MozambiqueMozambiqueElly Shodell

Fulbright ExperienceLibrary Senior Specialist

2011-2012 shodell@pwpl.org

I'm Elly Shodell, an archivist and oral historian at the Port Washington Public Library, 15 miles east of New York City. 

Over four months in 2012 I worked at the National Archives of Mozambique, in Maputo, on the east coast of Africa. 

 

City of Maputo in background

While there, I worked with librarians and archivists at the Arquivo Nacional ---and history and information science students from the Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, focusing on disaster preparedness, oral history and preservation. 

My first day on the job, as was the custom, I was given a white coat and called 'Doctora'. The coat was to keep off the dust. The ‘ Doctora’ dated back to the days of Portuguese rule

Getting around to far-flung repositories and university branches was a daily wild ride on the yellow 3-wheeled open air ‘tok tok’ scooters.

Archives office in the Baixa

A symbol of Portugal’s long-time colonial control over Mozambique, this statue of Antonio Salazar (Prime Minister, 1932-1968)was relegated to an alley behind the National Archives Office.

Students and colleagues were eager to find out how to obtain scarce items like tape recorders, cameras, archival supplies and laptops.

With journalism students Entrance to archives storage area

The car ferry from CatembeThe car ferry from Catembe

I taught in a mixture of Portuguese, Spanish and English, aided by the occasional student translator. Getting to class was not easy for many.

 

Hundreds of photographs and documents in the National Archives relate to the Civil War that plagued Mozambique for 14 years.

Teaching students how to repair, display, store and preserve manuscripts and documents was one of my goals.

With Joel Tembe, Director of the National ArchivesWith Joel Tembe, Director of the National Archives

Mozambique is gradually making its way into the 21st century of library service. I hope I can continue to be part of the linkages that are developing between library science specialists in the U.S. and abroad. 

The Five Locations of the ArquivoThe Five Locations of the Arquivo

Can you find the street?Can you find the street?

Radio Mozambique also served as an oral history repository outside the

archives system. It is well-organized, digitized, and helps to preserve the voices of the past.

Getting around town was not easy. But in the next three slides you can see colorful montages of everyday life in Maputo.

Locavore MaputoLocavore Maputo

There are fruits and veggies on just about every corner, fresh-baked breads, rich regional coffees---and anything else you may run into.

Café LifeCafé Life

Fish MarketFish Market

Fish Market Maputo—where vendors vie for you to pick their catch, have it taken to a nearby kitchen, and then brought out to eat at the central picnic area.

Outdoor Book FairsOutdoor Book Fairs

Parks are often venues for book fairs where children can read books and make their own from cardboard. There are no public libraries.

HELPFUL LINKS

http://www.pwpl.org/localhistory/http://www.ahm.uem.mz/http://www.uem.mz/https://networks.h-net.org/h-luso-africahttp://portwashington.patch.com/articles/

elly-shodell-director-of-library-s-local-history-center-named-fulbright-scholar

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