Published Story
Perspectives from her home
I feel the Island is isolated. There are no jobs. The children go to school, study and when they finish there are no job opportunities. It is complicated. People sometimes leave the Island to get jobs, but when they r...
"Hey lady! What are you doing with your camera? Came take a picture of me".
Through the allies and narrow streets of Macuti Town, this voice grabbed my attention and so did her request. I introduced myself to Zainabo Sumaila, and shoot a couple of portraits, in front of her home.
Zainabo Sumaila
Unemployed, 50 years old
Excerpted · August 2017
Interviewer: What is your connection with the Island of Mozambique?
Zainabo Sumaila, translated by Hafiz Jamu on a few sections: I feel the Island is isolated. There are no jobs. The children go to school, study and when they finish there are no job opportunities. It is complicated. People sometimes leave the Island to get jobs, but when they reach the cities, where the employment is, for example, in Nacala they are charged money to be able to join the companies.
Do you think the Island of Mozambique has changed over time? Especially after 1991, the year Island of Mozambique was classified as UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS)?
Z. S.: Nothing changed.
What do you think about the coming of foreigners to the Island? Did the WHS classification help boost tourism or the coming of foreign investigators and investors..?
Z. S.: I see tourists coming. I like tourists, and students coming to make research. A thing that I don’t like is that…We do not have money or jobs or good living conditions. And they leave nothing here. We don’t see the direct benefits of it. We do not gain anything from them. People only appear and leave without any visible benefits to the Island.
Did you ever visited one of the Island’s museums?
Z. S.: I don't. I don't leave home.
What do you consider to be your heritage?
Z. S.: It’s hard to identify a heritage for me because I don’t leave the house. I see on TV that other countries, in other parts of the world, can have support from institutions for disadvantaged people and I don’t feel that. My house is falling apart and there are no support or jobs that promote people’s life here on the Island.
Is there any story or anything else you would like to share?
Z. S.: I don’t have a family story to share. What bothers me is that I’m not supported. Nobody supports the restoration of my house or the improvement of my living conditions. My house is a traditional house that belongs to my parents and grandparents. Until now nobody seems to like to support this house.