After the storms

By Marifi Jara

QUELIMANE, Mozambique—The Christmas holidays are coming. Crime is on the rise.

A couple of weeks ago, five of our six plastic chairs outside the house got nicked. One of the regular guards assigned to our house is on leave and an oldish gardener who is filling in was on duty that evening. He must have dozed off on the sixth chair in the set and that at least saved one. And the bandits spared the table too, must have been too big for them to carry. But this could very well just be a minor crime.
Several days after that, I was jolted from sleep just before midnight with my phone’s ringing. It was one of my Filipino friends here, calling to ask for help as ladrpos (thieves) have invaded the home of some of our other Filipino friends. Their guard was tied up, along with another male in the household. I then called one of our Mozambican friends to ask him to get the police. But just like so often in the movies, the police arrived after the robbers have already left with their loot. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured.

It happens every year, say our Mozambican acquaintances. No different in the Philippines, I say. The coming celebrations seem to put so much pressure on people such that they are driven to crime, from petty pick-pocketing (cellphones are a popular target) to the more serious organized burglary. Or even worse.

It is quite frightening and the best that can be done is to become a little bit more paranoid and put in all possible precautionary measures. But I feel more sad, really. Sad because this Christmas-is-near-crime-escalates trend tells us that the celebrations are too much associated with spending and the need for money. Money to spend for the party food, for gifts, for drinks, for new clothes.

We need a re-think.

Here, the season is aggravated by the fact that harvest and the food supply has been limited with the so far very minimal rain. So ironic seeing it from the perspective of all those recent devastating typhoons in the Philippines. Too little here. Too much there. Damaging either way.

But do the Christmas and New Year festivities need to be gloomy?

Nah. Of course not. Not if we start retracing the true meaning of the coming season.

It’s about family. And friends who are essentially our extended families. Here, the December 25 holiday is actually  officially tagged as family day. Being with family need not be highlighted by a table laden with an outrageous feast. A gathering need not be a drinking marathon. And gifts in fancy wrappings are not really a necessity.

We simply need to be together, spend time to share stories, tell of burdens of the year that is about to close, and give each other strength and hope in the new year that is about to begin. For the Filipino gathering, of course there too should be some videoke singing. For the Mozambican, it’s serious hip-jiggling dancing. Simple pleasures, soulful fun.

After all those storms there, or with the lack of storms here, a lovely season always awaits.

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