Joshua Littlejohn

technomadic

Joshua Littlejohn

Born in Louisiana, raised in Beaufort, South Carolina, and serial transplant thereafter. I went to school (the first time) at Clemson University for a BS in Microbiology and Molecular Biology, then moved to London for a few years to work in media, relocated to New Orleans for the next 8 years and became an RN with degrees from Our Lady of the Lake College and Louisiana State University, and currently study at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia getting a dual masters in nursing (MSN) and public health (MPH). That's the academic resume, the travel one is a little more complicated, but suffice it to say that I stopped counting countries at 23 and am trying to make my trips longer and longer these days as opposed to sampling countries in terms of a week or two. This adventure is 12 weeks long, and I'm very happy to have the time to invest in it.

Home Stretch

Africa » Mozambique » Southern » Inhambane July 25th 2015

Tofo on Sunday

technomadic

Tofo again on Sunday, but just for the day and a whole lot more stress-free transportation-wise. I brought my book with me and just read it the whole way, essentially ignoring the long wait times and such. Mild irritation at being shoved forward and jammed into the bench in front of us as they loaded too many crates of beer into the back of the chapa (and then couldn’t close the door, they tied it mostly-shut instead), but nothing major. I had packed lunch and snacks before I left and once I got to the beach I struck out for the lighthouse and the tidal pools I played in last time. High tide was about 5 pm, so it was pretty low when I got there at 10:20ish. I walked the beach and after a bit ... read more

To curate or not to curate?

Africa » Mozambique » Southern » Inhambane July 22nd 2015

technomadic

I want to take a moment to reflect on a few things that have happened over the last few weeks, particularly since a few people have commented on the grumpy and somewhat negative tone of a few of my last couple of posts. Unrelated to travel, Africa, and my personality quirks, but very much related to life in general and social media, is the idea of the personal, private, and uncurated thoughts and emotions that a person goes through on a daily basis versus the public, often perpetually positive, highly-curated projection that is expected of us. This is nothing new – when immigrants to the US went for pictures to send back home to Europe they put on their finest clothes and projected levels of affluence and wealth that many did not possess in the slightest. ... read more

Escape to Tofo, An Ocean Safari, and a Wild Goose Chase.

Africa » Mozambique » Southern » Inhambane July 18th 2015

Tofo

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After my Mukambe feha trip I took three chapas back to CoH and was back by noon on Thursday. Friday wasn’t terribly productive, but it wasn’t terribly unproductive either. THEN CAME SATURDAY. I was damned and determined to get out of CoH and go to the beach, so I had called the night before (actually meaning to stay Fri and Sat night) and had my stuff packed. I finished writing the blog that I posted before I left, and then headed for the chapa out that way. Of course, it’s never without some issues… I get to Inhambane to get a chapa to tofo and there is space – by any standards – and I get in and sit down by the door. The cobrador says that the chapa is full and makes me get out ... read more

Week 8 Part TWO (of three) – It got better.

Africa » Mozambique » Southern » Inhambane July 9th 2015

So it Begins!

technomadic

Recapping quickly, I’ve been in a crappy mood for the last good chunk of time and haven’t wanted to do anything. Despite being more than a bit sketched out by the idea of sleeping in the wilds of Africa in a stick hut without a door or solid walls (not even Baraka construction), I felt it was necessary to get out to Mukambe feha and spend some time with them. It was necessary because otherwise this whole idea of me teaching the process of making the materials and thinking about the situation in a greater context was useless because all I would be doing is the same thing that every other NGO and government department does, come in, provide a temporary good or service, and leave. Now, I’m not totally crazy or naïve and realize that ... read more

The Inhamabne Cemetery, a chapa mutiny, and working with Mozambican time... Week 8 part ONE.

