Remembering Mozambique

Between September and May in 2004-05, I lived in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, with my younger daughter, her husband and their three young children. They spent more than five years in the country where my economist son-in-law worked with issues around poverty reduction. What a guy he is, to invite his mother-in-law to be part of their family for so many months!

While I was there, I did some substitute teaching at the American School, tutored some graduate students in English and each week did a bit of research and photography to send home a blog I called Come to Africa with Me.  In the course of doing that, I delved into the history of Mozambique, a Portuguese colony until 1975. That’s how I first learned about Janet Mondlane, an American who played an important role in supporting the liberation front that made independence possible after a struggle that lasted more than ten years.

I became fascinated with this woman who married an African and left her home country to work for his dream of independence. She has been called “Godmother to a Revolution” and I think has not been properly recognized for all that she did.

I decided that I wanted to write her life story, and I have been working on White Shadow off and on ever since. I think it is about ready to come to life and I am excited to share it.

Because I have taken some liberties and added some incidents to flesh out the story, White Shadow is historical fiction closely based on the life of Janet Mondlane. Over the next few weeks, I will share some of Janet’s story here in hopes that you will be interested in learning about this remarkable woman. She is now a Mozambican citizen and still lives in Matola, a town just outside the capital city, proof that the history of Mozambique is recent and accessible. She has worked hard to establish and maintain the Eduardo Mondlane Foundation in honor of her husband who gave his life to free his country.