April 7 – Women's Day in Mozambique

nPostednon April 7, 2016

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nManyntimes people and nations celebrate an important person on his or hernbirthday, or on the anniversary of an important event, such as ancoronation. But many times a person is celebrated on the anniversarynof his or her death.

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nThisnis one of those times.

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nJosinanMachel died on this date in 1971. She was an important person in thenmodern history of Mozambique. Her grandfather preached againstn“assimilation” with the Portuguese, who had colonized theirncountry – in other words, he thought that the peoples of Africa andnof Mozambique specifically should hold onto their own cultures,nlanguages, and religions rather than adopting the cultures of thenEuropean colonizers. Josina’s whole family may have worked againstnthe Portuguese colonizers – I’m just guessing, based on the factnthat her father, two of her five sisters, two uncles, and Josinanherself were all imprisoned at some point for their actions towardsnindependence for Mozambique. One of her uncles was actually assassinated bynPortuguese agents!

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Machel was not a
pacifist. She was
trained military!

nJosinanMachel not only worked for independence, she also worked for freedomsnand rights of African women, she traveled almost 2,000 miles in hernefforts to elude Portuguese and British forces that sought tonimprison her as an “undesirable visitor” and a rebel, and shenmarried the man who would eventually become Mozambique’s firstnpresident.

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nItnwas a shock, after I read all the things Machel did in her life, tonread that she died so early – tragically, she was just 25 years oldnwhen she died! She died of liver cancer.

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nInn1972, one year after Machel died, the organization she worked forn(Mozambican Liberation Front) declared April 7 as National Women’snDay in their nation. Mozambique finally achieved full independence inn1975. n

nHere are some of the beautiful sights to be seen in Mozambique: