Not bad for a field trip, eh? Anyway, so this particular island was selected because it is situated on the the far side of the Angoche islands (a group of islands clustered so close together in a mix of canals and mangrove swamps between Angoche and the open ocean that it's difficult to distinguish where one starts and the next stops). From this particular island, it's an easier hop over to the chain of islands that are further out in the open ocean--the islands that the project Primeiras e Segundas is focused on.We were scheduled to make a trip that day to one of the islands called Puga-puga in the Primeiras e Segundas chain. Puga-puga is nesting ground for sea gulls, engangered sea turtles, and a number of other beautifully interesting sea creatures. Unfortunately the wind and waves made the trip a little too dangerous, so we didn't make it there. I think I was even more bummed than the kids were. We did make it to a sand bar named Pinga-pinga. I'm not sure if they were kidding about that being the name. Pinga-pinga or not, we got to hang out for a bit before the sandbar disappeared.
Bento and Andre, our fellow teachers we invited to come with us. We told them that guys in America always pose like this for pictures. Suckers.
Definitely our most curious student who we have re-named Pinapple. He found this jellyish thing. I don't know what it is. I'm from Iowa.
Anyway...we were still able to do a number of other activities with the kids including little info sessions about some of the issues specific to this area like trash disposal, uncontrolled burning to clear farmland, sustainable fishing techniques, and mangrove management and planting. Stay tuned for my next blog post for more details on mangrove info, one of the most important focuses of the excursion and the Premeiras e Segundas project. 
The kids were also part of a ceremony on the Island of Mazuani. The administrator from Angoche, a documentary film crew, a number of different representatives from WWF and Care, the Moz media all showed up so the kids felt pretty darn important. They were all honored for their work and there were some rather long-winded speeches made. Their work was displayed and they recieved their prizes.
These are some of the kids who live on Mazuani. They probably don't see a lot of visitors, so they were quite curious. They also don't speak Portuguese well, so I invited (or forced, rather) my older students to teach them in Koti about what we were doing there. Life on the islands is pretty tough. No electricity, health care, little drinking water, dwindling fish population, difficult transport, and just one teacher for grades 1-7 for everyone. Epa.
I would say the weekend was a success. These kids don't get opportunities like this. None of them had been to the islands before this trip. Yay field trips! Thanks WWF/CARE!
Cowabunga
3. Leave them alone.
4. Watch them grow.
I was suprised at how easy it is to plant mangroves. Of course, some plantings don't take very well for a number of different reasons, but many of the mangrove re-planting areas have been a success. Many areas that were covered in mangrove are more and more exposed in recent years because of natural causes (harsh storms) and human causes (mangroves are perpetually chopped down for firewood) Why plant mangroves? Mangrove forrests create a natural perforated barrier between shorelines and the harsh waves of the open ocean. This natural barrier prevents errosion, a problem that is an especially hot issue since the cyclone went through a couple years ago. This also creates an environment suitable for baby shrimp to grow up in, swim back out to the open ocean, reproduce, and send the youngins back in again so that Angoche has more tasty shrimp to eat. Not to mention the mangrove is just an interesting ecosystem full of interesting critters.
