Do you know what a container is? If you don’t, you shouldn’t be embarrassed. I didn’t know either, until I arrived here. You can see from the photo what one is, and if you think you’ll probably recall a time you saw one of those riding on the back of a truck or on a railroad flat car. You may even have seen a photo of a container ship, with hundreds of these stacked up all over the deck. To you, it probably means items for shipment to a store which are being delivered, perhaps even cars. To a missionary in the third world, it means a Christmas-trove of goodies that we can’t get here!
When we moved to Moz in 2007, we brought all our stuff with us on the airplane, 16 suitcases worth. You might think that is a lot of stuff, but I’d guess that if you packed up just your clothes, shoes, Christmas decorations and kid’s toys, they would fill that much space. And that’s what we brought, along with some sheets and towels and photo albums, plus some kitchen utensils and tools.
Since then, when we need something we have procured it from various places. Some needed items we can buy in town, though anything bought new is very likely to be terrible quality. Kevin bought a faucet once and the nuts broke off as he installed it. Innumerable drill bits have broken, coffee mug handles broken off, plastics split, and spoons bent. The kids gave up completely on buying toys here since they break almost immediately. There is a sad story of one missionary kid whose first word was “bwoken” because every time he got a gift for a special occasion it broke the same day! We don’t even try anymore to find Christmas and birthday gifts here, but have them sent out by our folks.
Some needed items can be gotten from other missionaries. Indeed, I have a crockpot, pretty dishes, Duplo blocks, a bathroom scale, and storage containers that I bought from other expats! Our first couple of years, I was a regular at missionary garage sales, and they are very popular events! If you need baby equipment, sturdy furniture (for less than thousands of dollars), good toys or kitchen appliances, this is the place to be. Things are usually priced much higher than a USA garage sale, however, since the costs involved in getting their things here were also probably high.
As mentioned above, some things are shipped out. When you consider that it costs almost $50 to send one medium-sized box that can’t weigh more than 16 pounds, however, that option is not too attractive. However, our parents frequently send things out to us that we purchase online, or things that they purchase themselves. A box of car parts just arrived here this week, into very grateful hands!
Another option is to ask people to pick things up for you in South Africa or carry them in their suitcases from America. This is not a popular idea as the people traveling are usually busy and hard-pressed for space even for their own things.
And lastly, we have the container. Some missions encourage their new workers to bring out a whole container of possessions when they come to a place like this, since procuring household items here is difficult and expensive (a new, reasonable-quality sofa is over $3000, and used is difficult to find). Indeed, it could be cheaper in the long run, though the shipping is quite expensive. One couple we knew shipped their household and estimated they had paid over $6000 for the shipment. And they had been quite lucky with the import taxes. Recently, a whole group of us went in on a container being shipped from the USA, and paid way more than that just for the import duties and cost of shipping from the port to Nampula (2 1/2 hours away). You just never know! This doesn’t even include what each person paid to the shipper in the USA to pack their things in the container and get it to Mozambique. Thankfully, our part was only a small percentage of that but it still was quite a hit. What could be worth paying all that money for? Well, books for one thing. Can’t get those here, or good tools. Some toys, car parts, a motorcycle helmet, bike for Toby, a pressure cooker, keyboard, first aid supplies, a used treadmill and an orthopedic mattress. Things that we can’t get here, or only at a very high price. So, in the end it is worth it. The container itself has been purchased by a mission agency here and is being used as a storage facility (we have three of these at the AIM property and they are wonderfully secure).
It was amazing to me, as I opened up the trunks that we sent, that these items had been sailing across the Atlantic ocean, around the coast of Africa, and landed in Mozambique. That is a long way! We are grateful for them. The next time you see a container going by, maybe you’ll look at it differently! – Cami
Kevin & Cami in Southern Africa 