Unrest in Maputo

Things are calming down in Maputo after some serious trouble this past week. Tuesday was a scheduled rate hike for the "chapas" (mini buses). The people were very upset a lot of basic foods like bread and rice have gone up and if transportation costs are raised by 30-50% it becomes hard to make ends meet. Mainly young, unemployed people started blocking intersections and burning tires in the road and throwing rocks. The chapas stopped running and the shops closed because of some looting. Parts of the city were pretty deserted.


Picture by Sarah Olds of Iris Ministries

The next day the government made the chapas return to original fares for 3 days while they talked, but then the chapas went on strike because their profit has been cut in half by gas increases (we’re up to $6/gallon). The fuel trucks couldn’t get through on Tuesday when there were fires on the streets, so there was some panic yesterday about a scarcity of fuel and long lines at all gas stations that had any.

You can find lots of articles and details at : http://allafrica.com/mozambique/ if you want to know more.

We’ve continued life as normal. The roads were OK between our house and WR so we’ve been in the office every day. However, very few of our colleagues have been here because of the disturbances. Several people have walked 2-3 hours to get here. That’s dedication! Today some chapas seem to be running again so we may be getting back to normal. Things could flare up again depending on government decisions and there are many issues right under the surface that people get upset about.

It’s felt a bit like we’ve been in a boat on a lake and around us we could see a thunderstorm, but the rain and lightning didn’t get to us. However, it’s a bit disconcerting to see all the power of the storm so close by. Jesus says “be still and know that I am God. I am calming the storm and giving you peace.” He is so good. We appreciate your prayers for us and Mozambique.