The Beira Corridor

Greetings All,

Hope this finds everyone doing super.  Almost half way through 1st Semester!!

I want to try to describe the Beira Corridor to you. This is a 300 Km road straight from Beira, across Mozambique to Zimbabwe.

When we lived in Zimbabwe, I  just itched to go down to the ocean from Zimbabwe to Beira on this road. But the civil war in Mozambique was full on and there was no way. People were ambushed and convoys blown up on the corridor. It was never a possibility to go. So now, living at the Mozambique end of the Corridor and traveling back to Zimbabwe through a peaceful country was profound and deeply encouraging that people can recover and have school, agriculture, safety, and life!!

This is the end of the dry season...rains start soon. People were burning the fields, everything was brown, on fire, smoky. Like Dante’s Inferno! It was pretty grim looking.

Along the way were many small villages...always  round mud huts with thatched roofs or cement block houses with metal roofs.  Today, Sunday, the road was full of people...walking, sitting, biking, driving. There is lots of truck traffic, too.

The bikers! On their single speed, they are carrying MASSIVE, HEAVY loads of wood or charcoal or their wife and baby, or friend, or chickens. It’s serious.

The women are carrying loads on their heads and babies on their backs. They are filling large water containers and carrying their families’ supply home on their heads.

Lots of people are selling tomatoes, bananas, green peppers, cashews, etc. Lots of little kids do this job.

There were many people heading back from church, walking a very long way. Also people sitting around visiting, as Sunday is a day of rest.

The trucks are loaded high and then there are people sitting on the load or on the cab roof, hurtling along at 60 miles an hour.

There are goats, cattle, dogs and chickens along the road, too. The Mango trees are loaded with fruit that will be ready when the rains start.

And potholes 1 foot deep, randomly scattered along the entire way. (We got a flat.)

You can easily find this road on the map. Find Beira on the Indian Ocean and you will see it is a straight shot to Zimbabwe. 

Sending many greetings and hope you are all fine.

Sincerely, Emily/  Ms. Wesson