale husholder, der nu er enke
.
Margret Njobvu, my skilful and loyal housekeeper. now a widow

Herover: Mateyo, min weekend-vagtmand, William, min havemand, og Sakala, min hverdagsvagtmand. Vagt-mænd var formodentlig ikke nødvendige i Petauke, men det var altså rart, at de var der. Desuden havde de (store) familier at brødføde, og der er rædselsfuldt få jobs i Petauke.

Above: Mateyo, weekend watchman, William, gardener, Sakala, workday watchman. Guards were hardly necessary in Petauke, but it was nice to have them around. Besides they were bread-winners for their (big) families and jobs are horribly scarce in Petauke.

Nogle af mine dyr - Some of my animals

Hunden Gin fulgte med huset, men var kun til udendørs brug. Hanen døbte jeg Konrad - han var strunk og højrøstet og blev far til en masse kyllinger. Dem spiste vi til min afskedsfest alle sammen - undtagen selvfølgelig dem med navne! Dem gav jeg væk, men de blev sikkert spist, snart efter jeg var rejst. Vi smed også en ged på grillen, men den insisterede jeg på ikke at se, før den blev slagtet. Så meget landmand er der heller ikke i mig!

Gin, the dog, came with the house but was for outdoor use only. The cock I named Conrad - he was loud and proud and fathered a lot of chicks. At my farewell party we ate them all - except of course those that had names! They were given away but were probably eaten soon after my departure. We also threw a goat on the brai (barbecue), but I insisted on not seeing him before he was slaugthered. After all I am not that much of a farmer!.

Ovenfor ses Anusa Road, der fører ud ad Petauke. Mit hus lå op ad en lille vej til venstre længere nede ad vejen (April, sidst på regntiden)
Above: Anusa Road leading away from Petauke. My house stands on a small road going left further down the road (April - late rain season)

Til højre: Mit hus i Petauke, tegnet af en dansk udviklingsarbejder i sin tid. Folk dernede synes, det ligner en kirke med tagets høje rejsning.
Right: My house in Petauke, originally designed by a Danish development worker. People down there think it looks like a church because of the steep rise of the roof.

Udsigten fra min indgangsdør med blomsterkrukker og krydderurter. Det var svært at have planter pga. hønsene, men William lavede et græshegn uden for huset (Se billedet ovenfor!). Så kunne jeg også solbade i weekenden uden at give eventuelle intetanende forbipasserende et hjerteslag ved synet af mig i bikini. Zambianske kvinder viser ikke deres krop, i hvert fald ikke fra taljen til under knæet.

The view from my front door with pots of flowers and herbs and spices. It was hard to keep plants with the chicken, but William constructed a grass fence in front of my house (See picture above). It also enabled me to sunbathe without giving possible unsuspecting passers-by a heart attack at the sight of me in a bikini. Zambian women do not expose their bodies, at least not from the waist to below the knee.

Min datter Lea, da hun besøgte mig, med mine veninder Judith og Alice og deres to små piger i min kakumbi, som William også byggede - af materialer han hentede i bushen. I weekenden var det lækkert med lidt skygge udenfor, og min vagtmand Sakala nød at læse dagens avis (eller hvad jeg ellers havde af læseligt) der om aftenen, når han var mødt ind.

My daughter Lea, when she visited me, with my friends Judith and Alice and their two little little girls in my kakumbi, which William also constructed - of materials he collected from the bush. During weekends a bit of shade outside was nice. And Sakala, my watchman, enjoyed reading the day's newspaper there (or anything else readable I could provide) in the evening when he had reported.

Udsigten fra mit skrivebord i stuen (med Mozambique mod syd). Den nød jeg hver aften, fra jeg fik fri kl. fem, til det blev mørkt ved 18-19-tiden afhængigt af årstiden. Nogle gange kom jeg først fra arbejde, når det var ved at blive mørkt, og noget af det sværeste for en skandinav at vænne sig til var de tidlige solnedgange i det sommeragtige vejr (de sene solopgange sov jeg fra!). Jeg blev dog lige så rystet over, hvor koldt det var i juni og juli, hvis solen ikke var fremme. Jeg havde naivt kun medbragt én strikketrøje, som jeg så måtte have dagligt.
En anden ting, der var underligt, var, at solsiden var mod nord - ikke mod syd som derhjemme på den nordlige halvkugle.

The view from my desk in my living-room (into Mozambique far south). I enjoyed it every evening from I knocked off at five until it got dark at 18-19 hrs depending on the season. Sometimes I did not knock off until it was almost dark and it was indescribably hard for a Scandinavian to get used to the early sunsets in the summery weather (I would sleep through the late sunrises!). However, I was just as astounded by the cold in June and July if there was no sun. Naively I had only brought one sweater, which I then had to wear daily.
Something else that was weird was that north was the sunny side - not south like back home in the northern hemisphere.

Solnedgang set fra min have - Afrikas himmel er uovertruffen! - Sunset viewed from my garden - the African sky is unrivalled!