Interview with Sara Bie - Mozambique

Hello - this is an example of an interview that another writer at CAFOD did. I used it to write the story in the next post. Look out for what I've used and what I've left out - you can ask me questions about this as part of the workshop on Friday.
Laura


Sara’s family

Sara Bie, 18,
Manuel Bie, 15 (BROTHER) (no pics)
Maiseria Atibo, 13 (SISTER)
Conceicao Atibo, 11 (SISTER)
Elika Atibo, 10, (SISTER)
João Bie Atibo, 7, (BROTHER) (no pics)
Saugina Nzani, 6, (SISTER)
Erica Bie, 18 months, (SARA’s DAUGHTER)
Manuel Bie, 22, pink t-shirt, gold chain. (SARA’S BROTHER), lives in house next door with his girlfriend)
Esther Salamao, 20, (MAUNEL’S GIRLFRIEND)
Alda Chivoze, 39, brown and white headscarf white t-shirt, pink and black sarong (HIV activist)
Braiding Saugina’s hair

Sara, 18: “I’ve looked after my brothers and sisters since I was 16. My mother died because of AIDS in 2005 and my father died in South Africa seven years ago. We think he died of AIDS as well. I took care of my mother for three months when she was very sick until she died.

“It is hard to look after so many children but the project has helped us eat. Because of this project we’ve been given maize meal, plus beans, sugar, oil and soap. The activists also come here to help me look after the children, and we are provided with school books and materials.

“Without the support we get from the project, I’m not sure how we’d cope. I think we would only be able to eat once a day, and the children would suffer.

“Before we had help from this project I had to take on full-time work doing deliveries. I earned a little bit of money, but because I spent so much time away from home I had no time to look after the children.

“I went to school but I had to stop because I got pregnant. The father of my child was a school boy - he didn’t give me any support. Other girls of my age don’t have this responsibility that I have. They must live comfortably, study, and do whatever they want, but I have to concentrate on looking after my brothers and sisters.
My brother lives in the house next door with his girlfriend. I’m glad that he’s close by. He works as a security guard and if he makes enough money, he helps to support the family. But it’s difficult to ask him for help because he’s a man and children are not his responsibility. Esther helps me to look after the children sometimes and I can talk to her about things. I feel glad that my brother and Esther live next door.

“Boys here are very free; they are not trained to look after the children and the household needs. I think this should change and boys and girls should both work in the home.

“I feel alone, and I am often very sad. At the beginning, when I started to look after the children, I found it difficult. I had to cope without my mother and I was upset. I was looking for emotional support, which is why I met my boyfriend and became pregnant early.

“Being pregnant was difficult. I was doing my delivery work then coming home to look after the children which was very tiring.

“I enjoy going to church and singing hymns. I pray to God to protect me and my children. One of the reasons I like going to church is because I get to meet adults.

“This house is too small for all the children. Eight of us sleep in one room, and in the summer we get very hot. When I first started looking after all the children I was too afraid to sleep because we were alone. The children cried all night and I couldn’t get them to settle down. Things are a bit easier now because we are used to it.

“If we had enough money I would extend this house so we had some space. We cook outside in the kitchen which is made of corrugated iron but the roof broke recently and I don’t know how to fix it.

“We hope to eat three times a day but we are short of food so we only eat lunch and dinner. We eat porridge every day; sometimes we eat beans as well. If we have money for a special occasion then we buy fish.

“The children suffer because of our lack of food. Most of them have stomach problems like diarrhea. Their bones don’t grow well because we have no vitamins in our diet. If the children get ill, we take them to the hospital because health is important.

“More food, support for the children, clothes and money for school fees would help us to live more comfortably. To make the money for these things, I need to open a small business, buying and selling things for a profit. If I could run the shop close to my home, I could stay with the children.

“HIV is common in this community. Because men have many sexual partners I think it is spreading. Also, when people go for traditional treatment they get cut to let the spirits out and I think this can also be a cause of HIV.

“HIV is a challenge for young women. I feel I must concentrate on one man and discuss with this man that he must be faithful to me. But I don’t think you can ever know for sure if your husband can be trusted. People must be aware about HIV, how it is passed on and how it is prevented. I think the activists have helped this community to learn about HIV and talk about it with our families and friends. They have helped us learn how to avoid it, and how to care for people who are HIV positive.

Day in Sara’s life: “I wake up at 6am and I clean the house. At 7am I wash all the children and I prepare them for school. Then I wash the plates from the night before and start to prepare the lunch. I have to grind the maize before we can eat it. Then I start to look for firewood which takes about two or three hours.

The children come home from school at around 12pm and then we have lunch and I wash the dishes. After lunch I will go to fetch the water. The nearest water pump is five minutes’ walk from my house, but it is often broken for weeks at a time, which means I have to walk for three hours to get water from another pump. We need about 20 litres of water a day.

When I return home I start to cook dinner. I feed the children and then I wash up again. After this I might talk to my brother or his girlfriend, then I put the children to bed, and I go to bed soon after them.”