Land Mines

A couple of days ago i was flipping through a book at Masana. Its a book used in the public schools here in Mozambique for grade 5 and teaches grammar and vocabulary. I was very impressed that all of the texts in the book did a great job of describing Mozambican culture - communities, farms, ceremonies, etc.

The following title caught my attention: Cuidado com as Minas! That translates to "careful with the mines." It was followed by a comic strip of a girl who is sent out to collect fire wood. As she's picking up wood, she comes across a land mine. Just as she is about to pick it up, a man rushes up to her and tell her not to touch it and then gives her a brief lesson on the dangers of touching things when you don't know what they are. She then goes around the community with this man informing the neighbors about the location of the land mine so that they know to avoid it.

Definitely not something you'd find in an American grammar book. The book was published in 2005 so it's not very long ago that land mines left over after the civil war were very much a concern.

Such a different world I live in.