Africa » Mozambique » Southern » Inhambane July 9th 2015

Bistro Pescador

technomadic

So, let’s start from the beginning – Sunday. I had to get out of CoH. I was kind of going crazy… ok, more than kind of. I got up, packed what I could that I wasn’t going to use that night, and faffed about on the internet for a bit before heading out for the wait-then-chapa-then-wait-then-boat routine to Inhambane. The weather was decent and I brought a book so I wasn’t moved by any of this. Actually, the first of two transport-related chuckles I had today was on the boat going to Inhmambane. The boat was basically full, it might have held an extra 6 people from the point when I got on (There was no big boat running, so I had to take the small one), so I sat in the middle of the bench ... read more

Things and Stuff and Randomness from Mozambique.

Africa » Mozambique » Southern » Inhambane July 4th 2015

Chapa stop 1

technomadic

28 Jun – 4 Jul Sunday, slow day. I spent the day on the computer working and was “forced” to go into town in the afternoon since I had eaten everything consumable in the kitchen as a result of not leaving CoH for a few days. Café food and grocery store accomplished, I headed back to CoH. When we were waiting for the chapa to leave I sat there listening as the cobrador for the chapa next to us as he changed the destination of his chapa and started telling people his was going the same place ours was (Nhamaxaxa, which is further than Chicuque, but on the same route). A few women got into the other chapa, and then as it became evident that the chapa I was in was going where they wanted to ... read more

A Slow Week: Delay, Miscommunication, and Illness. Blah. :(

Africa » Mozambique » Southern » Inhambane June 27th 2015

Translating Cards

technomadic

Highlights! My Sunday was lazy, mostly because we had no power in Chicuque for most of the day, a hold over from the night before. I got up, turned the computer on briefly and used up all the battery life it had, then put it away and worked on non-tech stuff for a bit, but reluctantly had to put clothes on. I ventured into town and went to Pastelaria Universal, which had power of course, and had food, wrote, and used the cards I made to storyboard some more comics. The best part of all that was when I went to get on my computer a young girl came over and asked to play with the cards that I had put away. When I gave them to her, she took them back to her mom and ... read more

Work, Work, Beach! WORK.

Africa » Mozambique » Southern » Inhambane June 20th 2015

week 501

technomadic

Another week down, ack! Time goes too quickly when you’ve got stuff to do, I swear. Sunday wasn’t very productive. I got a text from Vishal to go to Inhambane with him and his wife, but when we got in the car he said it was a couples’ church thing and that I could wait with his brother Zito. Meh. We drove around for a bit and then went to a café – Bistro Pescador – next to the ferry landing. It was actually really nice and has wifi, so there is a silver lining to this story. We waited for 2 hours, but it was going to be another 2, so I took the boat back to Maxixe to go to Taurus (grocery store) and Pasterlaria Universal for foods. Monday was only mildly more productive ... read more

Week 3.5: Getting Down to Business

Africa » Mozambique » Southern » Inhambane June 13th 2015

Dhairya and I in the Chapa

technomadic

It was an interesting, if not wholly productive, week here in Mozambique. I started the week off thoroughly uselessly with a rainy, kinda gloomy Sunday where I basically just worked in my room and/or putzed about on my computer. Not must to do when the weather is nice – zilch to do when it’s crappy and you can’t plan for anything. Oh well. Monday came and introduced me to the intricacies of grant writing in Mozambique. I joined the group to review comments sent back on their new grant application, but quickly learned that I didn’t want to open that can of worms and ran back to my room to work on materials for my own project. I have to keep telling myself that I only have three months here (less now) and that I am ... read more

Mozambique: Week 3

Africa » Mozambique » Southern » Inhambane June 6th 2015

Nhamaxaxa Main Road

technomadic

Well, another week bites the dust. Actually, I suppose Wednesday was that mark, but since I’m American I mark weeks by weekends. It’s been an eventful week and lots of data collected. The hard part, of course, is always analyzing it. It’s fine recording a conversation, but then trying to transcribe and translate it is no fun. On Monday we went to Nhamaxaxa for the first time to speak with the activists. There is no health worker there, so there is not one central person. I find this odd since the grant they got for the community was to train people and buy supplies, which they did – people came to CoH for training and such, but none was allocated for in depth training for a CHW. This is unlike Mukambe feha, where there is a ... read more

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