Bubbles

Mozambique, Maputo especially, is a world of bubbles. These bubbles coexist all over the city, but rarely do they touch.

The bubbles are, of course, based on the economic standing of their occupants. There is the rich bubble, with restaurants, coffee shops, office buildings, air-conditioning, maids and vacations. You can live in Mozambique and pretend you are in (hot) Portugal. You can have a brand new apartment, work for a big multi-national, eat out for lunch, drive a big car and never leave your bubble. It’s easy, and a lot of people do it. You never have to think about what is going on outside your bubble.

Unfortunately, as you might expect, a large proportion of the people who live in this bubble are white - Portuguese especially, as well as Chinese and a lot of white Mozambicans of Indian and Middle Eastern descent. Just now I was in a café to use the Internet and EVERY single person inside was white. Many of the biggest businesses in the country are owned and managed by foreigners. Of course you will find some true Africans in the rich bubble. The president is a good example, since he in the richest man in the country. However, you will pretty much never find any of these people near the other bubble – the poor bubble.

Inside the poor bubble is street markets, simple houses, chapas, Xima and, unfortunately, death. The people in this bubble can’t imagine owning a car or eating at “the Meat Factory”. They tend to think about the now instead of the long term. They work at washing cars, building new office towers, selling fruit and cleaning houses. They wear ill-fitting second hand clothes and capulanas. Their health is generally poor and most families are missing members.

If you get inside one of these bubbles, it can be almost impossible to leave it, by will or ability. It’s almost as if there were two completely separate economies running simultaneously in the country. One bubble is leading the country. The other is following along and making the best if it. One bubble is filled with 1000 meticais bills, the other with 5 meticais coins.

The question is, where are the buddles floating to, and will they crash into each other along the way? Will they grow farther apart, or one day merge into a great Maputo Bubble.